KLT announces The Gateway to Maine Partnership

The Gateway to Maine: Outside effort encourages people to enjoy the natural beauty and health benefits of connecting with nature in southern Maine.  The 2010 Adventures in Nature Series and Gateway to Maine: Outside web site are cooperatively sponsored by: Great Works Regional Land Trust (GWRLT), Kittery Land Trust (KLT), York Land Trust (YLT), The Center For Wildlife (CFW), White Pine Programs (WPP), Mount Agamenticus Conservation Program (Mt.A.) and Choose to Be Healthy (CTBH).  Support for these programs also comes from local organizations and individuals.  To plan your next outdoor adventure, visit www.gatewaytomaineoutside.org.

Kittery Land Trust recently conducted its 22nd Annual Meeting

The Kittery Land Trust (KLT) recently conducted its 22nd annual meeting at the Fort Foster Pavillion on Gerrish Island. New members Karen Young, Bill McDonald and Bob Newman were voted in and welcomed to the board, while longtime board member Ken Fellows assumed the role of president and Melissa Paly, stepping down from her position as president for the last five years, assumed the role of vice president.



"I've been honored to serve as president as KLT has grown in ambition, capacity and accomplishment these past five years," remarked Paly. "With his years of service to the Town and vital roles in KLT leadership, fundraising, member development and community outreach, Ken Fellows is ideally suited to carry KLT forward in its stewardship of existing properties and pursuit of future acquisitions."  

Reviewing the past year, KLT reported relatively solid financial footing despite an uncertain economic climate and was especially pleased to report the successful conclusion of its year-long capital campaign to secure the conservation of the Fairchild property on Chauncey Creek—16 acres of one of the most pristine and beautiful waterfront parcels remaining in Kittery. With the acquisition of the Fairchild property, KLT now owns or protects 383 acres in the town of Kittery.

The Friend of Kittery Conservation Award was awarded to Helen Winebaum, past president and current board member of York Land Trust. Winebaum was recognized for her tireless dedication to land conservation, having been an integral part of the York Land Trust since its inception and chairing multiple capital campaigns including the Mount Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative, which has raised nearly $20 million in land and funds in the last four years. Tin Smith, stewardship coordinator at the Wells Reserve and founding member of the Maine Land Trust Network, delivered an inspiring keynote speech, imploring KLT and other conservation organizations to "think big" because the land conserved in the next 15 years will likely represent 90% of what will ever be conserved in our communities. Smith reminded those in attendance that—more than the number of projects or acres—land conservation is about the preservation of life itself.  By protecting the thin layer of the earth from a couple feet below the soil to the top of the trees, we can ultimately balance human expansion with the three things we can’t live without: clean air, water, and food.

Annual Meeting/Clambake photos

Kittery Land Trust protects 16 acres

February 5, 2009 - Portsmouth Herald

After a year of hard work and support from individuals and the town, the Kittery Land Trust has completed its first-ever capital campaign for the protection of 16 acres of land along Chauncey Creek. In December 2007, KLT purchased a conservation easement from Lincoln Fairchild to conserve 2,000 feet of shorefront along the creek. Since then, a campaign committee, headed by Ken Fellows, Debora Martin and Alex Dearborn, has raised $270,000 from individuals, the town and a federal grant to support the conservation project. With unaltered woodlands, sensitive wetlands and a rich intertidal zone, the Fairchild property provides valuable habitat for amphibians, waterfowl and migratory birds, said Fellows. The tall pines and steep slopes that line the shore provide a defining view of Kittery and the coast of Maine to those traveling near Chauncey Creek, he said. The Kittery Comprehensive Plan identified this property as one of the town's highest priorities for conservation. Fairchild, whose family has owned the property since the 1930s, could have subdivided the land, Fellows said. Instead, at a price below market value, he sold development rights to the Kittery Land Trust, which will hold the property for conservation purposes. 

More than half of the money needed for the Fairchild project was raised through the Mount Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative, a collaboration of 10 local, state and federal conservation groups focused on protecting important open spaces between Mount Agamenticus and Gerrish Island. "KLT couldn't have succeeded as quickly as it did without the important early contribution we had from the town," said Fellows. "When the Town Council unanimously voted to direct $50,000 from the Open Space fund for this effort, we knew we were off to a great start." People from Kittery and beyond donated an additional $145,000, and KLT received $75,000 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. "I am so proud of our board, volunteers, and the entire community for stepping up to protect one of the most beautiful and ecologically significant places in Kittery. Even in these hard times, people care about the future and know that conservation is forever," said KLT president Melissa Paly.