Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
PHOTO: KLT President Janet Sawyer, landowner Ron Hewett and Theresa Kerchner, executive director. (Jane Davis photo)
FAYETTE — The Kennebec Land Trust is working to acquire a 120-acre hilltop property overlooking Echo Lake.
The parcel, owned by the Hewett family, is on the northern portion of Oak Hill, between KLT’s Surry Hill and Baldwin Hill conservation properties. Views from the hill are to Echo Lake to the east and the western mountains of Maine and New Hampshire to the west. The property consists of steep and rocky slopes on its east face and gentler slopes of mature growth hardwood to the west, leading into an open wetland and Hales Brook.
In March, Ron Hewett approached the trust about conservation planning and a proposal that would protect the Hewetts’ long-held family land from subdivision. Hewett’s parents, Jean E. (Wheeler) Hewett and the late Walter F. Hewett, have owned and taken care of 120 acres of forestland and fields on Norton Road since1965.
Once KLT acquires the property, new trails will be developed that will traverse a variety of forest types and gently climb a ledge to a rocky, forested hilltop. Window vistas of Echo Lake and the surrounding hills will be visible near the ledge top. The trust also plans to offer natural history, forestry and conservation education programs for students. Invasive plants will be cleared regularly, and KLT will maintain the fields as picnic sites and for wildlife habitat. A valuable sugarbush on the property will continue to be managed by Hewett. This operation will provide opportunities to engage and educate the community about sugaring.
As of Oct. 5, members and supporters have already pledged or donated $207,371 toward the Campaign. In order to complete this conservation project by the end of 2021, KLT needs to raise an additional $101,629 through private donations and grants. All money raised will be dedicated to the purchase of the land, trail development and the long-term care of this valuable community conservation property. For information, visit tklt.org/hewett-oak-hill-campaign.
