Great Works Regional Land Trust - Great Works Regional Land Trust
Newsletter
Winter-Spring 2013 Newsletter
100th Project Completed!
Fall 2012 Newsletter
Ogunquit Land Gift Helps Protect Ogunquit Watershed
2012 Kennebunk Savings Community Ballot
Votes for Great Works Yield $$
Great Works Regional Land Trust is grateful to have received $1675.00 from Kennebunk Savings' 2012 Community Ballot.
Thank You!
Summer 2012 Newsletter
Thinking Local: Farms and Food
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Download pdf of entire issue. From the Development Corner: Major Gifts Dedication of Grant's Meadow on Beaver Dam Heath: April 21, 2012 Summer 2012 Events New Board Members: Annie Cox, Kevin Gray, John Pazdon Beach Plum Farm: The Beach Plum Legacy, Harvest for Hunger at Beach Plum Farm North Berwick Farmers Market: Photos from Opening Day 2012 Portsmouth Brewery Funds $5,000 to Great Works High School Students Lend a Hand |
North Berwick's Riverside Farm fields planted with early small crops, May 2012. It is our hope that you get to know your farmers local farmers and purveyors. It is our hope that you share our commitment to keeping land available for farming, for forestry, for recreation, for wildlife, and for scenic beauty. |
Thank you to our underwriters for this issue of Great Works:
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Great Works Newsletter-WS 2012
Great Works Newsletter Fall 2011
Volunteers Make the Difference
- Volunteers: Bill Hills, Colleen Tuano
- Annual Fund Appeal
- Grant’s Meadow in Beaver Dam Heath
- Granite State lands update
- Fall 2011 Hikes
Summer 2011: Celebrating 25 Years of People & Places
Winter/Spring 2011: Beaver Dam Heath Focus Area
Beaver Dam Heath - A Hidden Treasure
There is a treasure in Berwick known to only a few...
In this issue:
Beaver Dam Heath
Grants Meadow Project in Beaver Dam Heath
Deb-Tone Farm Project Faces Funding Deadlines
Annual Meeting Celebrating 25 Years of Conservation: Thursday Feb. 17, 5:30-8:30 pm, N. Berwick Community Center
'Granite State Gas' Lands Could Be Protected
Land Acquisition: 39 Acres in York Pond Focus Area
Winter and Spring Hikes
Spring Auction March 12th
2010 Donor List
Welcome to New Caretakers at Beach Plum Farm
download Winter/Spring 2011 issue of newsletter
Fall 2010: Forests
Piecing Together the Puzzle: Forests
An Opportunity and a Challenge
Including Trees in Our Community
From the president...
Deb-Tone Farm Campaign Update
Volunteers: Youth Pitch In for Great Works
Ways People Give: Ten Dollars
Vote Yes on #3
Fall 2010 Calendar
Summer 2010: Farms
Piecing Together the Puzzle: Farms
GWRLT and Farmland Protection
Protecting Deb-Tone Farm... and a View For the Ages
York Pond Focus Area Update...
Land Acquisition
Ogunquit River Watershed and Mt. A Focus Area
Richardson Donation: Salmon Falls River Shoreland
NAWCA Grant for Beaver Dam Heath
From the president...
Welcome to the Board of Directors
Ways People Give...Planned Giving
Membership Challenge
GWRLT's Five Public Places
2010 Farmstand List
Winter Spring 2010: Water
In this issue: Piecing Together the Puzzle: Water
Riparian buffers, or shoreland zones, and their importance.
Donations of Land: Stevens (South Berwick) and Herrick (North Berwick) Parcels along the Great Works River.
Meet Charley Baer, bean farmer and new owner of Lover's Brook Farm.
Winter and Spring Hike and Event Schedule.
17th Annual Spring Auction March 13th.
Ways People Give, column by Christine Magruder, Development Director.
Volunteer Opportunities.
Download entire newsletter (this pdf does not include 2009 donors)
Fall 2009 Intro
Piecing Together the Puzzle: Farms, Forests and Water
GWRLT Strategic Conservation Plan
York Pond Addition Completed
Explore Diverse Habitats at The Savage Preserve
Paul Miliotis, naturalist and ecologist
Timber Harvest=Cordwood
Volunteers Make the Difference
Remembering Carlton Young
Piecing Together the Puzzle
Piecing Together the Puzzle: Farms, Forests and Water
GWRLT Strategic Conservation Plan
It is not about land, or acres, or projects, but about all the life that occurs in that thin layer from a few feet underground to the tops of the trees.
Farms, Forests, and Water is the title of the Land Trust’s just released Strategic Conservation Plan providing the guideline for the organization’s land protection efforts over the next 15 years. Why farms, forests, and water? Because these three landscapes provide what we and our communities need to thrive; clean air, clean water, and food. When we depend on the resources of natural communities it is our responsibility to manage those communities in a sustainable way. Land conservation accomplishes this goal by protecting these resources for generations to come.
