FREEPORT

B olstering an effort to integrate nearly 300 acres of public land, the town of Freeport has been awarded a community assistance grant from the National Park Service.

The grant is not for a dollar amount, according to Town Planner Donna Larson, but rather the National Park Service grant for technical assistance is realized through lending staff support to community projects.

“I describe our role as that of a coach or adviser,” said Burnham Martin, the NPS Maine Project director who will be working with the town. “We come in and try to understand what the community vision is, what the needs are, and help to develop a work plan to move forward with those goals.”

The areas that fall within the scope of the Freeport Outdoor Recreation Area Project are five contiguous parcels totaling 290 acres, said Larson, which currently are managed by four separate groups.

According to the grant application, Hedgehog Mountain and Hedgehog Mountain South are managed by the Freeport Conservation Commission; Hunter Road Fields is managed by the Hunter Road Fields Advisory Committee; Pownal Road Fields is managed by Regional School Unit 5; and the town transfer station is managed by Town Engineer Albert Presgraves and regulated by the Department of Environ- mental Protection.

The grant application was supported by the town council and the four current management groups, as well as the Freeport Conservation Trust, members of the former Freeport Active Living Task Force, and Healthy Casco Bay.

“It’s a brand-new project so I can’t say entirely how it will unfold,” said Martin, “but I would observe that these are wonderful properties with diverse values.”

Martin said the process of increasing continuity between the parcels could involve the creation of a steering committee with representatives from the managing groups and others, the development of an inventory of each parcel, and researching funding opportunities for the implementation of conceptual goals.

“ There are maps of trails, but an inventory describes systems in more detail,” said Martin. “An inventory would list the condition of existing trails, where there are bridges and signs, and what condition they are in.”

Some trails on the separate properties could be linked, said Martin, and there are areas where trail maintenance is needed or where signage could be added to indicate the location of trail heads.

The application cites the Pownal and Hunter roads fields as an example, noting that the two properties are adjacent and are nearly, but not completely, connected by trails. To get from one property to the other is 1.2 miles by car, or less than half a mile by trail.

The existing 3.5 miles of trails on the properties, it further states, are not marked by signs and so are primarily used by residents who are already familiar with the area.

“Any trail plan has to be careful to avoid sensitive habitat, neighborhoods, or other existing uses,” said Martin. “There is a police shooting range out there on one of the properties that needs to be accommodated.”

In 2013, the Active Living Task Force collected 719 responses to a public survey on walking and biking in Freeport. Of the respondents, 20 percent said that they don’t use public lands — reporting a lack of trail markings and parking, among other reasons.

“If you don’t know the property or are intrepid about going off on your own,” said Martin, “a lack of signage can be intimidating for some people.

“I generally see that it is beneficial to have people out enjoying a property,” he said. “Exercise and fun are at the top of my mind, and I’m a big believer in having people from the community who care and have energy involved in the process.”

rgargiulo@timesrecord.com