Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Island Institute?
We are a membership-based nonprofit with offices in Rockland and Portland, Maine that has focused for 25 years on helping sustain Maine’s year-round island and working-waterfront communities.
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What does the Island Institute do?
We serve as a voice for the balanced future of Maine’s islands and working waterfronts. Our emphasis is on advocacy, convening, technical assistance, publications, educational programs, college scholarships and other resources. Ours is a responsive mission in that we base our projects, events, research and all other efforts on requests from the communities themselves, and adapt our focus in alignment with their needs. To read our official Mission Statement, please click here.
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Where does the Island Institute work?
The Island Institute primarily focuses on the 15 year-round island communities off the Maine coast. These include islands from Casco Bay off of Portland to Downeast Maine.

Casco Bay: Chebeague Island, Cliff Island, Great Diamond Island, Long Island, Peaks Island
Penobscot Bay: Isle au Haut, Islesboro, Matinicus, Monhegan, North Haven, Vinalhaven
Downeast: Great Cranberry, Frenchboro, Islesford (Little Cranberry), Swan’s Island

In addition, the Island Institute serves working-waterfront communities all along the Maine coast.
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Who are the people of the Island Institute?
Philip Conkling, the Institute’s president, and Peter Ralston, its executive vice-president, founded the Institute in 1983. They lead a full-time staff of 32, including writers, planners, geographers, educators, artists, marine scientists, community organizers and policy experts. The Institute is managed by a talented and committed board of trustees that includes year-round and seasonal island residents who share our passion for the Maine coast.
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Why does the Island Institute exist?
A century ago, there were 300 year-round island communities. Today, only 15 remain. If that kind of decline had occurred to a population of wildlife, there would be an endangered-species program to reverse it.

The year-round island and working-waterfront communities of Maine are unique and special places with a distinct culture that is inextricably tied to the identity of Maine and our nation. As the world rapidly becomes more standardized, Maine’s islands and other communities like them are important to celebrate. They are also increasingly rare.

The number of year-round island communities has declined for many reasons. Since they were first settled by the earliest Europeans looking for territory defensible from Native Americans, existence on the islands has always been precarious and removed from life on the mainland. This remoteness is part of the islands’ special appeal for many visitors and residents.

It is also a challenge for those who choose to call these islands home. Issues such as working-waterfront access, natural-resource management, affordable housing, education, utility and fuel costs, Internet access, large-scale residential development, fisheries regulations, emergency medical services and fire protection seriously affect the sustainability of island communities.

For a quarter-century, the Island Institute has been there to help islands find a common voice, advocate effectively, come together in collaborative partnerships and discover long-term strategies to sustain themselves.
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What kinds of programs does the Island Institute offer?
While there is no single ‘magic bullet’ that can address all challenges faced by island and working coastal communities, the Island Institute has been especially nimble when asked for help. Whatever the specificity of their focus, all of our programs have been developed in conjunction with islanders and are regularly evaluated to ensure that our efforts provide the greatest level of support possible.

Programs Include:
The Island Fellows Program
Preserving Working Waterfronts
Maine Island Scholarships
Geographic Information System (GIS) Mapping
Convening and Coalition-Building
Archipelago
Grant-Making
Information Technology (IT) Education
Publications
And much more…

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Does the Island Institute work outside of Maine?
While we focus our efforts on the year-round islands of Maine, many of the issues that the Island Institute addresses – fisheries management and climate change, for example – transcend state and national boundaries. We have placed two Island Fellows on Fishers Island, NY and have formed coalitions with national organizations and local organizations all along the eastern seaboard that address regional and national issues.
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Is the Island Institute a part of the Maine Island Trail Network (MITA)?
In 1985 and 1986, the Bureau of Public Lands contracted the Island Institute to make management recommendations for approximately 100 state-owned islands with potential for recreational use. Together with Dave Getchell, we envisioned an ‘island trail’ managed by user-volunteers that advanced a model of low-impact use. In 1992, MITA was spun off from the Institute at the request of its board.
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How can I become involved in the Island Institute?
We are always looking to add new members to our organization who share our passion for the Maine coast. Membership benefits include a copy of the annual Island Journal, 11 issues of the Working Waterfront, and a 10% discount at Archipelago, the Island Institute’s retail store. For more information on membership, please click here.

The Island Institute is also recruiting volunteers! We are piloting a new volunteer program this summer in Casco Bay that will match volunteers and their interests with volunteer requests from various organizations on the islands. If you are interested in either becoming or hosting a volunteer, please click here.
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If I don’t have a connection to a specific island, can I become involved in the Island Institute?
Of course! While many of our 4,800 members have a connection to a specific island or coastal community, we also have hundreds of supporters who may have never visited an island but are interested in our fisheries work, are ‘armchair visitors’ who love the Island Journal, sail Maine’s waters, or are simply intrigued by the culture of the Maine coast.
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