In the fall of 2025, The Conservation Fund asked me to photograph an exciting conservation opportunity in Maine, between the town of Jackman and the Canadian border. Known as the Hilton Family Forest, this 40000+ acre property had recently gone on the market and The Conservation Fund has made an agreement to purchase the property in order to conserve it as working forest (the property is sustainably managed for timber harvesting, and produces a large amount of maple syrup,) and to preserve recreational access to the property for hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, hiking, and more (to learn more about the tradition of access to private land in Maine, check out the new film I directed on my Reel Quest Films website.)

This property has some high-quality trout streams as well as high elevation forests on peaks such as Slidedown Mountain (above) and Boundary Bald Mountain. During my fall visit, the foliage was incredibly vibrant, so much so that I actually had to desaturate the colors in some photos – they looked fake! Here are some more shots from the shoot:

I recently returned with Ryan Smith, my Reel Quest Films partner, to film the maple sugar harvest and create a short video for The Conservation Fund’s outreach. Stay tuned for the release of that video:)

UPDATE: Our video about Hilton Family Forest is completed. Check it out here: https://reelquestfilms.com/project/strengthening-communities-through-conserving-working-forests/

Cheers!
-Jerry