KITTERY LAND TRUST PROPERTIES

The Kittery Land Trust, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving land and the quality of life in Kittery, has permanently protected 16 acres of shorefront along Chauncey Creek in Kittery Point.  The property includes 2000 feet of frontage on the Creek, one of the longest stretches of undeveloped coastline in Kittery.  With is unaltered woodlands, sensitive wetlands and a rich intertidal zone, the property provides valuable habitat for amphibians, waterfowl and migratory birds.  The tall pines and steep slopes that line the rocky shore provide a defining view of Kittery and the coast of Maine to anyone traveling by land or water along Chauncey Creek.  Indeed, the Kittery Comprehensive Plan identified this property as one of the Town’s highest priorities for conservation. 

Mr. Lincoln Fairchild, whose family has owned the property since the 1930s, has long hoped to keep the property in its substantially undeveloped state.  While the property could have been subdivided into four waterfront house lots with docks and landscaping, that wasn’t Mr. Fairchild’s vision for his family’s  property.  “I cannot imagine this land in any other state than it is today.  With the help of my family, the Town of Kittery, and the Kittery Land Trust, I am pleased to know that it will remain as is forever.”  Mr. Fairchild has generously sold his development rights to the Kittery Land Trust for $530,000,a figure substantially below market value. The Kittery Land Trust has raised over 60% of the total needed to pay for this remarkable property with funding from the Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative, a partnership of ten local, state and federal conservation organizations, as well as the Town of Kittery through the Open Space Fund,.  A capital campaign is underway to raise the remaining funds.

While Mr. Fairchild will continue to own the land, the Kittery Land Trust will hold a conservation easement on the property, ensuring that it will never be developed.  The easement preserves the aesthetic and ecological values of the property forever and provides for the creation of a public walking path at the end of the property closest to Pocahontas Road.
 
“We are grateful to all of the individuals and organizations who made this project happen,” said KLT President Melissa Paly.  “We are indebted to our partners in the Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea (MtA2C) partnership, to the Kittery Town Council for voting unanimously to use town funds to help conserve this property, to KLT Board member Rob Nichols for his vision and persistence in structuring this agreement, and most of all, to Mr. Fairchild for his steadfast commitment to the conservation of this exceptional property that so defines our community.”


The Stewardship Committee is working on a management plan for the property. When complete, the plan will be included on this page.

A woodland view of the Fairchild easement	Looking across Chauncey Creek to the Fairchild easement
View west from Fairchild easement across Chauncey Creek	The Fairchild easement viewed from Chauncey Creek Road