Land trusts around Maine have received $65,000 for upgrades to their trail systems and other improvements.

The projects, which recently received funding through the L.L.Bean Maine Land Trust Grant Program administered by Maine Coast Heritage Trust, include the design and planning of a new parking area at the popular Robinson Woods Preserve in Cape Elizabeth.

There’s also a planned trail reroute and the installation of steps at the Cathance River Nature Preserve in Topsham and the installation of new solar-powered lights on a ski loop at Roberts Farm Preserve in Norway, along with seven other projects.

“The entire land trust community is deeply appreciative of this investment in our collective effort to connect more people to Maine’s special places,” said Angela Twitchell, land trust program director for the Maine Coast Heritage Trust.

Maine has more than 80 land trusts, and organizations that manage conserved land, run environmental education programs, work on restoration projects, and provide a place for the public to recreate.

‘IT’S VERY EXCITING’

In Cape Elizabeth, a $10,000 grant from the program will allow for the design and planning of a new parking area off Shore Road, where the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust is planning to put in a new “universally accessible” trail that will allow people with mobility challenges to access Robinson Woods.

The 200-acre wooded preserve is a signature location for the land trust, said Executive Director David Briman. “It’s very exciting for us,” Briman said. “Hopefully it will be a way of bringing more people out and showing them what we’re excited about who otherwise didn’t have that opportunity. The truth is we think that will be a lot of people.”

The design and planning of the parking area is just the first step towards what Briman estimates will be about a $360,000 project to include the building of the parking area as well as the design and construction of the trail. The trust is hoping to complete the design and permitting of the parking by the end of September, he said.

The trail itself will be part of an existing network of trails at Robinson Woods but will be wider, wheelchair accessible, and include rest stops. Briman said it would likely be between a half-mile to seven-tenths of a mile.

“We’re not interested in just checking off a box,” he said. “We think this will be just as engaging and gratifying as our more challenging trails but someone who might not ordinarily be able to go out in the woods because they have a stroller, or are unsteady on their feet, they walk with a cane or are in a wheelchair, they will be able to go out and interact with the natural world.”

The Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust is also receiving $10,000 to complete a trail reroute project and construction of wooden steps that have been five years in the making at Cathance River Nature Preserve in Topsham. Director of Conservation Margaret Gerber said the reroute was necessary due to development on adjacent land that previously had contained some trail connections.

“This step will allow people to more easily access the trail as well as hold the trail in place and prevent erosion in the long-term,” Gerber said. “We’re very grateful for the funding to allow us to finish the project.”

In Norway, the program awarded the Western Foothills Land Trust $4,500 that, in combination with $4,000 raised by Oxford Hill High School alum and parents, will allow the trust to install solar LED lights on a 2-kilometer Nordic ski loop at Roberts Farm.

The ski trail is slated to open during the 2024 ski season and is being called “Coach’s Loop” in honor of the high school’s retiring Nordic ski coach, Christopher Easton.

“This grant, combined with the donations raised by ski alums and the hundreds of volunteer hours needed to install the lights will be enough to flip the switch this winter,” the Western Foothills Land Trust said in a statement.

‘THESE PROJECTS MEAN A LOT’

Since 2004, the L.L. Bean grant program has provided over $400,000 in grants to nearly 60 land trusts across Maine, according to Maine Coast Heritage Trust.

Recipients of the most recent round of funding were notified of the awards in November and include land trusts in Lovell, Falmouth, and the Sebago Lake region. Awards were also made to trusts that work in Kennebec, Somerset, Washington, and York counties.

The Scarborough Land Trust in 2021 received $3,500 to reroute its Hayfield Trail at the Fuller Farm Preserve. The rerouting was necessary to protect grassland bird populations that use the center of the field where the trail is located for nesting, said Scarborough Land Trust Executive Director Andrew Mackie.

Whereas the trail previously ran through the field, it now runs along the perimeter, between the tree line of nearby wooded areas and the field.

Mackie said the trust counted a small increase in the number of Bobolinks – the main species of grassland bird that nests in the area – when they conducted a count in June. “That could be linked to the fact there is potentially less disturbance for the birds now that people don’t cut through the middle (of the field),” Mackie said.

The grant funding was a small, but critical, part of what was overall a $22,000 project.

“These projects mean a lot to our community and our wildlife,” Mackie said. “This is something we always have to do, is strike a balance between managing the species on the property and public access. We have to find that perfect ground that allows for as much public access as we can, but we also need to take care of the species that live there and make sure we’re not negatively impacting them.”

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