Farewell to a founding steward: Richard Barringer’s Allagash legacy
Richard Edward Barringer, a lifelong public servant in Maine and one of the founding board members of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation, died on October 20, 2025, at the age of 87.
While Barringer’s distinguished career spanned three gubernatorial cabinets and the founding of the Muskie School of Public Service, more recently he was deeply committed to preserving the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.
Barringer’s passion for Maine’s environment was a throughline in his career, beginning with his role in the 1970s as the state’s first director of the Bureau of Public Lands, where he helped reclaim 600,000 acres of public reserved lands. This commitment to conservation found a focused expression in his retirement.
In 2011, Barringer joined with other dedicated Maine outdoor stewards to establish the Allagash Wilderness Waterway Foundation. He was instrumental in shaping our organization’s early mission to support the conservation, education, and public use of the 92-mile Waterway.
“I met Dick Barringer in November 1973, shortly after he had become the Director of the Bureau of Public Lands. Dick came to Chewonki to meet with high school students to discuss emerging environmental policy,” Don Hudson, AWWF board president, said. “With a friendly, open and energetic demeanor, deep knowledge of history and public policy, and a keen intellect, Dick held their rapt attention for a couple of hours.
“The Allagash brought us together again in September 2005, when I joined the AWW Advisory Committee and we served together a couple of years later on Governor John Baldacci’s Working Group for the Waterway. When it was time to create a friends group for the Allagash, Dick was more than happy to be a founding director. Dick brought the same friendly demeanor, knowledge, and intellect to all of our deliberations. And, just as he did with those students 40 years earlier, Dick inspired us all with his deep love of the Allagash.”
As a key committee member of AWWF’s Natural Resources Inventory and Monitoring program, Dick played a critical role in shepherding the creation and publication of two essential Allagash guidebooks:
- Allagash Explorer (2020)
- This Extraordinary Place (2025)
In addition, Dick played a critical role in the 2023 publication of “A River in Space and Time,” the first comprehensive inventory and ecological assessment of the Waterway, and 2018’s “Storied Lands and Waters,” which provided historical and cultural assessments of the Allagash.
These publications serve as vital resources for both visitors and conservationists, documenting the history and ecology of the region and helping to educate the public about the importance of the Allagash.
Barringer’s belief in collaboration and community drove his conservation work, ensuring that the protection of the Allagash was a shared effort for the benefit of all Maine people.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, November 18, from 4 to 5 p.m. at 14 Ocean Gateway Pier in Portland. According to Barringer’s family, those desiring may make memorial contributions to AWWF or the Portland Parks Conservancy.