AUGUSTA — While it’s still more than a year away, Enock Glidden is watching a project that’s expected to bring universal access to Augusta’s Howard Hill.

After years of discussions, officials in Hallowell, Augusta and the Kennebec Land Trust are working to make the conservation and recreation area just west of the state capital complex more widely accessible to people with disabilities.

“From the Kennebec Land Trust’s perspective, it’s the property closest to the population centers in the area,” said Theresa Kerchner, land trust president. “So, if we are going to put time and resources into developing a trail, Howard Hill makes the most sense in terms of how many people will benefit from it.”

Spanning 164 acres, Howard Hill offers forested open space with a stream and a ridgeline with cliffs, bordered by developed areas in Augusta and Hallowell. Residents often walk the network of old carriage roads through the hill to experience the scenic view of the Kennebec River or the State House building nestled amid an expansive shade of green.

FAYETTE – Jane Brogan remembers riding Sancy, one of the many horses she once owned, into the vast woodlands she owned with her husband Jim, in Fayette. The longtime Fayette resident couple has now donated the 53-acre Bamford Pond Woodland Conservation Area to the Kennebec Land Trust.

Jim and Jane Brogan had owned and maintained the land for decades, since 1991, and after recent discussions with the land trust’s Land Committee members, the Brogans signed over the property in November.

The Kennebec Land Trust Board and staff plan to update its strategic plan in 2024. The plan will set the organization’s course for the next five years. To better serve the community, the trust is seeking public comment through a short survey. A summary of the results, without participants’ names, will be presented to the KLT Board in early January, according to a news release from the trust.

Survey Link is bit.ly/kltsurvey.

Send this announcement with the survey link to friends and community contacts, one does not need to be a trust member to participate.

Anyone who completes the survey and wishes to be entered to win a $50 gift certificate donated from Monkitree or a KLT hat, please include contact information at the end of the survey. Otherwise, participants can remain anonymous.

The survey will close at the end of the day on Thursday, Nov. 30. Those who have additional comments or concerns, can contact Theresa Kerchner, trust executive director, at 207-377-2848 or tkerchner@tklt.org.

Winthrop-based trust conducting short survey (centralmaine.com)

WAYNE — The Kennebec Land Trust’s 35th anniversary annual meeting, celebration and honoring of land donors is set for Sunday, Aug. 20, at Camp Androscoggin, 126 Leadbetter Road.

Many of the trust’s 1,100 household members plan to attend. People are welcome to come for any part of it; there is no cost.

MANCHESTER – MJ Wagner Dedon remembers growing up on acres of land in Manchester with her parents and brother. She remembers going sledding and cross-country skiing, and picking dandelions that would grow around Mother’s Day, from which her father would make wine that she was not a fan of.

Now, she hopes that others can visit and make similar memories.

The Wagner family has donated their land, spanning 68 acres, to the Kennebec Land Trust, which will work to conserve the land’s habitats and potentially utilize the property to offer recreational activities to residents.

SIDNEY — The Kennebec Land Trust has acquired 7 acres of hayfields in Sidney, effectively preventing the area from being developed.

The donation by Leann Diehl, a former resident of the town, extends the conservation group’s neighboring 35-acre Reynolds Forest property, according to the nonprofit.

The Kennebec Land Trust plans to celebrate its 35th anniversary with a community trail challenge. From Saturday, July 1, to Sunday, Aug. 13, people can explore area trails and properties by hiking, walking, running, biking, swimming or paddling.

Local businesses will donate $1 for adults and $5 for children for every mile explored. The donations will be used for the stewardship of KLT’s 57 miles of trails, including the Mount Pisgah Conservation Area, as well as for the development of new trails, according to a news release from the trust.

The land trust accreditation program recognizes land conservation organizations that meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever. The Kennebec Land Trust is pleased to announce it is applying for renewal of accreditation. A public comment period is now open.

