Maine Heritage
The Newsletter
of
M a i n e C o a s t H e r i ta g e T r u s t
S u mm e r 2015
© K en Woisard
A Bequest Gift
Protects a Breathtaking
Peninsular Preserve
A bequest by the late Susan Drew will allow Maine Coast Heritage Trust to create its first mainland preserve in Brooklin,
encompassing a wild, 138-acre peninsula.
conservationist who wanted this
beautiful peninsula to remain natural,”
says Senior Project Manager Ciona
Ulbrich. “She was a fascinating
person—very direct and warm, with
a broad set of interests” that spanned
from sailing and cooking (running
a top-ranked restaurant in South
© Jill Krementz, 1996. From The Writer’s Desk
E.B. White made famous Allen
Cove in Brooklin, writing New
Yorker commentary and classics like
Charlotte’s Web in a boathouse by its
shore. What that sparse building—
with its bare wooden floor and walls,
austere furniture, and manual typewriter—lacked in amenities, it made
up for in view: an expansive vista
across Allen Cove to the wooded and
wild shoreline of Harriman Point.
Thanks to the great generosity
of the late Susan Lyman Drew, the
entirety of that 138-acre point
between Allen Cove and Blue Hill
Bay is now a public preserve owned
and managed by Maine Coast
Heritage Trust. Following periodic
conversations with MCHT staff
and board members spanning more
than three decades, she left the
Trust this property in a bequest.
“Sue was a devoted and visionary
E.B. White at work in his boathouse.
Carolina) to raising Belted Galloway
cattle. Sue delayed conserving Harriman
Point for years, Ulbrich explains, fearing
that she might have to liquidate
this asset during her retirement.
Fortunately for the people of Maine,
that never proved necessary.
After receiving notice of this
exceptional gift, MCHT staff members began gathering community input
in order to integrate residents’ needs
and concerns into preserve planning.
“The Brooklin Select Board, neighbors and others involved have been
very helpful,” Ulbrich says. Dozens
of community members contributed
toward a $225,000 stewardship fund—
nearly complete now­—that will help
cover the land’s long-term upkeep,
allow for annual payments in lieu of
taxes, and provide trails for walking,
snowshoeing and skiing.
continued on page three
P r e s i d e n t ’s C o l u m n by Tim Glidden
Taking the Long View
Land protection has long been an issue for which voters of both parties have found common
cause.… It is difficult to understand the hostility of some elected officials these days to public
lands, given the historical, bipartisan commitment to protecting our land and heritage.
— Will Rogers, President, The Trust for Public Land, New York Times, 4/2/15
2
this ploy as a personal affront, an attack—not just on a
highly respected and beneficial program—but on the
essential ties to the lands that define us.
By breaking his own promises and flaunting the will
of Maine voters, the governor has eroded public trust
and undermined the state’s credibility. As a Bangor Daily
News editorial noted: “LMF purchase agreements are
business deals with families, corporations or others who
want to preserve their land. Subjecting these entities to
the whims of an impetuous governor… perpetuates the
notion that Maine isn’t an honest broker when it comes
to business dealings.”
Although the governor has obstructed the progress of
individual land deals, he has not persuaded anyone that
conservation is irrelevant. Quite the opposite: this
unwarranted attack on LMF has energized the land trust
community and broadened its base of public support.
Maine has a long and honorable history of land
conservation dating back more than a century to Percival
Baxter and George Dorr. There is broad and enduring
support for conservation here, even more so now than
a century ago.
MCHT has always taken the long view in its work.
We’ve made progress by working with dedicated landowners
through shifting political winds and economic cycles. Our
commitment remains unshaken. From the land itself, we’ve
learned patience and persistence: time is on our side.
M a i n e H e r i t age s u mme r 2 0 1 5
© Paul R ezendes
Before coming to Maine Coast Heritage Trust, I had the
privilege of directing the Land for Maine’s Future (LMF)
Program, helping the state preserve landmark properties for
people to enjoy through time. My decade there convinced
me that the deep bond Maine people have with natural
lands cuts across political and demographic lines. It is the
common ground on which we all stand.
MCHT is and always has been a staunch advocate for
the LMF Program. The Trust is highly selective in its
public policy efforts, and over the decades many of these
have centered on public funding for land conservation
to complement the amazing generosity of private donors.
Through a strong alliance with The Nature Conservancy
and others, MCHT led the LMF bond fund campaigns—
working closely with a broad spectrum of partners from
the sporting community, tourism, environmental education,
agriculture and fisheries.
When it came to funding LMF, Mainers never took
much persuading. Since 1987, six LMF bonds passed
with roughly a two-thirds majority. Voters and legislators
understand how vital natural lands are to their quality
of life and livelihoods.
So it came as a shock this spring when Governor LePage
held hostage voter-approved LMF bond funds—trying to
extort a commitment from legislators to increase logging
on public lands and to raid the public land trust fund.