This document is the result of two years of work, dozens of meetings, and includes the input from 179 people in our communities. The Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve was a key partner in the development process as well as producing all the maps in the final copy. The Plan will help Board members focus their work and communicate to funders and the six towns the Trust’s top priorities and why.Summer 2009 Intro
Grover Family Lands: Donation of 3 parcels totaling 71 acres in North Berwick
York Pond Campaign to raise money to purchase 140 acres (+/-) parcel.
Davis Foundation grants $10,000 to York Pond 2009 Campaign
Great Works River Watershed Education program kicks off with dedication of Grover Family Lands, June 13th, 9:30-11:30 am, at Bauneg Beg Grange Hall, North Berwick.
Doug Mayer, new Board member from Ogunquit.
Grover Family Lands: Donation in North Berwick
| The Grover Family, residents of Maine and of North Berwick in particular for over 300 years, completed the donation of three parcels of family property to Great Works Regional Land Trust in February. The parcels, all in North Berwick, total 71 acres. Two of the parcels have frontage on Bauneg Beg Pond and include woods, wetlands, and vernal pools. From the third there is a view of Bauneg Beg Mountain. |  |
Winter Spring 2009 Intro
Together We Do Great Things
In this issue of Great Works we revisit the conservation of about 580 acres of land around York Pond. What now appears as a large, contiguous block of conservation land was stitched together using both large and small parcels, through agreements with a diverse group of landowners, by a number of volunteers and organizations over the course of twenty years.
York Pond was the first large-scale conservation effort for Great Works. The lessons we learned are deeply ingrained in how we work today on large projects and are summed up by three P’s: perseverance, patience and partnership.
Each York Pond project brought us a new partner to work with, the towns of Eliot and South Berwick, the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, developers, and individuals. We learned to adapt our role accordingly, to move fluidly from being the leader to the supporter of a project without ever giving up our primary role as the ‘voice for the land’.
As the local land trust, we make it a priority to know our landscape, our neighbors and how to talk about the unique qualities that make our region special. We know our limits – we just can’t purchase every beautiful, undeveloped piece of land that comes available. We also know that we can and will work long and hard to find someone who can. York Pond, Bauneg Beg Mountain, Beach Plum Farm, Mt. Agamenticus, each has taught us that partnerships have the power to achieve great things.
Highlights of this newsletter:
20 Years Working Together in the York Pond Area
Tracking the New England Cottontail Rabbit
The Savage Preserve: Winter Notes from the caretakers and results of natural resources inventory
Thank you to our donors in 2008
20 Years Working Together in the York Pond Area
 | Many folks appreciate the riches of the York Pond area: the traces of the historic Punkintown settlement, the old quarries, the hunting grounds, the abundant waterfowl and bird life on Rookery Pond. They enjoy hiking the old coach and tote roads, canoeing, ice fishing and ice skating on York Pond, picking blueberries, hunting deer and wild turkeys. How about a vigorous snowshoe or cross country ski trip along Old Punkintown Road to the outlet of York Pond, or sitting on the point past the old cemetery, contemplating the beauty of Rookery Pond/Upper Bartlett Mill Pond while keeping a lookout for herons or perhaps a pair of otters? (Nesting birds are very sensitive, be careful not to disturb!) |
Fall 2008 Intro
Some selections from our current newsletter:
Watersheds…Protecting our vital resource
Marshwood Middle School Students to Monitor Sturgeon Creek Watershed
Riparian Buffers
Discovering The Savage Wildlife Preserve
Kenyon Hill Timber Harvest
Watersheds: Protecting Our Vital Resource
This summer saw a severe tornado in Barnstead and Alton, destructive flooding in Lebanon and Acton, high river levels making boating and fishing risky, elevated bacteria counts at our coastal beaches, along with record rains and a persistent cloud cover.
Farmers struggled to get their hay dry and their crops were hurt by disease.
Water districts incurred added costs to remove silt and sediment from surface supplies while facing up to a 15% drop in demand as customers reduced watering of lawns and gardens and hotels and restaurants experienced a slow season.
The GWRLT Watershed Region
GWRLT is the local land trust in the communities of the Berwicks, Eliot, Ogunquit and Wells. Did you know this region includes 6 major drainages such as the Webhannet River watershed and our namesake, the Great Works River watershed?
Click on map for larger image.
