Menu

Donate

  • Donate

To make a donation towards the legal fees incurred by the landowner defendants in a case brought by the Maine rockweed industry.

SUPPORT THE MAINE COAST PROTECTION FUND 

DONATE ONLINE via the defendants’ 501c3 fiscal sponsor, Center for Ecological Teaching and Learning on Cobscook Bay. These donations are tax-deductible.

  1. DONATE ONLINE, or

  2. DONATE via CHECK in the mail: send to Nick Nieces, CETL Board of Directors, PO Box 230, Searsport, ME 04974.

OR

DONATE by CHECK directly to defendant Robin Hadlock Seeley, PO Box R, Pembroke ME 04666. Dr. Seeley maintains a bank account at Bangor Savings Bank exclusively for this fund, from which she draws payments for attorney invoices. NOT tax-deductible.

To make a general tax-deductible donation to the 501c3 Maine Rockweed Coalition for operations, publicity, events, and rockweed research:

PayPal account: donate online! (there is a monthly giving option)

Send a check to: Maine Rockweed Coalition, PO Box R, Pembroke ME 04666

STATUS OF THE LEGAL CASE – April 2024

The Maine Coast Protection Fund pays the legal fees of the 7 landowner defendants that were sued in 2021 by members of the rockweed industry. The landowners won in Maine Superior Court – all 7 landowners prevailed.

March 2024: The rockweed industry plaintiffs have sent notice to the court that they will appeal the Superior Court victory to Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court.

We therefore continue to raise funds for their defense in Maine Supreme Court.

April 2021: Seven landowners were sued by rockweed industry members for exercising their first amendment right to contact Marine Patrol when their rockweed was harvested without their permission, OR for instructing other landowners about their rights to protect rockweed from harvest under the 2019 Maine Supreme Court Ross decision.

Why the Maine Rockweed Coalition supports the defendants’ fundraising for their defense:

  1. Because the defendants have acted to protect and conserve the rockweed on their shores in accordance with the 2019 Maine Supreme Court decision.

  2. Because ultimately we believe that private ownership offers a better chance at rockweed conservation than does ownership by the state.

    See an article by the Pacific Legal Foundation on this topic: “In win for property rights and the environment, Maine Supreme Judicial Court sides with coastal property owners” and their amicus brief in the court case.