ROME — Dennis Phillips approached a granite ledge at the end of a hiking trail on The Mountain. It opened to a panoramic view of Long Pond with a backdrop of smooth-topped, blue-green mountains.

Phillips stood away from the ledge.

	Staff photo by TOBY HOLLIS
	The wooded hills of Rome and Vienna are shrouded in mist off in the distance overlooking Great Pond from atop "The Mountain" in Belgrade Lakes last month.

Although he was a Maine Army National Guard helicopter pilot for 23 years, 14 as a medical evacuation pilot, the-53 year-old Rome resident said he gets queasy in high places.

But his love of the land overshadows that fear. In spite of his aversion to loftiness, it has never stopped him from climbing mountains or forging trails through forests he helped set aside for future generations. He hikes The Mountain at least once a week.

As president of the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance, Phillips established land trusts for The Mountain, in Rome, and other scenic landscapes in the Belgrade Lakes Region with outstanding natural resources.

With silver strands showing through his thick reddish-brown hair and neatly trimmed moustache, Phillips looked over to the far shore of Long Pond.

"People love this area, for whatever reason, and realize that our efforts are going to keep this the special place they love," Phillips said. "Those who have been coming here all their lives don't want to see houses every inch of the way. Without seeming like a tree-hugger, we need to set aside land for recreation and wildlife habitat. Obviously, people need a place to live, but we also need open space for recreation. There just has to be a balance."

FOREFRONT OF PRESERVATION

Phillips, a retiree who worked as an oil and hazardous materials specialist with the State Department of Environmental Protection, is at the forefront of the alliance's efforts to preserve land for future generations.

This modest, soft-spoken man with strong convictions knows first-hand how much hard work it is preserving land for all time. Endless meetings, grant-writing, negotiating with the state and municipalities, talking to private landowners, raising funds and researching take a good portion of his time.

PROTECTING LAND

The Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance was founded a dozen years ago as the Watson Pond Conservation Trust. It has acquired: 35 acres around Watson Pond. 45 acres around The Narrows on McGrath Pond in Oakland. 83 acres on French's Mountain. 225 acres on The Mountain near the east side of Route 27. Conservation easement on Mills Stream in Rome. It is negotiating to buy: A 6,100-acre tract in Vienna, Rome, Mount Vernon and New Sharon called "Kennebec Highlands," which includes the highest peak in Kennebec County, McGaffey Mountain in Vienna, with a summit elevation of 1,300 feet. It hopes to acquire: 1,100 feet of shoreline on Long Pond as part of a contiguous parcel. The tract is visible from the Belgrade Lakes Village.

Along with volunteering for the alliance, Phillips is chairman of the Rome Planning Board, which enforces the town's shoreline and environmental ordinances. He also is an officer in the Maine Army National Guard.

Long before he retired, Phillips immersed himself in community affairs. He was a member of the school board for a number of years, and served on Rome's cemetery and recreation committees.

The father of two grown daughters, Phillips said he is opinionated and can be stubborn when it comes to issues he believes in. When he was a young man, his growing interest in protecting the environment led to a career with the Department of Environmental Protection.

"With my environmental and political beliefs, I consider myself at the left of the political spectrum, and that has a lot to do with graduating from high school in the mid-60s, and college in 1968. I was affected by that and the Vietnam era. I went immediately into the service, but even though I was in the military, I didn't have the typical military point of view."

Using the knowledge he gained with the Department of Environmental Protection, Phillips currently conducts training sessions on oil-spill responses for the National Guard, and assists with environmental projects, such as identifying wetlands in training areas and removal of underground oil tanks.

The first week in May, Phillips met with the alliance's board of directors, a conservation corps representative and the Kennebec Highlands Stewardship Committee.

"Cleaning up spills is certainly important for the environment, but I think, personally, our children are going to be angry with us, not with the oil and chemical spills so much as the degradation of the lakes, atmosphere and the land — the development of all the beautiful places," Phillips said. "There has to be a balance. When I left DEP, I wanted to do more for the big picture. I just think it's very important and I enjoy doing it. I feel like I'm making a difference."

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN

An avid mountain biker and hiker, Phillips makes use of the land he helps preserve, and extends an invitation to family and friends.

On a recent visit to The Mountain, Phillips' youthful stride showed his enthusiasm and familiarity with the woods. Gingerly, he stepped over roots and rocks embedded in the dirt path, and pointed out areas of erosion. He said he will ask the Unity College Conservation Corps, which built The Mountain's trail system last summer, to correct the problem. They will use natural material to contain the dirt and stop erosion.

