Organization to Expand Native Plants Education Program
Maine Audubon is pleased to announce the opening of the Ann & Jim Hancock Native Plants Education Center at its headquarters at Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth.
Supported initially by generous donations from Ann and Jim Hancock and other major supporters, this new building and space will serve as the hub of education and habitat restoration activities which impact communities and landscapes statewide. It will nearly double Maine Audubon’s public educational space and enable the environmental nonprofit to offer greater resources to the surrounding community. The 65-acre sanctuary gets 100,000 visitors a year and is also a destination for school visits, field trips, and day camps.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place on:
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Open House, 3 to 6 pm
Remarks and Ribbon-cutting, 4 pm
7 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, ME
The event is open to the public (registration is encouraged).
The expansion will enable Maine Audubon to continue to grow its thriving native plants program, which began nearly a decade ago, introducing Mainers to the role and importance of native plants that help migratory birds thrive by supporting the insects they use as food. The program has grown from an annual plant festival and sale to a year-round statewide initiative including plant sales, habitat restoration, community tree nurseries, and landscape-level projects with municipalities, businesses, and homeowners.
Maine Audubon Director of Education Eric Topper says the space will allow Maine Audubon to expand programming focused on enhancing and fortifying the entire ecological gardening ecosystem throughout Maine. He says, “Maine Audubon’s roots in science will be evident throughout the building and grounds as we conduct native plants studies and field trials, highlight phenology, address climate change, and engage Wabanaki indigenous knowledge experts.”
Andrew Tufts, Native Plants Program Manager, says “Maine Audubon has built strong partnerships with schools, municipalities, conservation organizations, landscape professionals, nurseries, and homeowners across the state. The new Native Plants Education Center will expand those relationships—serving as a living classroom, demonstration landscape, and collaborative space where science-based design, community engagement, and ecological restoration come together.”
In addition to the 2200+ sq. ft. Native Plants Education Center, an adjacent new Stewardship Annex will provide expanded storage for tools and equipment to better manage Maine Audubon sanctuaries, and for equipment used in statewide conservation efforts including the Coastal Birds program, loon monitoring, Stream Smart road crossing work, as well as other community science programs.
Kaplan Thompson Architects, Aceto Kimball Landscape Architecture, Acorn Engineering, and Wright-Ryan Construction have worked professionally and collaboratively with Maine Audubon over the past two years to develop the plans and details for the center.
Phil Kaplan of Kaplan Thompson Architects says, “The new center is a high performance, all-wood building constructed primarily of local materials, designed to be fully net zero energy and to stand the test of time, both architecturally and in terms of durability and resilience, in keeping with Maine Audubon’s own lasting presence. We’re excited to see it put to use, now and for generations to come.”