People from all walks of life and political stripes took
A Bequest Gift Protects a Breathtaking Peninsular Preserve
continued from page one
Community input prompted plans to
create a parking area off the property,
one carefully sited to ensure safety
and minimize impacts on neighboring
landowners. Given the extensive
planning involved, a parking area
will not be established until 2016.
Harriman Point is only the second
mainland preserve in Brooklin (the
first being Blue Hill Heritage Trust’s
Hundred Acre Wood) so it will greatly
increase recreational opportunities for
the region’s residents. Far more than
a local treasure, though, this property
is in Ulbrich’s words a “statewide gem,
an inspirational gift to Maine.”
Tim Swan
Maine Land Trusts Earn Accreditation
Maine land trusts were among the country’s first
to secure national accreditation, helping give
communities added confidence in the professionalism of land conservation. Twenty land trusts have
completed MCHT’s Maine Land Trust
Excellence Program, 16 of which have
now been accredited by the national
Land Trust Accreditation Commission (and three more have applications pending). Nine additional
trusts recently received Excellence
Program grants and are working toward
accreditation.
“The Excellence Program began six years ago as a way
to help trusts strengthen operations and systematically prepare for national accreditation,” notes Land
Trust Program Director Warren Whitney. “Thanks to
generous support from The Pew Charitable Trusts and
the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, MCHT has been
able to help trusts get the coaching, peer support, and
technical assistance needed to take that next step as
an organization.”
3
Angela Twitchell, Executive Director of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, says that the accreditation
process and Excellence Program support provided a
vital “roadmap for organizational improvements at a
time of major staff transition.” BTLT’s Board
President Brad Babson concurs, saying “we
wanted to take our land trust to a new
level, but we didn’t really know what that
meant.” Consulting support through the
Excellence Program gave BTLT the discipline and assurance needed to bring about
major organizational improvements, reinvigorate its board, and increase fundraising.
“It gave us confidence,” Twitchell adds, “that we were
doing our work in an efficient and sustainable way.”
The Land Trust Alliance has recognized MCHT’s Maine
Land Trust Excellence Program as a model for collaborative work to advance accreditation—one that has
been adapted by other states such as Massachusetts
and Michigan. “It’s been gratifying,” Whitney observes, “to see the hard work of land trusts here yield
such positive results in Maine and beyond.”
M a i n e H e r i ta g e s u m m e r 2 0 1 5
Fac e s
If longtime MCHT
member Ed Bradley
looks like he’s spent a
bit of time on the water,
well, that would be true.
A maritime lawyer, he
moved his growing family
to Maine in 1976, began
arguing maritime cases
for the State, and then
helped establish the
Marine Law Institute at
the University of Southern Maine. His career
has embraced everything
from representing fishermen to running Vessel
Services on the Portland waterfront—
with forays into clam and salmon
aquaculture and a current shellfish
lease for oysters.
“I came here because of the ocean,”
Bradley says, “and I stayed here because
of the ocean. It’s been a joy in our lives,
a real part of it. We have three girls and
of
C o n s e r va t i o n
Tim Swan
Meet
Ed Bradley
Casco Bay is in their blood, too.”
His maritime adventures have often
taken him to three small islands off
Harpswell. “There’s no place like the
Goslings,” he says, “particularly if you
have kids. They can dinghy in, there’s
sandy beach and the water’s warm. You
can drop a hook, have a barbecue, and
camp. It’s used by all
kinds of people from
all over, a real local
resource.”
When you ask
Bradley how he came
to be a key player in
the successful MCHT
awareness campaign to
conserve the islands,
his reply is passionate:
“You live in a community where everyone
knows what’s important.
This was important.
We all came together
and said, ‘we’ll do it
for our kids and grandkids.’”
And considering that nearly every
story he tells about being out on the
Bay involves his wife and those daughters, for him it really is as simple as that
idea at the heart of MCHT’s work:
people coming together to preserve
places they love. For us all. Forever.
Sustaining Traditional
Trail Access on Frenchboro
B ob D eForrest
For generations, residents of
Frenchboro Long Island have enjoyed
use of a woods path stretching from
the village to Little Beach, but the
private way had no guaranteed
access. Now island residents can
reach the beach through 11 acres
MCHT recently purchased, and
can continue around Gooseberry
Point where a newly donated
conservation easement protects
the existing trail.
The former owner of these lands,
Ruth Davis, worked with MCHT
to protect the property’s fragile
wetland—as a way to honor the
4
conservation vision of her late
husband, Bennie S. Davis, who
grew up on the island. “He loved
Frenchboro and was proud of its
beauty,” Mrs. Davis recalls. “It was
his ideal place.”
“Thanks to the conservation
easement donated by Mrs. Davis,
the people of Frenchboro can keep
enjoying this popular mile-long loop
trail with no substantive impact on
the community’s tax base,” notes
Project Manager Bob DeForrest.
“This is a great example of how
conservation can serve communities well.”
M a i n e H e r i ta g e S u m m e r 2 0 1 5
The Basin is an unusual tidal inlet, its tranquil waters
framed by hilly wooded shores. A narrow entrance opening to Hurricane Sound and Penobscot Bay minimizes
boat traffic and helps make this water body a wildlife
mecca. Several hiking trails cross the expanse of unbroken forest surrounding its shores. For those who seek an
experience of wildness close to Vinalhaven’s town center,
The Basin preserve offers an inviting destination.
