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TODAY'S HOURS

9AM – 7PM

TODAY'S HOURS

9AM – 7PM

TODAY'S HOURS

9AM – 7PM

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To me, there are two kinds of travel: There’s escape travel, and there’s reality travel. I want to go home a little bit different, a little less afraid, a little more thankful, a little better citizen of the planet.

-Rick Steves

Author of Europe Through the Back Door

Photo: Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times

Learn about CAE

The Center for Arts and Ecology is a nonprofit that operates onsite at the Desert of Maine. CAE's mission is to inspire people to engage with the complex history of the land, the awe-inspiring resilience of nature, and the power of a present and engaged community.

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Future Forward

The Desert is a visible reminder of the complex choices that people faced in the past, not unlike some of the challenges that face us today. European-style farming had been stripping top soil in New England since the early days of colonization. And while it may seem plausible that people “didn’t know any better” when the Tuttles farmed here in the 1800s, in fact farmers were well aware that their fields would “run out” if they continued to remove crops year after year and “put nothing back.” So why did they continue a way of life that jeopardized the health of the land? Can we not ask ourselves that very question?

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Wander
in
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Our Mission

After beating cancer, Rick Steves has a new take on travel. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed sed pretium dui, a ultrices dol convallis. Vivamus dapibus, turpis sit amet vehicula faucibus, mauris odio pulvinar sem, vel eleifend diam nibh et libero. Don

Raise the bar in travel

Rick Steves.jpg

Raise the bar in travel

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To me, there are two kinds of travel: There’s escape travel, and there’s reality travel. I want to go home a little bit different, a little less afraid, a little more thankful, a little better citizen of the planet.

-Rick Steves

Author of Europe Through the Back Door

Photo: Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed sed pretium dui, a ulnon nisi et varius. Fusce ultricies varius convallis. Vivamus dapibus, turpis sit amet vehicula faucibus, mauris odio pulvinar sem, vel eleifend diam nibh et libero. Don

Ecology, Geology and History

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Learn about CAE

The Center for Arts and Ecology is a nonprofit that operates onsite at the Desert of Maine. CAE's mission is to inspire people to engage with the complex history of the land, the awe-inspiring resilience of nature, and the power of a present and engaged community.

CAE_acorn.png
WanderinWonder_Ioana.jpg

Future Forward

The Desert is a crucial site of Freeport's agricultural history that nurtured close-knit communities that have much to teach us. On the other hand, the Desert is also a visible reminder of economic decline and harmful disturbance to the land. CAE is committed to telling the stories of the past with complexity as Freeport builds a future on the cutting edge of agricultural innovation in soil regeneration and sustainable farming as part of a nature-centric future. We've cultivated partnerships with similarly mission-driven groups and organizations all across New England.

Learn more >

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Kids running across the dunes.png
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