AUGUSTA — Gov. John Baldacci joined conservation organizations Wednesday in celebrating the purchase of nearly 12,000 acres of Down East land, the first step in a $30 million transaction to preserve hundreds of thousands of acres for public use while keeping it in production. The purchase of 11,748 acres in the upper Machias River watershed was completed in mid- December.
Within the next five months, the Downeast Lakes Forestry Partnership, working with other conservation groups, must raise funds for its next purchase, 15,330 acres around West Grand and Pocumcus lakes, and a conservation easement for 312,000 acres of working forest between West Grand Lake and New Brunswick.
All the property involved has been owned by a timber investment management group.
The land purchases and easements are being paid for mostly with private funds raised by conservation groups and some federal and state funding. So far, $16 million has been raised, said Amos Eno of the New England Forestry Foundation, which is involved in the project.
The effort started five years ago, when about 400,000 acres of private land went on the market in the eastern Maine region, said Karin Tilberg, deputy state conservation commissioner.
It picked up momentum when local residents grew concerned over whether the land sales would close off access they had long enjoyed for hunting, fishing and other outdoor uses, Tilberg said. The residents took steps to preserve what they envisioned as a "community forest."
Baldacci on Wednesday called the effort a community-driven project using public and private financing, adding that it strengthens the region's resource-based economy while protecting the environment.
"This has been done the Maine way," the governor said.