RANGELEY — The Rangeley Lakes Region Historical Society board of directors has announced that Bill Pierce of New Vineyard has been appointed executive director of the Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum in Oquossoc.

Pierce, who served as director of development for the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust from 2008 to 2013, returns to Rangeley after a year in which he worked to establish a program known as Camp Liberty at King and Bartlett, providing outdoor experiences to groups of wounded warriors, cancer patients and children.

Prior to his time at RLHT, Pierce had been employed for 10 years at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, where he was instrumental in initiating several successful marketing and merchandising efforts.

“My family and I are thrilled to be coming back to Rangeley. I look forward to having the opportunity to share Rangeley’s rich outdoor sporting history through the programs we’ll offer at this beautiful facility,” said Pierce.

Historical Society Board President and Museum Founder Don Palmer said, “Bill’s impressive track record of promoting Maine’s outdoors while at IFW, his efforts while at RLHT and his passion for the Rangeley Region, as well as his extensive relationships within the local, state and outdoor communities, made him the obvious choice for this important position.”

“This region’s rich and varied outdoor history, its colorful personalities and its significant contributions to our nation’s outdoor traditions have helped make Rangeley what it is today, and will help make it what it is to be in the future,” said Pierce.

The Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum opened in August 2010 and is located in Rangeley’s village of Oquossoc at the corner of Routes 4 and 17.

The OSHM is a multi-media facility featuring an extensive collection of memorabilia and artifacts chronicling the region’s significant outdoor history, from the Paleo Native American period some 13,000 years ago to the present.

In 2014 several new exhibits will be unveiled, including displays featuring the Maine Warden Service, George Shepard Page and Rangeley’s Trophy Trout and Salmon.

“Our outdoor heritage matters. It has shaped our local economy and defined Rangeley in the hearts of so many, both past and present. This region’s unique culture and history, if successfully preserved and communicated, will continue to be reflected in its values and character and will surely have a profound influence on the future of this special community,” Pierce added.

Pierce will assume his new post as executive director on May 1. The museum will open for the season on May 9. More information can be found on the web at http://www.rangeleyoutdoormuseum.org.

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