Land trusts fundraise to protect Orono property

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With the combined efforts of many private and state agencies, a natural corridor will connect several conserved land parcels in the Orono area. The Orono Land Trust and Bangor Land Trust have joined forces to raise the money to fund the project.

“The large sum needed to protect the land along the corridor is split between the Land for Maine’s Future board and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, the Nature Conservancy, Maine Audubon, Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department, as well as private donations and federal grants,” said Sally Jacobs, president of the Orono Land Trust Committee.

The Land for Maine’s Future is a state grant agency that was created in 1987, when citizens voiced a desire to have Maine’s most special lands held forever in the public trust.

The Maine Legislature created the LMF program to secure “the traditional Maine heritage of public access to Maine’s land and water resources or continued quality and availability of natural resources important to the interests and continued heritage of Maine people,” according to the LMF Web site.

The proposed corridor through the Orono area would use up the last of the state’s funding for Land for Maine’s Future. A new grant allocation is currently being proposed for LMF in the Maine legislature.

“This conservation-recreation corridor will act to protect the water quality in Pushaw Lake and the endangered and threatened species in the bogs,” Jacobs said. “It will provide trails connecting Bangor, Veazie, Orono, Old Town, Alton and Hudson. It will provide for all of the traditional Maine outdoor activities.”

In 1986, the Orono Land Trust was incorporated as a non-profit organization with the mission of preserving Orono’s trail system for public use and integrating it into any plans for town development.

The trail system was envisioned as public greenways, connecting larger parcels of public land that would give walkers and skiers a feeling of “getting away from it all,” Jacobs said, and yet be accessible within a 10-minute walk from most houses in Orono.

The corridor will provide much more than land preservation, Jacobs said. The corridor is expected to contribute to quality of life in the area, she said.

“One remarkable aspect of the corridor is it’s large enough to give a feeling of wildness right in our back yard,” Jacobs said. “If the Orono Bog Boardwalk, the Bangor City Forest and the Orono Land Trust Trails are any indication, the preservation of the corridor will help the economy, our health and our spirits, as well as the wildlife.”

The developers of the corridor hope to add much to the campus community, as well. The corridor will protect much of the land that is already used for cross country skiing, mountain biking, and other activities from commercial or residential development.

“It will offer people the opportunity to walk or bike from their doorsteps or close to it,” Jacobs said.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 19th, 2004, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.