Thursday, August 3, 2000
Kennebec Highlands nears goal
Land preservation group trying to raise $1M
By DAN McGILLVRAY, Staff Writer
Copyright © 2000 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

ROME — The nonprofit land preservation group working to raise $1 million as the local contribution to purchase 6,100 acres in four towns is more than halfway toward the goal.

" We hope to have $1 million by late summer," said Dennis Phillips, a spokesman for the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance. The 150-member organization in 1998 applied for state money to fund most of the purchase price for Kennebec Highlands, a mix of 19 contiguous tracts of land that range from lowland bogs to the highest point in Kennebec County. The proposal calls for the land to be protected from development and open for public use.

If the alliance meets the $1 million goal, members will turn their attention through the remainder of the year to raising an additional $450,000 to establish a fund for long-term management of the land. The state Bureau of Parks and Lands would take title to the property and manage the acreage in Vienna, Rome, Mount Vernon and New Sharon with the alliance.

The fund-raising drive began last summer. Phillips said a number of local residents have contributed, and money also is coming in from trust funds and foundations based in Maine.

The Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, which receives money through the state conservation license plate program, in May awarded $80,000 to the alliance to purchase 92 acres with 3,000 feet of frontage along the shore of Kidder Pond, in Vienna. Phillips said the tract is owned by Fred Webber, a Mount Vernon realtor.

The Kennebec Highlands project encompasses the most significant mountain range in central Maine, five undeveloped ponds, 1,800 feet along Long Pond, blueberry barrens, woods, fields and bogs. About 10 miles of abandoned roads, trails and logging corridors snake through the 6,100 acres.

Phillips said the alliance also has acquired an unexpected piece of property along Watson Pond, in Rome, that will be added to the overall purchase.

" Two of our board members donated a pretty hefty amount of money each to purchase a 12-acre piece (with 800 feet of frontage) on Watson Pond," he added. Phillips and his wife, Sandy, and Warren and Helen Balgooyen, of Norridgewock, were the donors. The cornerstone of Kennebec Highlands is a 2,200-acre tract owned by United Timberlands, Inc. Phillips said the alliance has signed a purchase agreement on the land and expects to close the deal on Dec. 15. Altogether, 3,530 acres are under contract.

" We've got the crucial mass. Failure is not an option," said Phillips. But he acknowledged the fundraising campaign has raised less at this point than initially anticipated. The state is reviewing the Kennebec Highlands project in two phases. During a round of Phase I funding applications, the Land for Maine's Future Board allotted $200,000 for land purchases. That money was drawn from a $3 million state land acquisition fund.

State voters last November added $50 million to the kitty when they approved a referendum question —by a 2-1 margin — for future land acquisitions. Phillips said the alliance will be submitting a request to get $1.8 million of that money." We have to have the application in by Sept. 6," he added. The forms will be reviewed along with a number of other requests from other groups to buy land and farm property throughout Maine.

Regulations call for a 2-for-1 state-local match on any money . The alliance's $1 million fund-raising effort would be used to match the state's original outlay of $200,000 and the request for $1.8 million —if awarded — during Phase II of the purchase plan. Kennebec Highlands would be open for public use for such activities as hunting, fishing, boating, hiking, bicycling and snowmobiling. McGaffey Mountain, Kennebec County's highest point of land at 1,300 feet, is within the project's designated boundaries.

To reach Dan McGillvray
Phone: 621-5642
dmcgillvray@centralmaine.com