2008! Another year change has brought us the task of reviewing our progress as a land trust. 2007 was an incredible year for growth, not only in holdings but also in organizational strength.

Easement Activity: We began with the thrill of protecting Grand View Acres, the Boothby property in Shapleigh. Through the year we managed to expand our easement portfolio from five to ten! Plus the Shapleigh Town Forest easement is written and waiting for the Town’s voters to approve. As well there are an additional ten or eleven projects that are out there on the radar making progress.

In January of last year we began the process of reviewing and updating out by-laws. Our annual meeting was snowed out on Valentines Day, but rescheduled with a good turnout and a very interesting presentation by Steve Clark, local author and long time Maine Appalachian Trail Club member and past president. During March, April, and May we began to think about our fund raising auction and continued to work on By-laws and started the process of assessing the land trust using the Land Trust Alliance’s (LTA)Standards and Practices. Our first efforts were to go through a board evaluation form, and discuss or policies on Ethics and conflict of interest. The consensus was reached that our by-laws and Conflict of Interest Policy guidelines comply with the LTA Standards and Practices.

In June we had a special members meeting with an excellent presentation by Attorney Bonnie Lounsbury and Adrian Wadsworth. They raised the core question of what are we REALLY trying to protect? A lively discussion was followed by adoption of the amendments to the by-laws by a quorum of the membership.

During July we began our involvement with the Maine Land Trust Network’s (MLTN) Circuit Rider Program. For this program each director received the LTA workbook, Assessing Your Organization Using Land Trust Standards and Practices. Each of us went through the book and answered the questions as well as we could. Deb Chapman from MLTN is our circuit rider and she took the books and compiled our answers and came up with an outline of our organizational strengths and weaknesses. From this report we have developed a plan of action that is beginning with a strategic plan. This is going to be an important tool as we progress into 2008.


August and September were consumed by our planning and hosting of the annual silent auction at McDougal Orchards. We also held a walk on a lovely parcel on the Salmon Falls River in Lebanon and had the good fortune of collaborating with a terrific group of Americorps volunteers on some trail work in Alfred’s Shaker Woods and at Acton’s Mary Grant Preserve.

October and November and December saw more work on the strategic plan and an urgent push to complete the easements on the Prevoir and Blood Properties. We also completed stewardship visits and walked a beautiful property in Shapleigh. In December we had special guests, Zack Steele and Tin Smith from Wells Estuarine Reserve who made a great presentation on their project, “Sanford Land Conservation Plan”. We look forward to collaborating with them in the future.

As you can see it has been a busy and active year. We realize that we need to find more people who are interested in our vision and willing to volunteer- let us know your interests.

Please show your support and renew your membership.

Thank you, Carl Davis, President

Potential Volunteer Involvement Tasks:

  • Board Member
  • Writer
  • Trail Builder
  • Trail Monitor
  • Trail Maintenance
  • Stewardship Committee Member
  • Advertising
  • Fundraising
  • Outreach
  • Party Planner
  • Outing Organizer
  • Membership Committee Member
  • Grant Writing
  • Research
  • Investment Committee Member
  • Auction Committee Member
  • Publicity Committee Member
  • Ideas and Action!