Overall, considering the growing number of people taking advantage of the trail, he is pleased with its condition.

"Last year, everybody realized what an asset it (The Mountain) was and mobilized and raised money and then gave it to us," he said. "We're a land trust and want to preserve special places for future generations, and also improve water quality in the Belgrade watershed through erosion control. We do this by acquiring land and educating people."

The Mountain was classified as tree-growth property, so it carried a lower assessed value for tax collections. Stewardship accounts are set up to pay property taxes on the land the alliance holds in trust.

Phillips met with John Brower and his wife, Tee, who recently placed a 1.8 acre-lot into a land trust. With the help of a neighbor, the couple purchased the property that abutted their summer cottage on Great Pond.

Standing on the tree-laden shoreline, Phillips and Brower, a retired U.S. Department of Agriculture employee, scanned a nearby parcel spattered with moss-covered boulders.

	Staff photo by TOBY HOLLIS
	Dennis Phillips points out some of the work that has been done by volunteers to help keep the trails clear on "The Mountain" in Belgrade Lakes.

The Browers wanted to preserve the property before heading south to Georgia for the winter. Eventually, it will become a stopover for a future canoe trail where people can enjoy the scenery — it has an unobstructed view of The Mountain — and picnic.

"We didn't want the property so much as we wanted it to remain undeveloped," Brower said. "That's what spurred us into buying it. The lot was to be sold as a year-round residence, and we wanted it to stay natural, so we started checking into land trusts. As soon as I found out there was a local land trust, I contacted Denny. This is an ideal way to protect land from the threat of development."

In the case of the conservation easement on Mills Stream in Rome, Phillips said the 2,100-foot frontage was a textbook scenario for land trusts.

Children inherited the land, and because it is developable shoreland property, taxes were overwhelming. To pay the taxes, the family gave the development rights to the alliance, Phillips said.

"By donating the development rights to a land trust, their real estate tax goes down," he said. "Our articles of corporation forbid us from developing anything, so the land will be preserved forever. One hundred years from now people will be sitting in the Village Inn and look across Mills Stream and see huge red and white pine; basically it's an old-growth forest. That piece of shoreline is such an important piece of local heritage and backdrop for the village."

Even though the property still is a family retreat, Phillips said, the public has access to it. With prior notice, his group can conduct environmental and educational field trips.

MUST PROVE BENEFITS

Before property can be placed in a land trust, he said, his group has to demonstrate to a town that the land would benefit the public. The alliance, which operates in Belgrade, Mercer, Mount Vernon, Rome, Sidney and Smithfield, also has to be careful of the type of land it accepts, he said.

A developer, for example, recently offered some property to the land trust to be compliant with the town's subdivision ordinances, which say a portion of undeveloped land has to be set aside within a major subdivision.

The alliance's proposal for the Kennebec Highlands, for which the Land for Maine's Future Board pledged $200,000 in March, includes blueberry barrens, six areas where deer spend the winter, five significant waterfowl habitats and five undeveloped ponds deep in the woods where locals fish for trout.

	Staff photo
	John Brower, left, and Phillips, pose on the 1.8 acres of Great Pond shorefront Brower donated to the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance.

The land is in private ownership and at least two logging companies own a significant portion of the total acreage. About 3,300 acres are in Vienna and about 2,100 acres are in Rome, including Long Pond frontage.

Phillips said his group is getting ready to embark on a major fund-raising effort for "Kennebec Highlands," a 6,100-acre tract in Vienna, Rome, Mount Vernon and New Sharon. The Alliance will be seeking major contributions in the beginning of the summer.

As president and member of the fund-raising committee, he is the primary contact for the $1 million project, and will solicit funds from potential major contributors and through a mail campaign. He also will attend informational meetings in Vienna, Rome, Mount Vernon and New Sharon, where the land is located.

In between all the meetings, Phillips said he still finds time for his favorite hobby — the restoration of old Volvos. Phillips bought his first one in 1971 when he was stationed in Germany. He owns five Volvos dating from 1967 to 1983.

"I just like them, especially the old ones, and that's just because they're such good running machines and easy to work on and they last a long time," he said. "The one I'm just beginning to fix up is a P-1800, which was Volvo's attempt at a sports car. I refer to it as the tank that wants to be a sports car. They're fairly unusual and a lot of fun to drive."

He also enjoys gardening and refurbishing his 1854 Rome farmhouse and barn, which he said is filled with Volvo parts and equipment.