Riparian Buffers
These are the areas immediately along our rivers and streams and surrounding our wetlands, from 75 to 250 feet wide. When in a natural condition (grasses, bushes, and trees) they play a major role in keeping water clean through filtration. Riparian buffers also store water for slower release, reduce flooding, shade rivers to cool water temperatures keeping oxygen levels high, and provide excellent habitat for birds, mammals, and fish.The GWRLT service area – 6 towns – contain 8,474 acres of riparian buffer. A recent analysis completed for the Strategic Conservation Plan showed that 407 acres (5%) have already been developed and another 424 acres (5%) have been impaired enough to possibly not be functional. 914 acres (11%) have been protected. That leaves 6,729 acres (79%) vulnerable to land use changes that will impair water quality. With all the rivers within the service area already on Maine Department of Protections’ “Rivers at Risk from Development” list, it is clear there is much to do. Over the next year the Trust will be stepping up its efforts to support landowners who own riparian buffer lands so they can continue to provide the clean water on which we all depend.
Discovering The Savage Wildlife Preserve
Oh the things you will see…
The Raymond & Simone Savage Wildlife Preserve is quickly becoming a much loved GWRLT public place. Trained and untrained eyes have taken their first looks at this special property and returned with a sense of awe for its bounty and gratitude for its protection.
Summer 2008 Intro
Dedication of The Raymond & Simone Savage Wildlife Preserve
Volunteers Make It Happen...
Trail Expansion at Bauneg Beg
Strategic Conservation Planning
View complete Summer 2008 issue of Great WorksDedication of The Raymond & Simone Savage Wildlife Preserve
A formal dedication of this truly extraordinary property on the Salmon Falls River in South Berwick was held on a not-so-sunny Saturday in May. The rain held off, sort of, but few were optimistic enough to bring along a picnic. As it happened, the day before, May 30th was the 95th anniversary of the birth of the donor of the property, Simone Savage, who died in 2006. Her husband, Raymond, died 20 some years earlier.
Volunteers make it happen...
We can’t say it enough, because it is so fundamentally important: Great Works Regional Land Trust is a grass-roots, member-supported and volunteer-driven organization. Conservation starts with the dreams of landowners for the future of their land. Stewardship of those lands continues thanks to member dues and donations that support staff oversight, tax payments, etc.. Essentially everything else gets done by our volunteer engine.Trail Expansion at Bauneg Beg
A 6-member Maine Conservation Corps (MCC) crew spent 8 days in late May and early June on our Bauneg Beg property in North Berwick, performing a variety of much-needed trail work. The dedicated and hard-working crew, hailing from all over New England, first created a new trail to the summit. Approximately 1/2-mile long, and traversing a lovely beech forest, the new trail links Bauneg Beg Hill Road with the summit and makes accessible the southern half of the property.
Strategic Conservation Planning
Thank you to the 138 of you took the time to answer questions in our Winter 2008 newsletter survey about the important conservation issues that are facing our communities. It is clear that the Trust cannot and should not protect “everything”. To thrive, people need places to live and work just as much as forests, streams, and fields which provide recreation, wildlife habitat, clean air and water, food, and wood products. It is this balance that protects important natural resources that is at the heart of the Trust’s mission. Your answers will help define this balance.Winter/Spring 2008 Intro
Here are some selections:
22 Acres on Shorey's Brook and the Salmon Falls River, S. Berwick and Eliot
Grant's Meadow Donation: 113 Acres in Beaver Dam Heath, Berwick
Tatnic: Millie's Woods, Tatnic Ledges and 70 Acres on Cheney Woods Road
It's Not Only About the Land
Millie's Woods, Tatnic Ledges and 70 acres on Cheney Woods Road
Three parcels (125 total acres) in the Tatnic region of Wells and South Berwick have been added to lands that will remain as forest, wetlands, vernal pools, rock outcrops, and flowing streams and will forever provide for views, hiking, hunting, firewood, timber, home for wildlife, and clean water. Each parcel has a different story reminding us that it is not the land but what occurs on the land – past, present, and future – that is really being protected.
New Acquisition on the Salmon Falls River
Great Works Regional Land Trust has come into possession of 26 acres on the Salmon Falls River in South Berwick, a bequest to be known as The Raymond & Simone Savage Wildlife Reserve. Bordering Shorey's Brook,with a mix of woods and fields, tidal and fresh water frontage, it provides some of the best and most diverse habitat in the area. One may see bald eagles flying overhead, sea and bay ducks, shorebirds and upland bird species. The woods and fields are inviting to deer and small mammals.
Conservation in Beaver Dam Heath, Berwick
This past fall, GWRLT received ownership of 115 acres to be known as Grants Meadow Conservation Area in Berwick, thanks to the donation of 113 acres from Carolyn and Wilfred (Bill) Bryan and 2 acres from the Town of Berwick as voted by its citizens. These parcels together with a Right of Way, also donated by the Bryans, will eventually provide parking, walking trails and public education on wetland habitats. These properties represent 14% of the largely undeveloped Beaver Dam Heath.
Great Works Regional Land Trust, PO Box 151, South Berwick, ME 03908
Office Location: 610 Main St, Ogunquit ME
207-646-3604 email : info@gwrlt.org