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Contents Land Trust Acquires a Unique Historical Property in Wayne President's Message Notes from the field Wyman Memorial Forest damaged during ice storm Retiring and new Board members KLT establishes Advisory Board Renewals Wish list

Woods in Besse Historical Conservation Area - Photo by Jym St.Pierre

KLT's newest property is the generous donation by Albion Besse of 55 wooded acres on the Old Winthrop Road in Wayne. This property will be known as the Besse Historical Conservation Area in recognition of its ownership by generations of the Besse family.

Mr. Besse says of his ancestor Jabez Besse Jr., who in the 18th century came first to Hallowell from Sandwich, Massachusetts, and then in 1788 moved to Wayne to settle on a lot granted by the Kennebec Proprietors. "I want this land to remain as primitive as when my ancestors settled the property," he said.

Land Trust President Jeff Pidot said, "We are excited to receive this property and a noteworthy piece of Kennebec Valley history. It represents the roots of the Besse family here in Maine and will be maintained by KLT as a testament to Mr. Besse's generosity to future generations and his desire to keep the property in its undeveloped state."

A sign denoting the Besse Historical Conservation Area will be placed on the property along he Old Winthrop Rd. Marancook student, Steven Webb of Manchester and Industrial Arts Coordinator Art Poole will create the sign. KLT is appreciative to all these volunteers for their efforts.

The Besse's desire to preserve the land and the record of its early history is already being appreciated by students at the Wayne Elementary School. The students in Jennifer Baack's fourth grade class are studying the agricultural history of the Besse land this year. Beginning with a long-term perspective, the students have been studying Indian land use history since the melting of the last glacier 12,000 years ago. Albion Besse has passed along a family story of finding evidence of Indians living on the land, shortly after the family moved to this Wayne property. The fourth graders are also learning about other artifacts found in the region, which indicate that a hunting and gathering culture was present in this area for thousands of years. This school project has been planned by KLT member Theresa Kerchner and is supported by the Helen and George Ladd Charitable Corporation.

The Besse homestead on the Besse Road abutting the donated parcel has been sold to a private party and is not part of the Besse Historical Conservation Area.

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When traveling, I like to compare my foreign surroundings with my home territory of Kennebec County and ask myself what lessons each might offer the other. Recently, I had occasion to travel about 150 miles up the northern California coast from San Francisco to the town of Mendocino, which is less than half the size of my hometown of Hallowell. Northern California combines dramatic scenery, unexpectedly small and rural communities and cool, foggy weather. The area seems like a caricature of Maine, which explains why the TV series Murder, She Wrote, supposedly set in Maine, was in fact filmed in Mendocino!

From this trip, what impressions did I come away with that seem relevant here? Unlike northern California, Maine is the real McCoy, gentler, subtler, oddly more populated and diverse, more historic, and yet more struggling. I loved visiting Mendocino but it is not my home. One thing it does have, which Maine sadly lacks, is a considerable degree of protection of its beautiful natural surroundings. It is striking that in much of California, the very best landscapes have been publicly acquired and protected. By contrast, Maine has nearly the smallest proportion of publicly protected land of any state. It is this fact that is relevant to the work of a land trust.

Maine's land trusts help fill the gap. They protect our best local and regional landscapes, the soul of our communities, that otherwise will not be protected. This makes the mission of a land trust like ours all the more vital to the well being of the communities and people we serve. As shown by a recent study of the State Planning Office, Maine is rapidly losing some of the best natural qualities that make it special. With your continued support, in its quiet way, your land trust is trying to make local headway against this tide.

Thank you, as always, for your generosity and conservation-mindedness.

Jeff Pidot

Wyman Memorial Forest (Monk's Hill), Readfield
We harvested about five acres of dead and dying red pine damaged by the Great Ice Storm of 1998. The site will be allowed to naturally regenerate. We expect to net about $3,000, which will be placed in the Trust's stewardship account. Thanks to Linda and Don Gifford for allowing us to cross their property to remove the wood. The Maine Conservation Corps provided a crew to remove ice storm debris from the site's only trail. (Click here for related story)

Norris Island, Androscoggin Lake
A local citizen's group, organized by Ken Spalding of Wayne, worked diligently throughout the spring to develop a management plan for Norris Island. The plan, which was immediately put into place, includes: the installation of sanitation facilities, overnight camping by reservation, appropriate signage and a stewardship/monitoring program. This comprehensive management plan will both protect the island's natural character and allow for public use and enjoyment.

