© Kennebec Journal

August 23, 2010

Book tells stories of saved land

Group celebrates 20th anniversary

By Matthew Stone mstone@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

LITCHFIELD -- For Elizabeth Davidson, the 97 acres of blueberry fields she owned in Vassalboro were worth preserving.

A PUBLIC TRUST: Kennebec Land Trust intern Katie Epstein conducted interviews for the book "Between Person and Place: Conservation Histories from the Kennebec Land Trust."

The idea of protecting his 100 acres of Readfield woodlands for posterity seemed like a good one to Douglas Macdonald.

And Judy and George Rogers worried that their 117 acres of farmland and forest in Litchfield could be developed, so they took steps to make it conservation land.

What do these land owners have in common?

They either donated their land or granted conservation easements to the Kennebec Land Trust to see to it that their properties stayed just as they are today.

Their stories and those of 15 other Kennebec County properties are told in the pages of the Kennebec Land Trust's new book, "Between Person and Place: Conservation Histories from the Kennebec Land Trust."

The Winthrop-based conservation group celebrated the book's release Sunday afternoon at an event near a recently conserved property in Litchfield.

"My hope is people will be inspired by the stories they read," said Theresa Kerchner, the trust's executive director.

The 18 stories of the land trust properties started coming together two years ago, as the group celebrated its 20th anniversary. In those 20 years, Kerchner said, the land trust had conserved thousands of acres and opened miles of trails to the public.

"It was a good time for us to look back," Kerchner said.

And it was a good time to start conveying the stories behind the properties.

Last year, Kennebec Land Trust intern Katie Epstein, of Lincoln, Mass., interviewed each of the landowners and donors featured in "Between Person and Place" and began piecing together their stories.

"This was a really special project for me to do," Epstein, who recently graduated from North Carolina's Davidson College and spent many of her childhood summers in Maine, told those gathered at Sunday's release event. "It was so wonderful to speak to you all, come to your homes and learn what this land means to you."

The result is 48 pages of text and pictures that convey the tales of conservation in Kennebec County.

"We have such a good story to tell," said Mort Libby, one of the land trust's founding members and a summer resident of Winthrop.

Libby's Cincinnati-based business, LPK, contributed the book's graphic design and printing; Libby estimated the value at about $30,000. The land trust had about 3,000 copies printed.

Kerchner said the Kennebec Land Trust will use the book in its efforts to expand in order to handle a growing interest in conserving Kennebec County land.

"The vision was really, how can we elevate our organization to the next level?" Kerchner said. "The success that people read about will breed more success."

The land trust's book is available for $12 at Apple Valley Books in Winthrop, Mr. Paperback in Augusta and online at the land trust's website, www.tklt.org.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com

Aug 16, 2010  CAPITAL WEEKLY

Intern interviewed 18 land donors

The Kennebec Land Trust has announced the Sunday, Aug. 22, release of its first book, "Between Person and Place: Conservation Histories from the Kennebec Land Trust."

Featuring essays and photographs that capture stories behind KLT’s conservation lands, the book is based on interviews conducted in summer 2009 by KLT intern Katie Epstein from Davidson College.

Epstein asked 18 land donors questions, including, "Why did Gov. Kenneth Curtis donate his family farm in Leeds to a land trust?" "How are the Vaughan Woods in Hallowell intertwined with American history?" and "Why is a forest in Wayne with 125-year-old oaks and pines called Gott Pasture?"

Three Maine writers reviewed "Between Person and Place."

"Maine has so many heroic stories of land conservation," wrote Deirdre Fleming, outdoors writer, Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram and MaineToday Media. "This collection of essays brings that home unlike any other because it looks at the very people who made the protection achieved by the Kennebec Land Trust possible. Each of these stories is different, but each looks at people who cared enough to pass it on, and each is worth reading."

Robert Kimber, author of "A Canoeist's Sketchbook" and "Upcountry," wrote, "This book celebrates the natural beauty and richness of Central Maine, its lakes and streams, its forests and farms, its myriad creatures great and small. It celebrates the dedication and energy of the men and women who founded the Kennebec Land Trust and have made it one of Maine’s most effective land-conservation organizations. It celebrates the generosity of the good people whose stories are chronicled here and whose love of their places has moved them to protect those lands in perpetuity either by outright donation or by conservation easements. This book is an inspiration. Go, it tells the rest of us, and do likewise."

