BRCA News - Fall 2003

In this Issue

• Newman Donates to Kennebec Highlands
• Annual Meeting Attendees Learn All About Loons
• From the Executive Director: BRCA Programs Remain Active All Year Long
• Update from the Land Trust Committee
• Trails Added to Highlands Over Summer
• LTA's Standards and Practices in Use
• Kennebec Highlands map available now

A view from the newly-completed Round Top Spur Trail in the Kennebec Highlands. (photo by Brian Alexander)

Newman Donates to Kennebec Highlands

The Kennebec Highlands project had good news this fall. Responding to a written invitation to go biking in the Kennebec Highlands, Paul Newman, a temporary resident of Great Pond, instead sent a check for $25,000 with hismessage "sent with every good wish for continued success in your worthy endeavors." Newman was in the area this fall while filming HBO's production of Empire Falls, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Richard Russo. The movie is expected to debut in 2005. Newman is well-known for his philanthropic efforts through his company, Newman's Own.

On November 9 the Maine Sunday Telegram ran a front-page article about the Kennebec Highlandsin its Outdoors section. Outdoors reporter Deirdre Fleming explored the area on mountain bike with board member Denny Phillips and highlighted the range of biking and hiking possibilities the area holds. We'll report more on these exciting developments as we move into the Kennebec Highlands' final phase of acquisition.

Annual Meeting Attendees Learn All About Loons

More than 50 people attended BRCA's annual meeting on Wednesday, September 17, at Alden Camps in Oakland. Members enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner and heard updates on BRCA's water quality, conservation corps, and land trust programs and the election of BRCA's board of directors and officers.

Guest speaker Lee Attix presented a talk on "The Maine Loon and Its Natural History." Attix is a biologist with the BioDiversity Research Institute, a small, nonprofit group in Falmouth dedicated to progressive environmental research. The institute is devoted to ongoing protection and preservation efforts for loons and last May installed a digital camera near a loon nest to collect information on loon nesting behavior. The loon cam was online until the loons left the nest over the summer and Attix showed footage from the loon cam and educated participants on loon behavior.

During the business portion of the meeting several new board members and officers were elected. The 2003-04 Board of Directors is as follows, with term expirations in parentheses:

Roy Bouchard, president (2005)
Charlie Baeder, treasurer/secretary (2005)
Brian Alexander, member at large (2006)
Warren Balgooyen, member at large (2005)
Jane Eberle, Belgrade Lakes Association (2006)
Alicia MacLeay, member at large (2005)
Cheryl Murdock, North Pond Association (2006)
Paul Orloff, member at large (2004)
Denny Phillips, member at large (2006)
Bill Swan, Belgrade Lakes Association (2006)
Jerry Tipper, East Pond Association (2004)

From the Executive Director

BRCA Programs Remain Active All Year Long

Fall has come to the Belgrades and with it the huge reduction in traffic and people in Belgrade Lakes Village. But BRCA is still actively working to protect the land and lakes we love. When I first began working with the BRCA, things slowed down after October 1, but now it's a very different ball game!

The Watershed Program has eight camp road projects going on right now. And I am talking to folks about projects we can do next spring. The Conservation Corps is still getting calls for site visits and riprap jobs, and we will attend to those next spring.

While boating activity has died down and the Milfoil Program has wrapped up its summer boat launch inspections, the committee is beginning to plan for next year and to look over the data we collected this summer to improve the program's impact.

The Land Trust Committee has several major acquisition and easement projects in the works (read their update below). If all of those projects come together, it would mean as much as 700 more acres protected from development (and from being threats to our lakes). We will keep you posted on their progress.

The Kennebec Highlands' Stewardship Committee is celebrating the opening of the Round Top Trail and working hard on other trails (read their update below). The acquisitions group now is planning a final push to secure the funds for the last parcels in this phase of the project.

Fall is a lovely time in the Belgrades, but it is not a slow time for BRCA. Though, on some days it is just too beautiful to stay inside, and the trails beckon.

Mike Little
Executive Director

Update from the Land Trust Committee

Since our last newsletter the Land Trust Committee has been very active following up on leads and working with groups and landowners to protect additional land in the area. This committed group realizes that the best way to ensure good water quality is to limit the development of land around our lakes and streams. If you know a landowner who may be interested in placing a conservation easement on their land please call Mike Little at 207-495-6039.

The Land Trust Committee's work in progress includes the following:

• The committee is in the final stages of securing an easement on the Balgooyen Farm in Norridgewock. This lovely farm has numerous trails and ponds and is at the very head of our watershed. In addition, the owner, our own board member Warren Balgooyen, has cultivated numerous species of unusual plant life on his farm. Call ahead to arrange a tour.
• Discussions about easements are ongoing with the owners of Birch Point on North Pond and an 80 -acre parcel at the narrows between Salmon and McGrath ponds.
• The process of acquiring an easement to preserve a very special view from the height of land on West Road in Belgrade is a step closer with the completion of a survey of the bounds of the land to be preserved.
• The committee has begun a significant effort with patrons of Pine Island Camp to preserve the home of King Kababa. This mythical figure gave his island to the camp long ago and watches over their treatment of it from his home on Mt. Phillip. BRCA has reached an agreement to purchase the top of the mountain. From the same owner we have an option to purchase the remainder of this 200-acre lot, which contains the northern slope of Mt. Phillip. We also are first in line to purchase the 200-plus acres that include the south slope with its popular hiking trail. The sum of these initiatives will preserve this popular recreation resource. It also will involve major fundraising, so stay tuned.
• BRCA is working closely with another local group to acquire the peak and southwest flank of Mosher Hill on Rome's Jamaica Point, which is currently on the market. With the backing of this group we have made an offer for the land.

