A public forum led by Portland Trails and the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust will ask Westbrook residents this week to weigh in on the city’s protected land and the challenges and opportunities to grow its public trail system.

The forum, to be held Thursday, April 9, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Westbrook Community Center, is also hosted by Westbrook’s Recreation and Conservation Committee.

During the last few years, both Portland Trails and the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust have unveiled projects and acquired land in Westbrook for conservation.

Last year, the city of Westbrook handed over 50 acres along Mill Brook to the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, in a deal that the group said would help maintain a vital and rare coldwater stream that features migratory fish.

Also last year, Portland Trails began looking into the feasibility of constructing a bridge over the Stroudwater River in the vicinity of Spring Street, which is still pending. The bridge would connect a few existing trail systems, eventually creating a large loop for trailgoers.

Jaime Parker, the director of Portland Trails, said Monday that each group will give an overview of their current projects. Another project in the works, Parker said, is a trail that will coincide with the recently announced Blue Spruce Farm subdivision off Spring Street, which will run along the Stroudwater River. Both residents of the subdivision and the general public will have access to the trail.

According to a press release about the forum, “both organizations are also partners in a coalition to support the 28-mile ‘Sebago to the Sea Trail,’ which passes through Westbrook.”

However, Parker said, the “main focus” of the meeting is to ask residents how the entities can better connect Westbrook and Portland, from a recreational and transportation standpoint.

“Whether that’s better facilities for bikes or better sidewalks, or more trails through the woods, we’re putting it out there to the attendees, asking them what they would like to see,” he said. “How can we connect our communities better?”

For 25 years, the land trust, which was known as the Gorham-Sebago Regional Land Trust until 2007, has worked to preserve parcels in Gorham, Gray, Standish, Sebago, Westbrook and Windham. The Mill Brook property was the land trust’s first major parcel in Westbrook.

Parker said the conservation aspect of these groups’ work is also a high priority, and that the groups are using the forum as a way to “strengthen the community through collaboration.”

According to the press release, the event is one of a series of forums Portland Trails is holding throughout its coverage area with funding from the Lerner Foundation.

Jaime Parker, the director of Portland Trails, stands by the Stroudwater River last year, discussing a new project. Along with the Presumpscot River Land Trust and the Westbrook Recreation & Conservation Committee, Parker will host a community forum Thursday to discuss the future of public trails and land conservation in Westbrook. File photo

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