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PHOTO: Campers at Camp Gustin Day Camp in 2019. The former Boy Scout property has been bought by Androscoggin Land Trust and will be preserved for conseration, as well as Scout and public recreation use. (Camp Gustin Facebook photo)
AUBURN – Androscoggin Land Trust has bought Camp Gustin, in Sabattus, and will permanently protect it as the Camp Gustin Conservation Area – something the Gustin family called “a great outcome.”
The 95 acres along Loon Pond and Curtis bog was owned by Pine Tree Council of the Boy Scouts of America, donated by Gustin family in 1948. The Scouts – as well as the public – will continue to use the property for activities.
The purchase, completed Sept. 15 after two years of discussions with BSA, has permanently protected the land, ALT said.
It has freshwater vulnerable forested and bog wetlands, upland wetlands, and forested upland buffer. Resource protection is the primary management goal for the property. There are approximately 1,800 feet of shore frontage on Loon Pond, several flowing and intermittent streams, vernal pools, and wetland including 15 acres of Curtis Bog.
“This remarkable property has been supporting scouting adventures for almost 90 years and ALT will be continuing this tradition by not only allowing for this historic use of the property, but also expanding access to other youth groups, as well as the public,” the trust said in a news release.
Shareen Gustin Thompson said that the Gustin family is “more than thrilled to know that their legacy will live on through the acquisition.”
“This purchase will preserve the property for outdoor recreational use in its wild and undeveloped nature by the Boy Scouts and the public,” Thompson said. “It has always been a source of immense pride that our grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great grandfather, Charles W. Gustin, made this charitable land donation in 1948. It was very important to his two sons, George W., and Lewis A. Gustin, that the land continue to be used for the purpose their father intended, and for his legacy to live on for generations. This is a great outcome and will allow Camp Gustin to be appreciated and used for years and years to come by all.”
The property was at “significant risk from developers for over a decade,” the trust said, and is a key component in protecting and preserving a 429-acre connective undeveloped habitat corridor with abutting conserved land, ALT said.
The trust began its campaign in March to raise the money for the purchase, which was made possible by “generous donors making significant gifts, some very successful grant writing done by ALT staff, and the bold step taken by the ALT Board in securing a gap funding loan,” the trust said.
Use of the property will include low-impact recreation – hiking, hunting, biking, skiing, fishing, birding, and carry-in carry-out camping, which will be open to the public and sites will be available by reservation.
Aimee Dorval, ALT executive director said the purchase is important not only for its conservation values, but its historical ties.
“We are grateful to the Pine Tree Council for agreeing to sell and conserve this land, and we are thrilled to extend the acreage in the Loon Pond/Curtis Bog watershed,” Dorval said. “The contiguous wildlife habitat and wetlands are irreplaceable. And we are extremely grateful to have the full support of the Gustin family in protecting a piece of land that is sentimental to their family.”
Aside from individual donations, funding partners were The Conservation Fund, Land for Maine’s Future, Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, Maine Bureau of Parks and Land, Rob Levin, John Sage Foundation, Lost Valley, Sonder & Dram, The Vault, Norway Savings Bank, Waterman Farm Machinery, Maine Source Homes & Realty, and the Gustin Family.
The trust is now working to finalize the $114,222 it needs to pay off the gap loan it secured to complete the purchase, as well as stewardship funds to assist in maintaining the property and its facilities into perpetuity, for a total of $150,000.
