HARPSWELL

T his year, Harpswell Heritage

Land Trust is celebrating 35 years since its inauspicious start as an outgrowth of the town’s historical society.

“Thirty-five years ago, the organization was actually started by the Harpswell Historical Society, which is not a typical origin of a land trust,” said Julia McLeod, outreach coordinator for Harpswell Heritage Land Trust.

The historical society had received donations to purchase the historic Tarr-Eaton House, located in historic Harpswell Center. The house was purchased and then sold off again, but not before the society took steps to protect the historic features of the structure.

“They put a historic preservation easement on it and then sold it to a private owner,” explained McLeod. “So the idea was, with a historic preservation easement, the house will retain its historic integrity. There are restrictions as to what changes they can make to the house.”

HHLT has a number of easements like the one they have on the Tarr-Eaton House, and they are a large part of what the land trust has done over the years. Over the years, HHLT has acquired a large number of easements, 1,104 acres worth to be exact. The land trust’s mission, in part, is to ensure that property owners are acting in accordance with those easements. The easements do not have an expiration date, either.

“It goes on forever,” said McLeod. “So when we, as a land trust, are holding either a historic preservation easement or a conservation easement, it’s a dedication to forever taking care of that.

“They didn’t want to manage that easement,” she added. “So, they created the Harpswell Heritage Trust to manage that easement.”

The split wasn’t instantaneous. Both organizations shared the same board of directors, and the money the historical society raised from the sale of the Tarr-Eaton House provided the initial funding for the new land trust. Over the years, the two groups would diverge more as HHLT further defined its purpose in the Harpswell community, especially as it engaged more in land conservation efforts.

In 1992, the land trust broke off from the historical society with a separate and independent board. Shortly thereafter, they changed their name from Harpswell Heritage Trust to the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust. Of course, HHLT retains an interest in historic features of Harpswell. They still oversee historic preservation easements on multiple properties, and they run Harpswell Day, which celebrates the town’s traditional handicrafts and subsistence skills.

But since shifting courses, HHLT has focused more heavily on land conservation easements, preserves and increasing public access for the community. The land trust now owns 517 acres in preserves, most of which were acquired after the 1992 split with the historical society.

“There has been, in recent years, more growth in the preserves, and that’s part of the focus too on public access,” said McLeod. “It being part of our mission to provide public access to trails and the shore and places to recreate, that’s where the preserves come in.”

HHLT also maintains some seven miles of trails, and they’re always working to add more to their system. This year, they plan to open trails at the 71-acre Otter Brook preserve.

This increased focus on public access for HHLT mirrors what’s happening in many land trusts, notes McLeod.

“It’s so important,” she said. “There are all these studies out there about how being out in nature is good for your health and good for community wellbeing. It brings people together.”

That focus on public access includes educational programs, going into the schools and hosting annual solstice events open to the community. Some of the organization’s more notable events include Harpswell Day, a Solstice Lantern Walk and the summer Nature Camp. For an organization that relies on volunteers and has just two part-time staff, that’s a lot.

HHLT will be celebrating its 35th anniversary all year. Each month, the land trust will highlight a different preserve with a specific event. On January 31, for instance, HHLT will host a full moon snowshoe walk at Curtis Farm Preserve, the preserve highlighted for January. Upcoming featured preserves and events will be listed on the organization’s website, at hhltmaine.org.

Looking forward, HHLT is launching membership drive to add 200 new members to the organization, and looking backward, they will be honoring important people in the life of the land trust through a series in their newsletter.

HHLT has a lot to look forward in the coming years, but as it looks back on its first 35 years, it’s clear that Harpswell wouldn’t be the same without them.