New Membership Levels in 2025

On January 1, 2025, Friends rolled out some changes to our membership levels. All levels are now named after places in Baxter State Park. We have removed the student, individual, and family levels, and added Roaring Brook ($30) and Katahdin Lake ($60). We’ve also

added a new $200 level, fittingly named Doubletop, for the many members who like to contribute at that level.

As a grassroots membership organization, annual dues from our members make our work on behalf of Baxter State Park possible. In most years, membership dues make up about a third of our income. Our last update to membership levels was a decade ago in 2014. Like everyone else, Friends has been feeling the pinch of inflation since then. We’ve been working hard to make funds stretch further, but the reality is that every dollar of membership dues achieves about 33% less impact for the Park than it did ten years ago.

As part of these changes, we will also begin counting our members more carefully. Your first membership renewal in 2025 will ask how many people in your household will be included in the membership. You can specify one or more individuals, and we will use that number in our member count. We encourage families who can afford it to renew at the $60 level or higher, but any of the membership levels listed above can cover multiple individuals. These changes went into effect on January 1, 2025. If you renewed your membership before the end of 2024 , not to worry – it will still be valid for a full year from the date you renewed. The new levels will apply the next time your membership renewal date rolls around in 2025. If you have any questions in the meantime, please let us know. As always, thank you so much for your membership support – we couldn’t do it without you!