Unity-based Sebasticook Regional Land Trust has purchased 150 acres along Bog Brook that officials say creates a 1,500-acre corridor of permanently conserved land in Waldo County for hikers, hunters, bird watchers and others.
The March 30 purchase was made by the land trust along with partners The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, according to a news release from the trust. The newly conserved land will be called The Rines Wetlands and Wildlife Preserve.
Sebasticook Regional Land Trust Executive Director Jennifer Irving said in the release that sellers Jackie (Rines) Ingraham and sister Linda (Rines) Berry liked the idea of placing the land into permanent conservation as a way to honor their family’s love of nature and wildlife. Ingraham and Berry grew up on the property with their parents and grandparents, hunting, fishing, riding horses and climbing trees there.
“For this land to be used for something like this – for wildlife – that would have made (my parents) very happy,” Ingraham said in the release.
Irving said the land conservation will create new outdoor recreation opportunities in the Twenty-five Mile Stream region in northwest Unity.
“On its journey from Unity Pond to the Sebasticook River, the stream travels through one of central Maine’s largest remaining blocks of undeveloped habitat,” Irving said in the release. “That means it’s home to critters that need lots of space, like moose, bear, bobcat, fisher, and woodland hawks. It’s also home to less common animals and plants: wood turtles, wild garlic, bur oak, to name a few. That’s why this acquisition is so important: It provides adequate space for wildlife, creates new spaces for recreation, and when added to our other, adjoining conservation acquisitions, provides a lasting example of Sebasticook Regional Land Trust’s long dedication to habitat protection.”
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