Kennebec Highlands project embodies bond issue's aim

Area residents have a particular reason to be interested in the outcome of the statewide voting on Question 7, the "Land For Maine's Future" bond issue.

There are 6,100 acres in central Maine, pieces of Rome, Vienna, Mount Vernon and New Sharon, involved in the Kennebec Highlands acquisition project that has already received partial funding from the Land For Maine's Future board of directors. The $200,000 granted by the board from the last of the money available to it, is considered a down payment of sorts.

The $3 million project already enjoys the political support of the four towns and has spawned a regional association (the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance). That group is well aware of the recreational, environmental and sporting value of the tract and approaches the acquisition with almost unmatched zeal.

While it should be noted that passage of the Nov. 2 bond issue does not guarantee that the Kennebec Highlands will receive the balance of the $2 million being sought for the purchase price, the fact that the proposal has already been approved in a highly competitive application process indicates that Kennebec Highlands would seem to have the support needed.

In the meantime, project advocates have a task that seems at times as daunting as a quick jog up McGaffey Mountain, the highest point in the Highlands and Kennebec County.

Intent on having the state's Bureau of Parks and Public Lands buy the acreage and have the alliance manage it, the advocates are pursuing the $1 million needed to complete the financing package. That money will be privately raised, for the most part, and the alliance will stay on the fundraising mission until the deal is assured.

The actual purchase could be done for less money, but the state and the alliance want the Highlands to be adequately endowed to pay for stewardship services and to meet any tax obligations the property incurs.

As a model for marrying public and private interests in protecting property and preserving its natural value for generations to come, the Kennebec Highlands project is literally right on the money. It deserves support now, next week, next year and next century.