SCARBOROUGH — Almost 10 months after announcing plans to acquire
a pristine plot in the center of town to save from future development, the
Scarborough Land Trust closed Dec. 21 on the 161.5-acre parcel known as Warren
Woods.
“This is truly a holiday gift to the people of
Scarborough,” said the land trust's president, Paul Austin. “We salute the
Warren family for their legacy of support for land conservation. Warren Woods
is a major acquisition that required many partnerships.”
In April, the Town Council authorized spending
$228,750 from Scarborough’s Land Bond Fund. Another $136,250, used to complete
the $285,000 purchase and to establish a stewardship fund, was raised in the
intervening months from private donors.
“The town of Scarborough provided major support and
many generous donors helped us raise the funds needed to reach our goal,” said
Austin. “We are very grateful to these partners and the citizens of Scarborough
for their commitment to land conservation.”
Located along Payne Road, Warren Woods is a mix of
open fields, mature woods, and wetlands, with frontage on the Nonesuch River,
the largest source of fresh water for the Scarborough Marsh. The property has
wild orchids, carnivorous sundew plants, a cranberry bog and a pitch pine bog
that is considered a rare natural community in Maine, according to Kathy Mills,
the land trust's executive director.
Through the
summer, said Mills, Boyle Associates, an environmental consulting firm in
Westbrook owned by newly elected state legislator Jim Boyle, conducted a
natural resources survey of the woods
“We were blown
away by the flora on the Warren property,” said Kelsey Kaufman, one of Boyle
Associates’ environmental scientists, in a press release issued by the land
trust. “The wetlands and river provide habitat from some unusual plants and
there are remarkably few invasive species.”
Mills said the property will be named in honor of
Elaine Stimson Warren, the late wife of property owner Harvey Warren who was a
longtime director of the land trust. Their daughter, Becky Seel, was a
founding director of the Scarborough Land Trust and was actively involved in
the project.
"My father is very happy to be able to honor
the memory of my mother by selling this parcel to the Scarborough Land
Trust," said Seel in a statement. "This land has been a very
special part of my parents' lives since they bought it in 1966. They have
enjoyed the beautiful wild orchids, wild cranberries and blueberries, and other
wetland plants and wildlife over the years.
"We are so pleased that the land will be
permanently protected, and would love to see Warren Woods used as an outdoor
classroom for Scarborough students. Our entire family is grateful for the
dedication and hard work of SLT and all who have been involved in the
project."
Contributors to the project included the Davis
Conservation Foundation, the Phineas W. Sprague Memorial Foundation, the
Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust, Friends of Scarborough Marsh, and more than 80
individual donors. The land trust has also been approved for a grant from
the Maine Natural Resources Conservation Program, which will be finalized in
January.
As part of its partnership with the town of
Scarborough, the land trust plans to convey roughly six acres along Payne Road
to the town for a possible future active recreation area, leaving 156 acres in
land trust control. Although there are no immediate plans, Town Manager Tom
Hall has suggested the possibility of developing ball fields on the site.
“We have no definite plans, but this is the time to
pursue that option,” said Tom Hall on Dec. 19, when the council voted 6-1 to
endorse a memoranda of understanding on the eventual transfer of the six acres
to municipal oversight.
Councilor
James Benedict voted against endorsing the memorandum based on the fact that it
is a “nonbinding agreement.”
Hall, who
worked with officials from the land trust to come up with the memorandum, does
not share that concern.
“I have no
reservations at all,” said Hall. “The land trust is a local group here in
Scarborough and, frankly, they would be foolish to bite the hand that feeds
them.”
Jeremy Wintersteen,
a land trust director who represented it before the council, said his group
does not intend to back out from the transfer.
“The land
trust board is in total support,” he said. “We see this as a great partnership
between the town and the land trust in making this a truly multi-use property.”
“We are really
looking forward to this project,” he continued, “and we think we have a good
frame work in the memorandum of understanding.”
Meanwhile, the
land trust is focused on rehabbing the property for light recreational use.
"There's a lot of property planning and
stewardship work to be done,” said Austin, noting plans to create signage and a
trails network on the Warren property.
Founded in 1977, the Scarborough Land Trust has
conserved more than 1,200 acres through purchase and easements. Four
properties have public trails – Fuller Farm on Broadturn Road, Libby River Farm
behind Camp Ketcha, Sewell Woods on Ash Swamp Road, and Broadturn Farm.
“We're thrilled to have protected this gem of a
property at the center of Scarborough,” said Austin.
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