[at-l] AT on Katahdin open 6/3

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C)]

TJ. Thanks for the photos. They came through fine.

I spoke yesterday with a woman who works for the Nature Conservancy, which owns the land south of Baxter State Park where the cutting is taking place. 

She said that the sale to the Nature Conservancy was conditioned on two additional years of limited harvesting by Great Northern Paper Co. She claims it isn't "liquidation" harvesting, though the Nature Conservancy would prefer that it wasn't happening. "It was the best deal we could negotiate," she said. She added that the harvesting sites are carefully monitored to make sure "that the limits imposed by the sale are upheld."

We met at the annual meeting of a non-profit land trust that manages a preserve her family set up in my town 30+ years ago. The several branches of the family created a land trust on 600 of the 700 acres that they owned, including a mile and a half of sand beach and a high hill with views of Casco Bay with the White Mountains in the distance.

The preserve is operated by Bates College under a $1 a year 50-year-lease and is the subject of considerable research by students and staff at Bates and other Maine colleges. Visitors are welcome, but they must walk a five mile round trip to reach the beach -- the largest and wildest undeveloped beach remaining in Maine as far as I know.

Bates College trustees elect two Trustees of the non-profit corporation that now owns the preserve. The family names one trustee. Those three then elect two "public" trustees. I was one of the two original public trustees, and remain the only original trustee still serving.

It's a spectacular piece of land. If anyone on the list ever visits mid-coastal Maine let me know. I'll take you on a guided tour. Like a lot of trail conservation efforts both in Maine and elsewhere this particular preserve provides benefits for both the family and the public.

The public gets to explore an incredibly beautiful coastal landscape. Colleges get an uncluttered place for student and faculty research. And the family gets to enjoy their enclaves that they preserved when the land trust was created, though with children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and spouses, the enclaves are getting crowded.

But the family is made up of mostly school teachers and other middle class professionals. Had they not created the land trust, it's unlikely if they could afford the taxes, right alone the pressure from multiple children to sell to developers.

Weary