Patience, Persistence, and Projects Completed

We’re not halfway through the year and already Maine Coast Heritage Trust has conserved eight incredible places along the Maine coast in 2018. This is possible thanks to generous donors and landowners and public funding. 

Some of these conservation projects were completed in a matter of months. Others have taken over a dozen years to come to fruition.

“It takes patience, as well as persistence, to realize more and better conservation projects over the long haul.”

On January 23, MCHT closed on a project to conserve a 148.5-acre parcel in Gouldsboro providing public access to Forbes Pond. (Ken Woisard Photography)

That’s one of the many benefits of having been conserving the coast for nearly 50 years: we’ve learned that it takes patience, as well as persistence, to realize more and better conservation projects over the long haul. 

“Sometimes when trying to conserve a property, it takes a long time. You think you might have lost it, but it comes back around,” says Downeast Project Manager Patrick Watson.

Weskeag will be one of few sizable mainland midcoast preserves owned and managed by MCHT.

Here are some of the places conserved so far in 2018:

Bailey’s Mistake, Lubec

• Closing date: March 15
• Acres conserved: 11
• Project timeline: 2016 – 2018
• Benefits: Securing commercial water access (8 fishermen currently use the site); creating future recreational opportunities; protecting a locally beloved waterfront view
• Fun fact: The land is so named for a captain who ran his cargo ship aground here on a foggy day in 1809.

Barney’s Point, Vinalhaven

• Closing date: February 12
• Acres conserved: 48
• Project timeline: 2006 – 2018
• Benefits: Protecting 9,000 feet of intertidal shorefront—from a mussel bed to shorebird mudflats to fringing salt marsh; recreational opportunities
• Fun fact: Barney’s Point is home to a state-threatened plant, American Sea-blite.

Forbes Pond West, Gouldsboro

• Closing date: January 23
• Acres conserved: 148.5
• Project timeline: 2016 – 2018
• Benefits: Conserving a key stepping stone on the “Schoodic to Schoodic” wildlife corridor; providing public access to a large expanse of conserved land with outstanding recreational opportunities
• (Not-so-) fun fact: The landowner before last was known to meet fishermen with a shotgun and ask them to “check in next time.” You better believe they did.

Hills Island, Hancock

• Closing date: January 9
• Acres conserved: 8.5
• Project timeline: 2016 – 2018
• Benefits: Hills Island is in the heart of a wild stretch of coastline where MCHT has focused conservation efforts over the past 12 years.
• Fun fact: The island has a long history of successful nesting bald eagles. Take care not to disturb them!

Johnson Point, Machiasport

• Closing date: January 10
• Acres conserved: 105
• Project timeline: 2003 – 2018
• Benefits: Expanding an existing preserve; protecting habitat for waterfowl, wading birds, and other wildlife
• Fun fact: It took six real estate transactions to conserve this one parcel.

Robinhood Cove, Georgetown

• Closing date: January 2
• Acres conserved: 156
• Project timeline: 2017 – 2018
• Benefits: This easement protects 5,000 feet of water frontage and two state-endangered natural community types: Pitch Pine Woodland and Hemlock-Hardwood Pocket Swamp.
• Fun fact: The landowners generously donated the easement as well as money for future stewardship of the land.

Weskeag, South Thomaston

• Closing date: March 16
• Acres conserved: 133
• Project timeline: 1998 – 2018 (the longest on the list!)
• Benefits: Outstanding low-impact recreational and birding opportunities, with open fields and sweeping views of the Weskeag River
• Fun fact: This will be MCHT’s third sizable mainland preserve in the Midcoast (after Aldermere Farm and Erickson Fields).