UPDATE! February 01, 2001

Greetings Conservation Partners, Collaborators and Friends:

1. Conservation Planning

Land for Maine's Future

The Land for Maine's Future Board announced support for five projects in the Coastal Mosaic Project region following a two day meeting last week in which 28 out of 42 proposals were selected statewide. Receiving support in Southern Maine were:

Leavitt Plantation Forest; a proposal to purchase a conservation easement on 8,600 acres in Parsonfield. This easement if completed would protect serveral rare plant communities and includes an important tributary to the Ossipee River. This proposal was submitted by The Nature Conservancy.

Kennebunk Plains; this proposal would purchase 660 acres and add them to the 1100 acres already protected of this unusual sand plain habitat in the towns of Kennebunk and Sanford. The project has targeted three parcels with 3.5 miles of frontage on the Mousam River. The proposal was submitted by the Kennebunk Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy.

Fuller Farm; a project of the Scarborough Land Conservation Trust and the Trust for Public Lands to purchase the 180 acre Fuller Farm in Scarborough. The Farm includes 80 acres of open fields and 3500 feet along the Nonesuch River and connects with other protected parcels. The Trust for Public Lands secured temporary funding to purchase the Farm and is working with the Scarborough Land Conservation Trust to raise the money needed for permanent protection.

Robinson Woods; this is an 81 acre parcel in Cape Elizabeth

Mt Agamenticus; a coalition of 14 organizations including the York Land Trust, Great Works Regional Land Trust, Nature Conservancy, and Maine Department of Inland Fish & Wildlife, formed the Greater Mt Agamenticus Conservation Initiative and submitted a proposal to purchase 2,269 acres in the Mt Agamenticus region from York Pond in Eliot up through the Tatnic Hills in Wells. Negotiations are proceeding with 16 different landowners.

Watershed Conservation Initiative

The next step in our Watershed Conservation Initiative, which called for us to facilitate community dialogs promoting watershed based conservation planning, is to produce the Watershed Conservation Initiatives report. We will be contacting organizations representing the project's 12 watersheds to set up a meeting or two to help us compile and/or review the information related to the watershed within their service area.

2. GIS Mapping

ArcView Classes

Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission and the University of Maine still have a few openings in their "Introduction to ArcView" half day classes on February 20 & 21st; and their "Layout and Map Design" class on March 13 & 14th. Both sessions consist of two half day (9AM-Noon) classes at the new computer training facility in Springvale. Cost is $120/ two day class. To register for the introduction to ArcView, or for more information, call SMRPC at 324-2952.

3. Training and Support

Land Trust Network has just announced their "Land Conservation Training 2001" schedule for workshops around the country on all aspects of conservation work. The brochure is available at the LTA website in both PDF and HTML formats at http://www.lta.org.

"Energizing Your Board" is the topic of an intensive one-day (6 hr) workshop for staff and volunteers of environmetal and conservation organizations presented by the Institute for Conservation Leadership to be held at Simmons College in Boston on March 3rd. Cost is $50 and includes training, materials, and even lunch. For more information call 301-270-2900 or visit their website at http://www.icl.org.

4. Resource Information

A new Landscape Ecology Program is presently in the works by several research and CMP staff.

5. Communication and Outreach

Farmland Protection

Mark DesMeules, Program Director of the Land for Maine's Future Program, will be speaking on "Farmland Protection" and other open space issues at the February 8th Annual Meeting of the York County Soil and Water District. The meeting will take place at 7 PM at the Alfred Parish Church (in the village square).

Land Conservation Legislation List

Chris Hamilton of Maine Coast Heritage Trust is putting together an email list to keep interested people informed of legislative proposals that directly affect land conservation in Maine. For efficiency and timeliness the list will not include "environmental" bills unless they directly relate to land conservation and ability of land trusts to function effectively. If you would like to be included on MCHT's list email Chris at chamilton@mcht.org.

Watermark -- Winter 2000

See article -- "Planning Conservation with a Watershed Mindset" by Tin Smith. To obtain copies contact Laudholm Trust: 646-4521.

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