Cobbossee Islands, Cobbossee Lake
A similar planning process was used on Cobbossee Lake for Horseshoe, Hodgdon and Perry Islands. Several planning meetings with interested Cobbossee citizens, organized by Jeff Musich and Jessie Mae MacDougal, resulted in a plan that prohibits overnight camping and campfires. Informative signs are being installed on the islands announcing these policies. In addition, a new Cobbossee Lake map will be distributed by the Cobbossee Yacht Club and the Department of Conservation. This map will identify KLT's island properties and explain its public use policies.

Mathews Woods, Fayette This 17-acre parcel, recently bequested to KLT by Alice Mathews, was damaged by the ice storm. Thanks to board member and neighbor Ann Judd and Ron Giard, along with help from the Maine Conservation Corps, these lovely woods and fields were cleaned up and provided a great walk for many KLT members during the annual meeting festivities.

Vaughan Woods, Hallowell In addition to the volunteer ice storm clean up mentioned in our last newsletter, George and Diana Gibson have spent many hours and employed professional help to restore the Vaughan Woods trails. Recently, the Maine Conservation Corps provided several days of work to further improve the trails. The Trust will continue to work with the Gibsons to help the Vaughan Woods to recover from Ice Storm 98.

This fall the stewardship committee is visiting KLT properties to assure that boundaries are properly marked. As always, we invite anyone who would like to help with stewardship to join us. Call Norm Rodrigue at (207) 622-6204 or email to normrod@mint.net.

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Devastation in the Wyman Memorial Forest was particularly widespread in a five acre red pine plantation in the southeast corner of the lot. Many trees experienced 100 percent crown loss or were physically snapped from the weight of ice.

The KLT stewardship committee consulted with Two Trees Forestry of Coopers Mills, Maine to investigate remediation options for the damaged areas. Two Trees Forestry specializes in environmentally sensitive, sustainable forestry under "green certification" guidelines. Two Trees assisted KLT in developing an environmentally sound harvesting plan to salvage the severely damaged timber in the Wyman Memorial Forest.

Salvage operations required an aggressive schedule to prevent damaged, standing timber from losing its marketable value due to parasites. The harvesting operation began in July (after our unusually wet June) and was completed in August.

Jeff Musich of the Stewardship Committee said, "The logger for the project, Donald Cole of Trees, Ltd. of Sidney, Maine did a fantastic job. Mr. Cole was attentive to the stewardship committee's concern that the work be non-disruptive to the plant community on the site, be sensitive to erosion and logging impacts and to minimize impacts to natural, undamaged areas in the forest."

The cleanup project was very successful and will begin the process of converting the former red pine plantation back to a natural, mixed hardwood forest environment. Proceeds of the harvest will go to KLT's stewardship account. If you would like more information about this project or would like to arrange a site visit, call Jeff Musich at 933-3159.

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Welcome to New Board Members

Kudos to Retiring board Members The entire KLT Board extends its sincere appreciation for the hundreds of volunteer hours our retiring board members contributed to KLT. Many thanks to Cynthia Bastey, Wendy Dennis, Ken Knight, Kenneth Spalding, and particular special thanks to the founding visionary of KLT -- Jym St. Pierre.

President Jeff Pidot gives founding and retiring Board member Jym St. Pierre a plaque at KLT's Annual Meeting in August

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This edition of the newsletter proudly announces KLT's new advisory board members. They have graciously expressed a willingness to support KLT's work with their advice and counsel. In addition, we hope they will help be our eyes and ears in their communities. We welcome and thank these individuals and are greatly fortunate to have their support.

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Just a reminder that all KLT memberships expire on December 31. Notices will be sent later this month. Save KLT the postage for your renewal notice by clicking here and sending your check now!

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• Screen for viewing slides
• Slide projector
• Dimensional lumber
• Flying services to take aerial photographs of KLT properties or donation of existing aerial photographs

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