KENNEBUNK — Seventy-five acres of undeveloped land in Hope Woods, abutting Kennebunk’s Wiggins Pond Preserve and Hope Cemetery, will soon be under conservation, thanks to a new initiative between the Kennebunk Land Trust and Hope Cemetery and Woods.

The Hope Woods Conservation Initiative will put development restrictions on the land. Additionally, a new organization, the Friends of Hope Cemetary & Woods, or FHCW, was formed to coordinate the initiative.

Conservationists claim the land is a short walk away from Kennebunk High School and offers a network of trails for guests to traverse, including open meadows and a cemetery dating back to over 200 years. The area also contains an abundance of wildlife, according to FHCW officials.

According to a press release from the FHCW, a natural resource assessment was recently carried out by Wetlands Ecologist Steve Walker who explained the area possessed a “surprisingly varied forest habitat given the in-town setting.”

The Kennebunk Land Trust is currently in the process of developing a conservation easement to protect the habitat in Hope Woods.

“By establishing this easement we forever conserve this green space, forests and meadows,” Kennebunk Land Trust Executive Director Gordon Collins said in a phone call. “It will be maintained as a quiet, serene place in the middle of town.”

Collins said conserving the land had been a plan for conservationists in Kennebunk for six to eight months.

— Staff Writer Ryder Schumacher can be reached at 282-1535, or via email at rschumacher@journaltribune.com.