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WINTHROP — The Kennebec Land Trust has conserved two new properties, the Storer Farm Preserve in Vienna and additions to the Eastern River Preserve in Pittston.
The conservation of the new properties, 98 additional acres, advances the Kennebec Land Trust’s mission of protecting important ecosystems and providing open space for the region’s communities.
In May, KLT bought two parcels totaling 28 acres adjacent to the trust’s 22-acre Eastern River Preserve in Pittston. The acquisition was made with funding from the Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s Merrymeeting Bay/Marsh Migration Initiative. With the additions, KLT’s 50-acre Eastern River Preserve now protects 1,810 feet along Otter Creek and 4,120 feet along the tidal Eastern River, including valuable wetlands, woodlands and wildlife habitat. The preserve’s short, meandering path features Otter Creek and the Eastern River shoreline.
Located off the Blodgett Road in Pittston, this preserve is managed to protect wildlife habitat and water quality, for low-impact outdoor recreation and for nature observation. At the time of the transfer to KLT, the former owners, Alex Vira, Joyce Tigano and Barbara Georgette, recalled their early days along the Eastern River, sharing memories of fishing, picking apples and walks on the shore.
In June, the trust acquired the Storer Farm Preserve in Vienna. Donated by the Storer Farm Community, the 70-acre conservation property will protect a large unfragmented forest habitat, valuable wetlands, and a community snowmobile trail.
At the time of their donation, members of the family wrote of this land: “For our children and our children’s children and beyond, we put aside this small piece of the world, forever wild, for generations of the two-legged, four-legged, winged, finned, green, and all things that live.”
Jim Connors, co-chair of the KLT Lands Committee, said, “There is a rich story associated with this land that includes native people, early farmers in Vienna, the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s, and today’s conservation movement.”
Kim Vandermeulen, president of the KLT Board of Directors, added, “Together we are protecting forestland, wetlands, and other valuable natural places on the landscape – places that we love, and that in turn support our communities and ecosystems.”
