The Appalachian Mountain Club has purchased more than 4,000 acres adjacent to the historic Katahdin Iron Works site in Piscataquis County as part of a land deal negotiated with several conservation groups.

The 4,358-acre tract includes land surrounding Silver Lake as well as 12 miles of frontage along the West Branch of the Pleasant River in Katahdin Iron Works Township and Williamsburg Township. The property, which is located between Greenville and Brownville Junction, is a popular destination for hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, paddling and snowmobiling. A conservation easement guarantees public access to the land for recreation in perpetuity.

The deal was negotiated by the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Forest Society of Maine and the Open Space Institute with the previous landowner, a New Hampshire-based timberland investment company known as Conservation Forestry. The Forest Society of Maine, which will hold the conservation easement on the land, raised $4.35 million for the deal.

“The remarkable mix of ecological and recreational values found here made this a high priority project for us, especially as it fills a key gap in the network of 2 million acres of already conserved lands in this region of Maine’s North Woods,” Alan Hutchinson, executive director of the Forest Society of Maine, said in a statement.

The parcel is adjacent to the state-owned Katahdin Iron Works – a historic iron manufacturing site not far from Gulf Hagas – and to 70,000-plus acres of other conservation lands owned by the Appalachian Mountain Club.

Kevin Miller can be contacted at 791-6312 or at:

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