In November I joined the Androscoggin Land Trust. This month we are putting together our spring 2017 newsletter. I’m writing an article about agricultural conservation easements – a legal tool that farmers can use to protect their farmland from development.
My article features a farm in Lisbon, and so I recently visited the property to speak with the husband and wife team that tends 170 acres of farmland. (The article will be out later this month.)
While waiting for the farmer to emerge from the barn, I snapped a few photos.
Given my irrational level of fear on seeing this rooster, I vaguely recalled an incident from my childhood in which I had a bad run in with a rooster. I kept my distance.
An orange barn cat kept winding around my legs, and a half dozen energetic barn birds flew into my wheel hub. Apparently they quickly determined that my tire was nothing special because they left within a minute.
I’m pretty certain this horse was sweet on me, and I sorely regretting not having a secret stash of carrots.
This goofball below had an ear decorated with hay.
Sure, we just celebrated Maine Maple Sunday. (Despite the cold spring, sugarhouses around the state were up and running and sweet syrup was bubbling.) But mark you calendars now for Open Farm Day on July 23, 2017. As explained by Maine’s Agricultural Resource Development Division within the Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Conservation, “Maine’s Open Farm Day is an annual family adventure in which farms throughout all 16 counties open their gates to offer the public an opportunity to learn about the business of agriculture. Open Farm Day gives families the chance to visit local farms throughout the state.” http://www.maine.gov/dacf/ard/market_promotion/open_farm_day
Now, the particular farm I visited is not in fact a “Forever Farm.” As explained by Maine Farmland Trust, designating a farm as a ‘”Forever Farm” is a way to celebrate the growing success of farmland protection efforts in Maine. “Forever Farm” signs are installed on farmland in Maine that has been preserved through agricultural easements. While there are many farms that are protected with conservation easements (like the farm I visited), not all are designated as Forever Farms. The goal of Forever Farms is to celebrate the partnerships between landowners and land trusts (like the Androscoggin Land Trust!) that have led to the growing success of farmland protection in Maine.
Perhaps you’d like to get involved in your local land trust? Here’s a list, compliments of the Maine Land Trust Network (http://www.mltn.org):
- Androscoggin Land Trust
- Bangor Land Trust
- Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance
- Biddeford Pool Land Trust
- Blandings Park Wildlife Sanctuary
- Blue Hill Heritage Trust
- Boothbay Region Land Trust
- Brewer Land Trust
- Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust
- Cape Elizabeth Land Trust
- Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust, Inc.
- Chewonki Foundation
- Coastal Mountains Land Trust
- Crabtree Neck Land Trust
- Damariscotta River Association
- Downeast Coastal Conservancy
- Downeast Lakes Land Trust
- Downeast Rivers Land Trust
- Eastern Trail Alliance
- Ecotat Trust
- Falmouth Land Trust
- Foothills Land Conservancy
- Forest Society of Maine
- Francis Small Heritage Trust, Inc.
- Freeport Conservation Trust
- Frenchman Bay Conservancy
- Friends of Merrymeeting Bay
- Friends of Wilson Pond Area, Inc.
- Georges River Land Trust
- Gorham Trails, Inc.
- Great Diamond Island Land Preserve
- Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust
- Great Works Regional Land Trust
- Greater Lovell Land Trust
- Harpswell Heritage Land Trust
- Holden Land Trust
- Island Heritage Trust
- Islesboro Islands Trust
- Kennebec Estuary Land Trust
- Kennebec Land Trust
- Kennebunk Land Trust
- Kennebunkport Conservation Trust
- Kittery Land Trust
- Landmark Heritage Trust
- Loon Echo Land Trust
- Mahoosuc Land Trust
- Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust
- Maine Audubon
- Maine Coast Heritage Trust
- Maine Farmland Trust
- Maine Huts and Trails
- Maine Island Trail Association
- Maine Wilderness Watershed Trust
- Maine Woodland Owners
- Medomak Valley Land Trust
- Midcoast Conservancy
- Monhegan Associates
- Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative
- New Brunswick Community Land Trust
- New England Forestry Foundation, Inc.
- North Haven Conservation Partners
- Northeast Wilderness Trust
- Oceanside Conservation Trust of Casco Bay
- Orono Land Trust
- Peaks Island Land Preserve
- Pemaquid Watershed Association
- Phippsburg Land Trust
- Pleasant River Wildlife Foundation
- Portland Trails
- Presumpscot Regional Land Trust
- Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust
- Royal River Conservation Trust
- Saco Bay Trails
- Saco Valley Land Trust
- Sanford-Springvale Mousam Way Land Trust
- Scarborough Land Trust
- Sebasticook Regional Land Trust
- Somerset Woods Trustees
- South Portland Land Trust
- Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative
- Southern Maine Wetlands Conservancy
- The Nature Conservancy in Maine
- The Nature Trust of New Brunswick
- The Trust for Public Land
- Three Rivers Land Trust
- Upper Saco Valley Land Trust
- Upper St. John Land Trust
- Vinalhaven Land Trust
- Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve & Laudholm Trust
- Western Foothills Land Trust
- Woodie Wheaton Land Trust
- York Land Trust, Inc.
The Nature of Maine 