The Commission invites public input and accepts signed, written comments on pending applications. Comments must relate to how The Kennebec Land Trust complies with national quality standards. These standards address the ethical and technical operation of a land trust. For the full list of standards see http://www.landtrustaccreditation.org/help-and-resources/indicator-practices.

The land trust recently acquired the 74-acre Hales Pond Woodland Preserve in Fayette, which will allow for hiking, hunting, snowshoeing paddling and fishing.

WINTHROP — The Kennebec Land Trust has acquired two new properties: the 132-acre North Acres Wildlife Conservation Area in Manchester, and a 36-acre addition to the Vassalboro Wildlife Habitat, which will now conserve 366 acres.

GARDINER — Elliot Gilg held a black trash bag wide open for his father, Kerstin Gilg, as he climbed up from the riverbank with a hand full of trash.

“Last year, we cleaned it all up and we came back a week later and the trash was back,” 6-year-old Elliot said. “I was like, ‘Come on, man!’ But even if it adds back up, I feel good about cleaning it.”

“Really good cleaning it,” he said moments later.

Elliot and his father, alongside his 14-year-old brother, Alden, and mother Ilana, dedicated their morning to clean up trash along the riverbank of the Cobbossee Stream. The banking was one of 31 locations around the Cobbossee Watershed that drew participants on Saturday.

TOPSHAM – Maine Coast Heritage Trust has named Jerry Bley as recipient of the 2022 Espy Land Heritage Award, an annual award that recognizes an individual, organization, or coalition for exemplary conservation efforts in Maine.

WINTHROP — The Kennebec Land Trust has announced the dates and speakers for its annual conservation lecture series. This year’s in-person program is Maine Medicinal Plants: Cultural Uses, Ecology, & Botany.

In an effort to allow physical spacing between attendees, lectures will take place at the Winthrop Performing Arts Center, 45 Pauline St.

WINTHROP — A real estate closing was held at the offices of Lake and Denison, with title to the 120-acre Jean E. (Wheeler) Hewett property on Norton Road in Fayette passed to Kennebec Land Trust. An Aug. 18 property dedication is planned.

It might not seem like the goals of a land conservation organization would align with the business of burying dead bodies. But a local land trust may have the model for future cemeteries as the demand for green burials continues to grow

FAYETTE — The Kennebec Land Trust intends to buy and permanently conserve 120 acres of land in Fayette, hoping to complete the $250,000 purchase by the end of the year.

The land, according to the organization’s website, includes “a ridgeline just above Echo Lake and a mature hardwood-conifer woodland adjacent to Hales Brook.”

Just 6 miles separate the hubbub of downtown Augusta from the relative peace and quiet around Shed Pond, an undeveloped 37-acre pond straddling the Manchester–Readfield town line. Monks Hill rises to 750 feet over the pond’s west shore, its wooded summit marked by a simple sign amid a park-like grove of white pines.

MONMOUTH — A 273-acre parcel that includes forest, wetlands, open fields and 3,670 feet of shorefront on Annabessacook Lake will be protected forever from most types of development.

Landowners Charlie Jacobs and Rebecca Stanley donated a conservation easement Monday to the Kennebec Land Trust, preventing the land from being developed, other than minor residential development on a 17-acre homestead part of the property, or some agricultural structures elsewhere on the property.

The top of Baldwin Hill in Fayette looks like hundreds, probably thousands, of similar hills across Maine. Ancient stone walls crisscross through second-growth stands of trees, the thick forest beneath tall pines is littered with blowdowns and a carpet of dead leaves.

In late December, after over a year of planning and fundraising, The Kennebec Land Trust (KLT) announced that it has permanently protected the 55-acre Weston Woods Preserve on Little Cobbossee Lake in East Winthrop. Conserving this land, which is adjacent to the Trust’s 90-acre Little Cobbossee Oatway Preserve, advances KLT’s mission of protecting important ecosystems and providing open space for our region’s communities.