The Damariscotta River Association is growing, with the acquisition of new land, an island and other projects in the making, all now under the banner of national accreditation.
The National Land Trust Commission recently awarded the DRA national accreditation for, “meeting the national standards of excellence, upholding the public trust and ensuring that conservation efforts are permanent.”
DRA Executive Director Steven Hufnagel just returned (by boat) from a national land trust conference in Providence, R.I. where he headed up a workshop on community programming. “In order to stand the test of time, you need to have a community that loves these places,” Hufnagel said. “If people are connected to and interested in these places, that’s something that will last.”
Hufnagel praised DRA Board President Bruce Lutsk, whom he said was instrumental in the accreditation process and cited past DRA presidents Tom Arter and Mark Desmeules, and the organization’s Educational Director Sarah Gladu, whom Hufnagel said, was “instrumental in growing our program to its current robust set of offerings.”
Hufnagel said he was especially grateful to all of the volunteers and people who have contributed to the DRA over the years. People who have volunteered or donated money and/or provided land to the DRA can feel confident their investments were made toward an organization that, according to national standards, will last the test of time.
Damariscotta resident Alida Busby is one of those people. She recently sold approximately 93 acres of her family’s property to the DRA so that it will remain in its natural state forever. According to the DRA, the property is named after her husband’s ancestors.
Busby is quoted on the DRA website (www.damariscottariver.org) saying: “I couldn’t be happier knowing that this land my husband so carefully stewarded, and that has been in his family for over a hundred years, will be in the care of the DRA and conserved forever, a haven for wildlife.”
The land, all 93 acres of unbroken and largely unexplored forest, sits next to the inland portion of the Dodge Point property west of the River Road in Damariscotta. Hufnagel said the lot connects Dodge Point with Lynch and Dodge roads and “buffers Dodge Point from encroaching development.”
Keeping the land wild allows for unimpeded travel for deer and other wildlife. Hufnagel said there are also a number of vernal pools on the property that are home to wood frogs and salamanders.
The Davidson family, Hufnagel said, took very good care of the land throughout the last century. While Busby could not give the land to the organization outright, she waited until the DRA secured the funding (about a year, Hufnagel said) to purchase it.
A grant from the Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program, managed by the Nature Conservancy, covered the entire purchase of the property, according to Hufnagel. Support also came from the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, which took responsibility for writing the grant.
Hufnagel said the DRA is not hurrying to build trails on the Davidson property, as there is a well-maintained and extensive River Link trail that runs approximately five miles from Dodge Point to conservation land called the Church Property, abutting the McKay Road and near Route 27 in Edgecomb.
“If we put a trail on the Davidson property, we will be very careful to go around the vernal pools,” Hufnagel said. He added they would likely watch the land for at least a couple of seasons before making a decision on building trails there.
There are other projects the organization is fully immersed in, such as Crow Island in South Bristol, which is home to nesting seabirds, such as osprey, terns, eiders and eagles. This island, just under three acres in size, is located east of Christmas Cove and on the northern end of the Thread of Life ledges. The DRA is in the final stages of a funding campaign (approximately $240,000, according to the website) to purchase the island by Dec. 15 this year. They have just $10,000 left to raise.
Hufnagel said the island is large enough to accommodate a small camp, which he said, “could take away from its scenic and natural values.” While it provides a safe haven for seabirds like osprey to build nests, when the osprey are done nesting the island would be a nice place for people to visit.