And Colin Woodard, author of "The Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier," offered, "Ties between people and the land run deep in Maine. 'Between Person and Place: Conservation Histories from the Kennebec Land Trust' captures the diverse human stories behind places in the Kennebec Valley and how they came to be protected."

Theresa Kerchner, Barbara Libby and Deborah Sewall edited the 48-page book.

“If you own your own land, roam the countryside, or spend summers in Maine, you will identify with the people and places in this book," said Kerchner, KLT executive director. "We hope that these stories inspire people to visit lands that are open to the public and to learn more about the importance of conserving land in Maine for current and future generations.”

Two book release events are planned at KLT properties — one at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22, at Small-Burnham Conservation Area in Litchfield, and another Saturday, Oct. 2, at Sturtevant Farm Scenic Area in Fayette. More detail may be found at tklt.org. Copies of the book will be available at local bookstores and shops, and may be ordered online at tklt.org for $12 each, plus shipping and handling.

The publication of "Between Person and Place" would not have been possible without the time and expertise provided by the LPK Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is committed to social responsibility and advancing the goals of sustainability. Mort Libby, principal of LPK, is a founding member of KLT. Libby and his wife, Barbara, are East Winthrop summer residents.

Working with conservation-minded landowners since 1988, KLT has protected more than 3,700 acres in the Kennebec River and Lakes Region through donations, purchases and conservation easements. The trust maintains more than 20 miles of trails and its conservation properties are open to the public for hiking, hunting, fishing and enjoying nature.

For more information, call KLT at 207.377.2848, e-mail glamarche@tklt.org or visit tklt.org.

Kennebec Journal, Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Article by: Bob Mentzinger

KENTS HILL -- Kents Hill Orchard will be farmland "forever." Maine Farmland Trust announced Monday it had completed its purchase of the 84-acre orchard along Route 17 -- a signature parcel of productive Readfield cropland that captured the attention of residents and preservationists.

The sale price was not disclosed but was described in a news release

from the Trust as "below its appraised value" of $356,000.

Trust officials had said the final cost of the project would be

$125,000 after the farm is placed under conservation easement and

resold.

The Belfast-based Trust said the deal drew at least $22,000 in

donations -- including $10,000 from the George Fund of the Kennebec

Land Trust. Maine Farmland Trust also was to receive a federal grant

to cover half the easement value. Maine Farmland Trust took out a loan

to complete the sale financing.

Winthrop-based Kennebec Land Trust owns land abutting the orchard.  "The orchard has beautiful views, easy access to Augusta and excellent

soils," Maine Farmland Trust Executive Director John Piotti said.

"All of these things make it a great farm, but they also make it

highly susceptible to development," he said.  Members of the Kents Hill and Readfield communities helped raise funds

to support the purchase from retiring farmers Henry and Corrine Drake.

"We're happy it's over," Corrine Drake, 75, said Monday. "And we're

happy it's going to be forever a farm."  She said she and her husband would remain in their home on approximately a dozen acres abutting the orchard.

"We're down-earth farmers," she said, but "we'll enjoy not having to

get up at 4 in the morning." The Drakes farmed the orchard for 35 years and was committed to seeing it continue as a farm, Piotti said. Likewise, the community backed the effort to preserve the acreage,

which Piotti had called "a community institution."

More than 30 people crowded into a cafe in December 2009 to learn

about the deal. By the end of the 90-minute information session, some

were opening up their checkbooks to lend support. The property had been on the market more than a year.

Reselling Kents Hill Orchard to a new farmer is part of a larger

effort to find young people to replace retiring farmers, Piotti said.

"The biggest barrier to getting new farmers on the land is the cost of

that property," he said.

The Trust still must finalize portions of its funding for the easement

and market the property for sale. It had previously lined up a buyer

-- a young couple interested in maintaining the orchard and raising

pigs -- but the deal fell through.

One-third of Maine's best farmland will be in transition within the

next 15 years, said Piotti, a Democrat from Unity who represents

several Waldo County and Kennebec County towns in the Legislature and

serves as House majority leader.

"Much of that farmland is likely to be lost to development unless

active steps are taken to preserve it," said Piotti. "That's why we've

set a goal to protect 100,000 acres of farmland within the next five

years. That's the scale necessary if we are to make meaningful

impact."

The Drakes are just happy to be full-time retirees.

"We have an RV we'll be traveling in, but this is home," Corinne Drake

said. "We kept 11 or so acres and we have vegetable gardens and still

some apple trees."

But as to the orchard: "We'll be stepping away totally ... as far as I

know," she said.

"Hopefully, it will prosper."