A sense of urgency is sometimes needed to make progress. That certainly appears to be the case with the Kennebec Highlands land conservation project.

Faced with an end-of-year deadline to complete the purchase of acreage owned by Buckfield Timber, Co., the Trust found a sympathetic ear at Kennebec Highlands Savings Bank, whose president, Mark Johnston, was willing to make a short-term loan to provide the money needed to close the deal.

Johnston shares the view of many who have assessed the Highlands project. He considers it as important to the southern part of the state, as a concept and as an impressive piece of real estate, as Baxter State Park is to those who live in central and northern Maine.

Proposing to protect from commercial or residential development nearly 6,000 acres in four communities - Mount Vernon, Vienna, Rome and New Sharon - the project includes the highest point in Kennebec County.

Having captured the imagination - and determination - of the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance, the driving force behind the project, the acquisition of the core acreage became increasingly compelling.

Although reasonably assured that the state's Land For Maine's Future board will be providing much of the money required to retire the short-term loan from Kennebec Savings, project officers can nevertheless be forgiven for having anxiety pangs at the magnitude of the deal and the resulting responsibilities upon them.

The two-part transaction - $700,000 from the bank and another $250,000 loan from the Norcross Wildlife Foundation - is predicated on the belief that the Alliance wil get money from the state and raise a sufficient amount from other sources to satisfy the program requirements of a 1-to-2 match.

Reportedly, the Alliance is about $400,000 short of its $1 million objective.

The demonstration of support from the bank and foundation is likely to help the Highlands project when the Land For Maine's Future board meets next month to begin the decision-making process on how to use the proceeds of the $50 million bond issue approved by the state's voters in November.

If the local project meets with the level of acceptance within the board as it has within the communities, any apprehension about the $950,000 indebtedness might well be short-lived. Regardless of how quickly that might happen, the signal development is that Buckfield Timber's property is now off the market. That is a major step toward realizing the goal of a Kennebec Highlands.