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07/09/2008
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Staff photo by Joe Phelanfrom the Kennebec Journal
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COLLEGE HOCKEY: Maine rallies but falls short against Boston College
COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Colby women win season opener at home tournament
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
WEDDING BURGLAR JAILED
Youths talk Turkey Day
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Turkey prices make for a happy holiday
Kennebec County Superior Court
POLICE
COLLEGE HOCKEY: Maine rallies but falls short against Boston College
COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Colby women win season opener at home tournament
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
BY TRAVIS BARRETT
Outdoors Writer
An approaching car pulls off the side of the road. The woman inside frantically rolls down the window and flashes a wide smile.
"So, that's how you go in there," she says to the four of us, lined up outside our vehicles as we come out of the Besse Conservation Area in Wayne, one of the 40 Kennebec Land Trust properties in central Maine. "I've driven by here before but I had no idea where to walk in."
Happily, land trust stewardship director Theresa Kerchner quickly gives her the details of the area, and she encourages the woman to visit the organization's Web site for maps, directions and information. The moment is light, and -- for the passerby -- fortunate. Were a representative not on the grounds, who's to say how many other places outside of the land trust the woman may have visited without ever seeing Besse for herself?
It's a question worth asking a small, nonprofit land trust: What good is having all of this land if people are under the assumption these lands are all being held just for the people who are "in the know?"
"It's one of the problems dogging land trusts," said John Lund, a longtime conservationist in Maine and an advisory member of the land trust. "It's that people don't know where they are."
Islands unto themselves
Lund, a former attorney general, knows some of those places that nobody knows about as well as anyone.
Since the 1940s, Lund's family has kept a camp on Hodgdon Island on the northern half of Cobbossee Lake. The Kennebec Land Trust, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this autumn, now owns half of Hodgdon, and part of Horseshoe Island and all of Perry Island.
In theory, Hodgdon Island is poised to be the shining island property of the Kennebec Land Trust. It boasts a natural sandy-bottom beach, a sheltered landing area for canoes and kayaks and a hiking trail that Lund hopes to have completed by this fall.
In practice, however, it's a virtual secret.
"Where we landed (our boat), that area gets heavy use -- but mostly it's people who come there to beach their boat and let the kids swim and splash around," Lund said. "I think we'll get fairly heavy use (across more of the island), particularly if people get to know that there's a trail there."
Getting the word out is important. So, too, said Lund, is keeping a relatively quiet and undeveloped parcel in the middle of a lake that has its share of development.
On a boat run from the shore to Horseshoe Island, there are so many houses and camps that it becomes difficult to tell if you're looking at shoreline or island properties.
Hodgdon Island stands out as undeveloped -- and open to public use. On the southwestern side of Hodgdon, a sign marks the landing area for the 17-acre island parcel.
"It's quiet," said Lund, "and there's an opportunity to see undisturbed forest. There's relatively undisturbed water getting there, too. It's a fairly easy trip, particularly if you enjoy the quiet of paddling."
Signing up
At the Gov. Curtis Homestead in Leeds, a large kiosk just off of a generous parking area greets visitors. The kiosk -- an Eagle scout project completed in 2004 -- has a history of the property, photos of volunteer groups working in the area and maps.
There are clearly marked trails in the woods at Gov. Curtis, a wonderful patch of undulating woods, wetlands and grassy fields. Signage marks landmarks and directs hikers to and from different loop trails.
But not all land trust properties are so distinguished. Some, like the Besse Conservation Area, have no signage beyond small markers with the KLT logo to illustrate the edges of the property lines. With no trails and no guides, it can be daunting for people who are uncomfortable in the woods on their own, but who like to be outdoors.
"(Signage) is an important component. With the Kennebec Land Trust, their maps and properties are clearly marked," said Lisa Kane, a natural science educator for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. "But once people get there, they need to have some sense of what they're doing, because most people aren't going to go out there and just thrash around.
"Places like the Pine Tree State Arboretum, Vaughan Woods -- those are great examples. People know about them, so they use the trails -- and then the trails get worn enough so that you can follow them."
The problems facing the land trust, though, have to do with finding the manpower to complete the tasks. The trust employs just two people, neither of whom is full-time.
Each of the 40 individual conservation areas is managed by local stewards -- the people who are out maintaining trails and signs and cleaning up parking areas. It's done exclusively on their own time.
"We seriously believe that for people to enjoy the land, you need to actually go out and enjoy it," said Howard Lake, a founding member of the Kennebec Land Trust. "The people who enjoy it, they love it.
"But it takes a huge volunteer effort to maintain and build these trails. We can't do all of that, not unless we have more time and more money."
Travis Barrett -- 621-5648
tbarrett@centralmaine.com
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