CAMDEN – “Maine’s Cultural Landscapes: Preserving and Promoting Our Streetscapes and Countryside” is the title for a statewide historic preservation conference sponsored by Maine Preservation.

This annual gathering of preservation advocates, community leaders, interested citizens and professionals will be Saturday, Sept. 13. Registration begins at 8 a.m.

Morning sessions will be in the Camden Opera House. Regional site visits to Beech Hill Preserve, Aldermere Farm, Merry Spring Nature Park and downtown Camden will be in the afternoon.

Patricia M. O’Donnell, an expert in the field of historic landscape preservation and Olmsted parks, will be the keynote speaker. She serves on the Historic American Landscapes Committee, the Cultural Landscapes Foundation Board and is a former chairman of the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Historic Preservation Committee.

Saturday’s finale will be a tour of one of Rockport’s most-revered private colonial revival gardens, organizers said. Advance registration is $45 for Maine Preservation members and $55 for nonmembers, which includes a one-year membership. A $10 on-site registration fee will be added. Lunch is not included.

A pre-conference wine reception and slide lecture will begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, at the Opera House. It will feature Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, speaking on “Camden a Century Ago, as Seen Through the Work of its Three Architects: Cyrus P. Brown, Stephen G. Ritterbush and W.E. Schwartz.” Advance registration of $25 a person is required.

For more information, contact mainepreservation.org or (207) 775-3652. Maine Preservation is a statewide nonprofit advocacy organization.