68 acres on Ducktrap in conservation, 4.34 acres public seaside park

Tue, 04/28/2020 - 6:30pm

Lynda Clancy

The 3.4 acre parcel that lies between Penobscot Bay and Route 1 will become a park for the public and owned by the Town of Lincolnville, if voters approve at the July town meeting. (Photo courtesy Town of Lincolnville)

The recreation area is in need of maintenance. (Photo courtesy Town of Lincolnville)

A portion of the Ducktrap River in Lincolnville, one of the few rivers left in Maine that are home to wild Atlantic salmon. (file photo by Corelyn Senn)

The recreation area is in need of maintenance. (Photo courtesy Town of Lincolnville)

A portion of the Ducktrap River in Lincolnville, one of the few rivers left in Maine that are home to wild Atlantic salmon. (file photo by Corelyn Senn)

LINCOLNVILLE — If Lincolnville voters approve at their July 14-16 town meeting, the town will exchange ownership of its 68 acres of wooded Ducktrap River land for 4.34 acres of Penobscot Bay oceanfront meadow and former MBNA corporation recreation area, currently owned by Coastal Mountains Land Trust.

The deal was approved by the five Lincolnville selectmen April 27 in a regularly scheduled meeting (via Zoom and available for viewing on the town’s Youtube channel), who agreed to put it before the voters on the annual town meeting warrant.

“I hope the townspeople want to jump on this,” said Selectman Keryn Laite. “These types of things don’t come along very often. It is a win-win for both sides. I want to move forward with this if was can.”

The proposed real estate swap is between the Town of Lincolnville and Coastal Mountains Land Trust.

Waterfront property

The land trust had acquired the 4.34 acres of former MBNA land near the Lincolnville-Northport town line in 2019. The land lies across Route 1 from the former credit card bank’s large Point Lookout recreation and conference development on Ducktrap Mountain, which is now under private ownership of Deep Creek Grazing Association, Inc.

The land trust had held a conservation easement on the 4.34 acres since 2000, when it was developed as a corporate recreation parcel for MBNA. Deep Creek Grazing Association, Inc., which had acquired Point Lookout in 2019, donated the 4.34 acres to Coastal Mountains Land Trust in March 2020.

The oceanfront parcel, with 400 feet along Penobscot Bay shoreline, includes a small parking lot, restroom facility, three open picnic shelters with grills, a “cottage” (storage shed), horse shoe pits, volleyball net, steps to the stone beach, and walking paths.

The Ducktrap property

Coastal Mountains Land Trust has long been purchasing land, or acquiring conservation easements on property, that abut the Ducktrap River, which runs from Tilden Pond, in Belmont, down to the Ducktrap River outlet, in Lincolnville.

To further its mission to preserve habitat along the river, which as the distinction of being one of the few rivers on the east coast of the U.S. that wild salmon still frequent during their life cycle, the land trust reached out to the town with the real estate exchange offer.

History of the Ducktrap land and Town of Lincolnville ownership

The history of the land ownership and efforts to preserve goes back to 2009, when Lincolnville approved divesting two town-owned properties along the Ducktrap River to the state of Maine.

The properties were the Gillmor/Town Forest and Sprague Hastings properties that abut the river.

The state funding then was to derive from the Land for Maine's Future Program using money that has been set aside from a 1996 Sears Island settlement (from the Maine Dept. of Transportation’s illegal filling of wetlands on Sears Island, in Searsport, in 1985) and targeted specifically for Ducktrap River land preservation and wild salmon restoration.

The parcels were given to the town in 1973 and 1966, respectively. The Gilmore piece has 4,600 feet of frontage on the Ducktrap River and the Sprague property had 2,665 feet on the river.

At a town meeting held in December 1973 the voters of the Town of Lincolnville voted to accept as a gift from Alexander Gillmor a parcel of land. Alexander R. Gillmor was an attorney with an office in Camden.

The Gillmor [later, the spelling of the name morphed to Gilmore] lot was 112 acres, and the Sprague-Hastings land, 69 acres. Easements were created that included a 250-foot buffer along the Ducktrap River and Kendall Brook.

In 2009, the Coastal Mountains Land Trust said it had high interest in acquiring both parcels. Fast forward to 2014, when the Town of Lincolnville sold the Thomas Lot (a portion of the Gillmor parcel) and the Sprague-Hastings lot to the State of Maine. The total sale price was $157,000. (Sprague-Hastings for $79,000, approximately 65.6 acres; and the Thomas Lot for $78,000, approximately 55.5 acres in size.)

The remaining portion of the Gillmor Lot (referred to as the “Coleman-Cilley” parcel) was not sold as the title to the property was not clear.

In 2013, the town transferred ownership of the Gillmor lot other parcels to state of Maine but did not transfer the 68-acre parcel.

Along the river, 84 percent of the setback land is now in permanent conservation, either in the hands of the State of Maine, the land trust, and the town.

If voters like what is proposed, the town would deed over to the land trust its ownership of 68 wooded and undeveloped acreage on the Ducktrap River, a parcel that lies between Route 1 and Route 52. The parcel is buttressed between two other parcels owned by the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. It is currently assessed at $48,200.

The town would give swap the acreage, with its 3,000 feet of river frontage.

Coastal Mountains Land Trust said in an April 23, 2020 letter to the Town of Lincolnville that it would, “manage the property as we do with our preserves, maintaining it in its natural condition while allowing public recreational access to its relatively remote forest.”

At the April 27 meeting, Heather Rogers, land protection manager for Coastal Mountains Land Trust, said: “We wouldn’t see much change [with the Ducktrap parcel]. We might expand public access on it.... People would still be able to go there and do everything they’ve done in the past.”

As for the oceanfront land, CMLT Director Ian Stewart told the selectmen that the nonprofit would assist the town in exploring grant funding to help with the maintenance and improvement to the former MBNA recreational area.

Town Administrator David Kinney noted that the park needed attention, and Selectman David Barrows concurred, saying that he walked the property that day.

“I was very impressed; it looks very nice, and is great asset for the town to have,” he said. “I don’t know what it’s going to cost to bring it up to code; nothing’s bad, but it has not been used for a while. It is going to need some touch up, and I’d be interested to know what the upkeep is going to cost.”

Among the motions made April 27 was directing the town administrator prepare a cost estimate to restore the park to a condition for public use. A subsequent motion was made for annual cost estimate to maintain the park.

“It is a win-win for the town, for salmon, for everybody,” said Selectman Jonathan Fishman.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657

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