Sen. Angus King spoke to congratulate the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust on the agency’s 25th anniversary Tuesday night at the Moorings Bed and Breakfast on Seguinland Road.
KELT was also celebrating the acquisition of Morse Pond, a new parcel adjacent to Reid State Park.
Board President Dennis Dunbar and immediate past President Jack Witham announced the creation of the Morse Pond Preserve, a 216-acre community land parcel created and managed by KELT. Scheduled to open in 2015, the preserve will provide public access to Morse Pond with a connecting trail to Reid State Park.
“I am proud to join with the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust to celebrate a quarter century of land conservation across Maine and to mark yet another one of its many successes with the creation of the Morse Pond Preserve,” King said. “Our state’s vast and beautiful landscape is one of its most important and cherished resources. As KELT well knows, it’s critical that we strive to preserve and enhance these resources for the benefit of our state’s economy and for the enjoyment of generations to come. I applaud KELT for its outstanding work on behalf of Maine.”
“Community conservation projects like Morse Pond Preserve take time, money, perseverance and passion,” Witham said. “This project began in 2003 with a 35-acre parcel known as Stone School Path. Next year, we anticipate having parking and a connecting trail to Reid State Park.”
More than 120 people came out to celebrate.
The Morse Pond area lies between Route 127 to the west and north, Seguinland Road to the east, Reid State Park and other conservation lands to the south and Indian Point Road to the west. It is part of a 1,862-acre natural area that includes inland waterfowl and wading bird habitat, wetlands, and upland forests.
Funding for the half-million dollar project has come from the Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program, Merrymeeting Bay Trust, The Evergreen Fund and KELT’s more than 500 members. An additional $75,000 still needs to be raised to pay for the parking area, trail work, signage, bog bridges and a stewardship fund.
ghamilton@timesrecord.com
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