The 2026 Penobscot Bay Stewards program, which spans seven weeks in spring and offers a wide range of encounters across the region, is welcoming applications through February 15.

Candidates are invited to complete the application at Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition website. The application and the program are free.

The Pen Bay Stewards program focuses on the nature, geology, history, health, and future of the watershed. As part of the program, the students travel the region: Blue Hill, Hurricane Island, Rockland, and more. They visit farms, rivers, and forests; they learn about soils and invasives.

Among the dozens of questions they address: How do plastics move through our waters? What does it take to grow an oyster? What are the costs of losing a working waterfront? Where have all the arctic terns gone?

Along the way, they’re guided by experts, including fishermen, naturalists, scientists, and volunteers working throughout the watershed.

At the program’s conclusion, stewards commit to 30 hours of volunteer time in activities that serve the future of the watershed. Among the activities graduates have chosen: leadership in the City of Belfast’s Climate, Energy, and Utilities Committee; hands-on help with elementary school programs; periodic trail maintenance; water quality monitoring; and more.This year the program runs from May 5 to June 16, with a break for the Memorial Day holiday.

Sponsored by Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition, the program has graduated hundreds of stewards and spawned a wide range of new and innovative community efforts over the last two decades.