Toms of Maine donated a 38 acre “Mousam River Wildlife Sanctuary” to the Kennebunk Land Trust yesterday.
The purpose of the donation is to preserve local access to the Mousam River and trails in downtown Kennebunk. Toms of Maine founders Tom and Kate Chappell also personally donated funds to the Kennebunk Land Trust for management.
Follow this link to the Toms of Maine Press Release.
The Nature Conservancy, the Forest Society of Maine and Appalachian Mountain Club have signed a Purchase and Sale Agreement with Plum Creek Timber Company to permanently preserve more than 340,000 acres in Maine’s North Woods, near Moosehead Lake. When Plum Creek Timber Company presented it’s land development proposal for Maine, it was met with resistance, including acts of “eco-terrorism“. The Plum Creek plan website puts it this way, “The plan for our lands attracted significant – and sometimes overwhelming – attention from those who value the Moosehead region and its remote character, natural resources and economic opportunities.” In March, 2006, the Nature Conservancy, the Forest Society of Maine and the Appalachian Mountain Club proposed a Conservation Framework which would have preserved 400,000 acres. The size difference between the March Conservation Framework proposal and the October Purchase and Sale Agreement seems to be exactly the difference between “attractively priced” conservation easements and the unattractively priced conservation easements. The website for the Plum Creek Timber Company land development proposal gives a summary of the changes from the original Plum Creek plan.
