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The University of Maine gave up control of 900 acres of land and got 600 in return.
Two local land trusts and the University of Maine Foundation, along with UMaine, recently worked out a deal to secure 600 acres of new land for the university.
UMaine donated approximately 900 acres of “less useful” land in the Caribou Bog area to match the $666,566 in funds, making the project eligible for the grant.
In exchange, the Orono and Bangor land trusts will pass control of the 600 acres to the university, according to University of Maine Foundation President Amos Orcutt.
Administrators at UMaine said they believe the new acreage will benefit the education of their students and the research capabilities of the university. The land the university gave up near the Caribou Bog was too far away from the university and too “swampy” to be useful for education or research, according to School of Forest Resources Director Stephen Reiling.
“We own a lot of land around campus and across the state, which we essentially use as an outdoor laboratory,” Reiling said.
Students in forestry, ecology and wildlife programs at UMaine will have access to the new forest and bog lands, which he said are “more active and useful than the lands the university gave up in the donation.”
“The land will become a university resource that our department will be able to manage,” Reiling said.
The area will be open to the public for hunting, fishing, hiking and other recreational activities. The conservation efforts undertaken by the land trusts mean that the land cannot be developed or sold.
“Now, rather than just letting valuable wood resources sit out in the wilderness to rot, this deal will allow our university and its students to utilize it for forest research and education,” Orcutt said.
The Caribou Bog-Penjajawoc Project Committee, a joint committee of the Bangor Land Trust and Orono Land Trust, set up the plan and applied for a grant. They received $666,566 from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) toward their conservation efforts. The grant was one of 31 funded nationally, one of just nine in the Eastern Seaboard states, and the only one in Maine.
The Committee will use the grant money to purchase several parcels, the largest of which is nearly 850 acres, valued at more than $1 million.
The grant will protect about 3,800 acres of wetlands and adjacent uplands, according to a committee press release. These lands run from just north of the Bangor Mall area to Hirundo Wildlife Refuge in Hudson and are valued at more than $2 million.
The ultimate goal of the Caribou Bog-Penjajawoc Project Committee is to accumulate about 6,000 acres of undeveloped land for protected wildlife habitats and public recreational and educational use, according to a committee press release. This strip of land would stretch from just north of the Bangor Mall and extend between Pushaw Lake and Interstate 95 into Hudson.
The committee formed to emphasize the importance of the Penjajawoc Marsh and the Caribou Bog, and push efforts to conserve both areas. Penjajawoc Marsh is an important wetland for migratory birds and the Caribou Bog is the third most important bog in Maine, according to the committee’s press release.
Bangor Daily News