Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering
Our biennial meetings are designed for alpine researchers, managers, educators, and stewards to share information, expand their training, and improve the understanding and stewardship of the alpine areas of northeastern North America.
2026
The 14th Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering (NEASG) will be held on Oct. 29-31, 2026 at the Sugarloaf Resort in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, hosted by the Maine Appalachian Trail Club with support from the Waterman Fund.
Program & Schedule
A preliminary program and schedule will be available by early fall 2026.
Registration
Register for the 2026 Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering.
Lodging
Lodging is available on site at the 2026 Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering.
Call for Abstracts
To be issued later this summer.
Sponsorship
Support the Gathering while promoting your business or organization.
Questions?
Please contact the Waterman Fund board member Kevin Berend with questions.
Programming Highlights
Keynote Speaker
Jon Liebowitz, President & CEO of Northeast Wilderness Trust
Hope is Wild: The forests of the Northeast are some of the most important on the planet. They also represent a remarkable second chance. Just over a century ago, much of the region was cleared for agriculture; today, much of the forest has regrown. What we choose to do with this gift from Nature is one of the great questions of our time. One strategy taking hold is rewilding, an often misunderstood approach that trusts natural processes to lead the way. Hear what rewilding really means, the common characteristic of wild places across the world, and why bringing back old, complex forests is a hopeful endeavor in these trying times.
- Happy Hour with drinks and hors d'oeuvres
- Workshops & Breakout Sessions
- Oral Presentations on alpine research, stewardship, trail work
- Poster Session
- Essay Reading by Waterman Fund essay contest winners
- Field Trips featuring alpine ecology, trail work, and stewardship
Awards
Each year, the Waterman Fund recognizes individuals who have contributed to alpine stewardship. We do this by presenting two awards:
- Guy Waterman Alpine Steward award – Recognizes an individual who has demonstrated a lifetime of commitment to protecting the physical and spiritual qualities of the mountains in the Northeast.
- Emerging Steward award – Recognizes a young person or early-career individual who has demonstrated a commitment to alpine stewardship and/or leadership in carrying forward protection of the physical and spiritual qualities of the mountains in the Northeast.
Anyone who has been an active steward of the mountains of the Northeast can be nominated for these awards. The nominee can be a volunteer, a government employee, or the employee of a for-profit or nonprofit organization. An organization or group may also be nominated. To nominate someone for one of these awards, please follow the links above. Nominations are due Aug. 31.
Thank you to our current sponsors!
And these individuals: Anonymous | Holly Sheehan | Jensen & Breena Bissell | Jordon Tourville | Kevin Berend | Margaret Day | Theodore Loukides
Venue Information(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)
Sugarloaf Mountain Hotel
5092 Access Rd.
Carrabasset Valley, ME 04947
Phone: 1-800-843-5623 or 1-207-237-2000 (general switchboard)
Email: [email protected]
The Waterman Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to “foster the spirit of wildness and strengthen the stewardship and understanding of the alpine areas of northeastern North America to conserve their ecological, cultural, and recreational values.” We pursue this mission by providing grants for education, trail rehabilitation, and research, by administering an annual essay contest, and by organizing the biennial Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering.
The Maine Appalachian Trail Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose purpose is to construct, maintain and protect a section of the Appalachian Trail in Maine, extending from Katahdin to Grafton Notch. This includes a system of shelters and campsites at proper intervals, to render accessible for hiking the wild region of Maine through which the Trail passes.
Past Gatherings
2024
The 13th Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering was held on October 25-27 at the Appalachian Mountain Club's Highland Center in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The gathering was hosted by the Appalachian Mountain Club, in partnership with the Waterman Fund.
13th Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering at AMC's the Highland Center, October 26, 2024
2022
The 12th Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering was held on October 14-16 at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Craftsbury, Vermont. The gathering was hosted by the Green Mountain Club, in partnership with the Waterman Fund.
2019
The 11th Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering was held on October 25-27 at the High Peaks Resort in Lake Placid, New York. The gathering was hosted by the Adirondack Mountain Club, in partnership with the Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Waterman Fund. You can review the 2019 Program.
2018
The 10th Northeast Alpine Stewardship Gathering was held on April 27-29 at the Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee, VT. The gathering was hosted by the Waterman Fund, in partnership with the USFS and MERE.
2015
The 9th Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering was held on November 6-8 in the shadows of Katahdin at the New England Outdoor Center, Millinocket, Maine. See the 2015 Alpine Steward Newsletter(opens in new tab) (page 11) for a description of the weekend’s events.
2013
The 8th Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering was held on November 1-3 at Sargent Center, Hancock, NH.. The title was The Alpine: Bellwether of Change. The Gathering was hosted by the MERE Project and the Environmental Studies Department at Antioch University New England. Key addresses were offered by Michael Jones and Liz Willey – Eastern Alpine Guide: A Vision for Collaborative Conservation; Amy Seidl – Environmental Pragmatism and Stewardship in the 21st Century.
2011
The 7th Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering was hosted by the Green Mountain Club(opens in new tab) at their headquarters in Waterbury Center, Vermont.
2009
The 6th Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering took place in the Adirondacks and was hosted by the Adirondack Mountain Club. Information about the Gathering is available by contacting us(opens in new tab).
2007
The 5th Northeastern Alpine Stewardship Gathering was held on June 8-9, and was hosted by Acadia National Park
"On behalf of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Trails Department, I would like to make a donation to help support this fund that will help to continue the work Laura and Guy pioneered in the Northeast mountains."
Andrew Norkin
White Mountains Trail Manager
Appalachian Mountain Club