Robbins Lumber Company, of Searsmont, has donated a conservation easement to the Georges River Land Trust on 89 acres of riverfront and woodland property in Appleton.

For the past five generations, Robbins Lumber has been managing 28,000 acres of woodlands in Maine, receiving several national and state awards for outstanding forest stewardship (National Arbor Day Award and the Austin Wilkin Forest Land Stewardship Award). The property under easement will be exclusively managed for its natural resources, allowing no future development.
 

With this 89-acre parcel, Robbins Lumber will have another opportunity to demonstrate exemplary management and stewardship on forestland of mixed species, including mature examples of ash, white pine and red oak. The company will plant Christmas trees in an abandoned field on the property, an integral part of their forest management operations in the Midcoast.

In 2000, the Robbins Lumber sold a working forest conservation easement to the Bureau of Public Lands on 20,068 acres on Nicatous Lake in eastern Maine, a tract that also allows public recreational use.  Jim Robbins, current CEO of the company, is a believer of mixed use for woodland properties, advocating, in a news release, that “conservation of natural resources can go hand in hand with responsible forest management."

The riverfront is home to wading birds and waterfowl, and includes a large 31-acre wetland complex.  The riverfront supports wetland grasses, shrubs such as alder, clusters of red and silver maple, red oak, and scattered swamp white oak.  It is also a destination for fishing and canoeing, said Robbins, who remembers catching brook trout along this stretch of the river. It is not uncommon to see eagles using the river to fish and roost.

“We always specify responsible management of landowners’ woodlands in their easements,” said Annette Naegel, Conservation Program Manager for Georges River Land Trust. “But this is the first time we have conserved property with a commercial lumber company and we are confident that Robbins Lumber will continue its long history of responsible management.”

Organized in 1987, the Georges River Land Trust works to conserve and steward the natural resources and traditional character of the Georges River watershed region for the public benefit.  This region includes diverse woodlands, streams, lakes and ponds, hills, blueberry barrens and farm fields as well as rich tidal estuaries of salt marsh, clamflats and productive fishing grounds. For more information, call 594-5166 or visit georgesriver.org.
 
Photo credit: Georges River Land Trust
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