A 3,200-acre tract of raw, wild land next to a section of Acadia National Park once planned for development as an "eco-resort" has been purchased by a company that intends to work to see the land preserved.
The Lyme Timber Co. earlier this week announced the purchase of the
acreage on the Schoodic Peninsula from Winter Harbor Holdings, LLC.
Winter Harbor Holdings had intended to turn the property, a portion of
which is adjacent to the Schoodic Point portion of Acadia, into a resort
with hundreds of villages, resorts, and a golf course, according to a
release from the timber company.
“We are delighted to have acquired this important parcel,” said Peter
Stein, managing director at Lyme. “The property is an important
local/regional resource with significant ecological value, and we are
pleased at the opportunity to ensure the future of its natural
resources.”
Friends of Acadia,
and other stakeholders to create a plan for the property that takes
into account its conservation values and considers appropriate resource
development.
Following its purchase, Lyme entered into an option agreement with
Maine Coast Heritage Trust, giving it the opportunity in the future to
acquire a conservation easement on the southern portion of the property.
“We look forward to working with Lyme Timber to advance our shared
goals of conserving this land that means so much to the Schoodic
Peninsula and the people of Maine,” said Tim Glidden, president of MCHT.
At Friends of Acadia, President and Chief Executive Officer Marla
O'Byrne congratulated "Lyme Timber for negotiating this historic
opportunity, and are pleased to support them and MCHT in an effort that
is so important to the Acadia region.”
The Lyme Timber Company is a private timberland investment management
organization with a long track record of acquiring and sustainably
managing lands with unique conservation values. Lyme has worked on
numerous rural real estate investments in Maine over the last two
decades, typically on lands adjacent to State or National Parks,
including projects at Bar Harbor, Donnell Pond, Nicatouas Lake, Grand
Lake Stream, and Amherst.
The Lyme
Timber Company has a long and significant history in Maine. Since 1989,
Lyme Timber has purchased over 36,000 acres throughout the state and
conserved the majority of these lands through fee and conservation
easement transactions. Through its advisory business, Lyme Timber has
consulted on projects that have resulted in over 785,000 acres of
conservation.
In balancing private and public priorities for the land it purchases,
Lyme Timber has partnered with a variety of conservation organizations,
including The Nature Conservancy, The Trust for Public Land, Maine
Coast Heritage Trust, Forest Society of Maine, Downeast Lakes Land
Trust, The Conservation Fund, Coastal Mountains Land Trust and New
England Forestry Foundation. Lyme has also partnered with various state
and federal agencies, including the Maine Department of Conservation,
Acadia National Park, US Forest Service and White Mountain National
Forest. Several representative deals are described below.
• In Amherst, Maine, Lyme Timber conserved 5,400 acres in
partnership with the State of Maine Department of Conservation and the
Forest Society of Maine. In this investment, Lyme Timber purchased the
property in 2006 and granted an option to the Forest Society of Maine to
buy the property at the end of the three year option period. The Forest
Society of Maine ultimately transferred its purchase rights to the
Maine Department of Conservation, which purchased the property in 2009
as conservation land and a community forest.
• Lyme Timber has also done a number of limited development
conservation deals in Hancock County. Over a five year period, Lyme
Timber invested in 600 acres on Mount Desert Island in collaboration
with Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Acadia National Park. These projects
were known as Acadian Woods, Fogg Farm and Long Pond. In most cases,
these lands were conserved through conservation easements held by Maine
Coast Heritage Trust with some portion set aside for limited
development.
• One of the largest investments Lyme Timber has made in Maine
is its Grand Lake Stream property in the Downeast region in Maine. This
property, consisting of over 22,000 acres, is ecologically significant
because of its central location in a landscape-scale conservation
initiative and its undeveloped shoreline on unique lakes and streams.
Lyme Timber anticipates selling a working forest conservation easement
in 2012 to the Downeast Lakes Land Trust, which plans to also eventually
purchase the remainder of the property and convert it into a community
forest.
Source: http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2011/12/resort-planned-schoodic-peninsula-near-acadia-national-park-scuttled9213
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