This preserve demonstrates the essential truth in the
fictional Stone Soup tale—where community members
contribute what they can to create a collective feast. Several landowners began the process more than a quartercentury ago by donating a conservation easement on land
at The Basin entrance. Parcel by parcel since then, 96
percent of The Basin’s 7-mile shoreline has been protected
through acquisitions and conservation easements.
Alongside more than a dozen dedicated private
landowners, MCHT has been privileged to work with
Vinalhaven Land Trust (VLT) on this shared effort.
The combined holdings of both trusts now total more
than 1,000 acres, surrounding much of the 360-acre
body of tidal water.
MCHT and VLT work jointly on management planning
and periodically host guided walks on The Basin’s preserved
lands (where visitors can enjoy hiking, picnicking and
birdwatching as well as clamming, fishing and hunting).
“For many years, the two trusts have shared a focus on
‘whole place conservation’ efforts at The Basin,” notes
Linnell Mather, VLT Executive Director. “Now we’re
5
extending that commitment by collaborating to ensure
that management practices across the entire preserve are
thoughtful and consistent.”
Most of the protected upland area around the preserve
is spruce-fir forest. There are several large, pristine pockets
of spartina saltmarsh and three other rare natural communities: northern white cedar woodlands, pitch pine
woodlands, and a community of three-toothed cinquefoil
and blueberry growing atop exposed bedrock.
Deer, snowshoe hare, red squirrel, river otter and
mink frequent the shores and preserve lands. Visitors
enjoy sightings of seals, great blue herons, ospreys, terns
and eiders, along with an array of songbirds.
Directions: There are multiple trailheads (with
kiosks and maps) into The Basin preserve, with two
parking areas off Granite Island Road and two on smaller
dirt spurs (Wharf Quarry Road and Folly Pond Road) off
North Haven Road. The preserve is open daily for foot
traffic only (no wheeled vehicles).
Nearby Conserved Lands: MCHT owns a
96-acre preserve along Seal Bay, overlooking the Burnt
Islands, which includes a 1.9-mile hiking trail; and a 14-acre
preserve on Winter Harbor with a short trail to the shore
(and a tidal boat put-in). MCHT owns and manages
75-acre Calderwood Island, just north of Vinalhaven,
where visitors can enjoy picnicking and camping.
M a i n e H e r i ta g e S p r i n g 2 0 1 5
Rich Knox
The Basin
Vinalhaven
C h r ist i na E ppe rs on
M C H T F e at u r e d P r e s e rv e
Maine Coast Heritage Trust
1 Bowdoin Mill Island, Suite 201
Topsham, Maine 04086
M a i n e C oa s t H e r i tag e Tru s t
is dedicated to protecting land that is essential to
the character of Maine and to the health of coastal
communities. Since 1970, more than 144,000 acres
have been permanently protected, including more than
300 entire coastal islands. MCHT provides conservation
advisory services free of charge to landowners,
local land trusts and state and community officials.
A membership organization, MCHT welcomes your
support and involvement.
Main Office
1 Bowdoin Mill Island, Suite 201, Topsham, Maine 04086
207-729-7366
P.O. Box 669, Mt. Desert, ME 04660
207-244-5100
13A Willow Street, East Machias, ME 04630
207-259-5043
Aldermere Farm, 70 Russell Ave., Rockport, ME 04856
207-236-2739
Visit us at mcht.org
Become a fan of
MCHT on
Facebook
Joelle Albury
is supporting
operations at
Aldermere Farm
and Erickson
Fields Preserve
through work in
communications, fundraising, volunteer coordination, beef sales, and
financial records.
Kaileigh
Sweeney is
MCHT’s new
Administrative
Assistant
for both the
Development
and Land
Protection departments in
Topsham.
rinted on 100% post-consumer recycled stock
P
Design: ethos
S ta f f N e ws
Joining MCHT’s
Topsham office
is Ceci Danforth,
the new Outreach
Coordinator. Ceci
will be MCHT’s
lead person for
coordinating events and field trips,
as well as helping with annual fund
administration.
Warren Whitney, who has served
as Program Manager of MCHT’s
Land Trust Program since 2010, has
been promoted to the Trust’s leadership team as its Land Trust Program
Director. The creation of this new
position recognizes Whit’s stellar performance and the centrality of this
Program to MCHT’s work.
MCHT staff members bade farewell
this spring to Susan Connelly, who
devoted 22 years to the Trust—
beginning in administrative roles and
moving on to help oversee finances,
human relations and organizational
systems. Many colleagues considered
Susan “the heart and soul of MCHT,”
and will miss her.
MCHT’s GIS/Land Protection
Associate in Topsham, Christina
Epperson, is leaving Maine for the
Southwest. Christina worked with
quiet competence and great creativity
in this role for 15 years and will be
missed. Staff and board members wish
her well in her new home terrain.