The Kennebec Highlands project is still in progress:

• The Allen Blueberry land at the top of Vienna Mountain has not yet been acquired. The land is being appraised in an effort to meet an agreement with the owner.
• The owner of a portion of Roberts Hill on the north side of the Kennebec Highlands is close to signing a purchase and sale agreement allowing BRCA to acquire 150 acres.

The BRCA Land Trust Committee is always open to suggestions, so please feel free to contact us with your ideas. Of course, all of these important projects require raising significant funds. So, if you are interested in being a benefactor, please let us know.

Denny Phillips

Trails Added to Highlands Over Summer

BRCA's stewardship committee has had a busy and exciting summer. Two crews from the Maine Conservation Corps were busy building new trails in the Kennebec Highlands from the last week of May through the third week of August.

The Round Top Trail is now 98 percent complete and the Sanders Hill Trail is 85 percent complete. Signage and bog bridging will finish up the trails. A five-car parking lot at the Round Top trailhead has been completed as well as a three-car lot for the Sanders Hill trailhead.

In addition to this impressive trailwork, other projects have been accomplished this summer. The Sanders Hill logging road, which accumulated illegally dumped trash (tires, stoves, refrigerators, rubbish, you get the idea) was cleaned up. Also cleaned up was BRCA's Dolley property, from which an old truck and bulldozer were removed, as well as other scrap metal. Trees and brush were cut at Dolley to enhance the view and reclaim an old field. The most recent workday at Dolley was held on October 18. The camp and barn were secured and doors and windows were covered with plywood. Some repairs also were done to the barn to stop or slow down any further decay of the building.

Erosion control measures were taken near MacIntire Pond on the area's existing logging roads. Waterbars were dug, ditching done, and some rocks were removed on approximately 1.5 miles of trail. The same was done to two miles of trail around Boody Pond. Since completing that work there has been little increase in erosion in either area.

With the hot, humid, and wet summer behind us and the cool dry fall air here, it is a perfect time to get outside and enjoy the new hiking trails in the Kennebec Highlands. With the fall hiking season also comes hunting season. The Kennebec Highlands area is shared by both hikers and hunters. Please remember to wear some form of orange and no white during Novemberfor everyone's safety and enjoyment.

In the last newsletter I gave a description of the Round Top trail and promised one for the Sanders Hill trail. Well here it is:

Distance: 2.8 miles round-trip

Trailhead: Park in the small parking area on the west side of Watson Pond Road 1.3 miles south of its junction with Route 27 in Rome.

Description: The Sanders Hill Trail was the second trail added to the Kennebec Highlands. The trail is a loop and can be hiked in either direction. The counterclockwise direction is described here. The trail leaves from the north side of the parking area and briefly parallels an old logging road. It winds westerly and at 0.2 miles has nice views from the south end of Watson Pond. Crossing the inflow for Watson Pond, the trail briefly follows what was a logging road, then narrows and begins climbing moderately to the west. Eventually the trail turns right (north) and follows the ridgeline through a rock field, where there are views to the east of Watson Pond, Mt. Phillip, and French Mountain. The trail cuts directly through and over some large granite slabs at 0.9 miles and continues on to a sparsely wooded area with views to the east and south through the trees at 1.1 miles. The trail continues northwest over the 854-foot summit of Sanders Hill, descending to join the Kennebec Highlands Trail at 1.3 miles. Turn left (south) and follow this broad gravel trail to a bridge over upper Beaver Brook at 2 miles. Just before the bridge, turn left (east) back into the woods along the brook. The trail opens up into a logging road, which leads north and east back to the parking lot.

Brian Alexander

LTA's Standards and Practices in Use

While BRCA is a small organization, that relies on countless volunteers and members to operate, the organization is a professional in the land trust business.

One of the first things BRCA did after its formation back in 1988 was to join the Land Trust Alliance (LTA). Since then we also have become a member of the Maine Land Trust Network. A requirement of membership in both organizations is the adoption of LTA's Standards and Practices.

These Standards and Practices cover issues on organizational development, including legal requirements, financial management, board accountability, personnel policies, and fundraising. They also contain information on how to conduct sound legal land conservation transactions and sample documents which provide important reference materials. In short, LTA's Standards and Practices provide a map of how to operate on a daily basis in order to meet our long-term obligations and responsibilities.

BRCA has adopted and adheres to these Standards and Practices, which are on file at our office in Belgrade Lakes, if you care to view them. BRCA reviews its activities periodically through the lens of this document to be sure our activities don't detract from the strong and sustainable Maine land trust community of which we are a part.

Kennebec Highlands map available now

If you were a dues-paying member of BRCA in 2003, you will find a copy of the BRCA Trail Map and Guide to the Kennebec Highlands enclosed in this newsletter. The map, produced by BRCA's membership committee and the Kennebec Highland's stewardship committee, includes trail descriptions for the Kennebec Highlands and other BRCA properties. So, get out there and enjoy all that our area has to offer.

If you're not a member of BRCA, what better time to join? All new members of BRCA will receive the map. Just complete and return the enclosed membership reply envelope. Members are also able to purchase additional copies of the map for only $5. A limited number of unfolded maps, suitable for framing or laminating, are available to members at the same price. All proceeds go directly to supporting BRCA's land trust initiatives.