Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

KENNEBEC LAND TRUST

Book tells stories of saved land

Group celebrates 20th anniversary

By Matthew Stone mstone@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

LITCHFIELD -- For Elizabeth Davidson, the 97 acres of blueberry fields she owned in Vassalboro were worth preserving.

click image to enlarge

A PUBLIC TRUST: Kennebec Land Trust intern Katie Epstein conducted interviews for the book "Between Person and Place: Conservation Histories from the Kennebec Land Trust."

Select images available for purchase in the
Maine Today Photo Store

The idea of protecting his 100 acres of Readfield woodlands for posterity seemed like a good one to Douglas Macdonald.

And Judy and George Rogers worried that their 117 acres of farmland and forest in Litchfield could be developed, so they took steps to make it conservation land.

What do these land owners have in common?

They either donated their land or granted conservation easements to the Kennebec Land Trust to see to it that their properties stayed just as they are today.

Their stories and those of 15 other Kennebec County properties are told in the pages of the Kennebec Land Trust's new book, "Between Person and Place: Conservation Histories from the Kennebec Land Trust."

The Winthrop-based conservation group celebrated the book's release Sunday afternoon at an event near a recently conserved property in Litchfield.

"My hope is people will be inspired by the stories they read," said Theresa Kerchner, the trust's executive director.

The 18 stories of the land trust properties started coming together two years ago, as the group celebrated its 20th anniversary. In those 20 years, Kerchner said, the land trust had conserved thousands of acres and opened miles of trails to the public.

"It was a good time for us to look back," Kerchner said.

And it was a good time to start conveying the stories behind the properties.

Last year, Kennebec Land Trust intern Katie Epstein, of Lincoln, Mass., interviewed each of the landowners and donors featured in "Between Person and Place" and began piecing together their stories.

"This was a really special project for me to do," Epstein, who recently graduated from North Carolina's Davidson College and spent many of her childhood summers in Maine, told those gathered at Sunday's release event. "It was so wonderful to speak to you all, come to your homes and learn what this land means to you."

The result is 48 pages of text and pictures that convey the tales of conservation in Kennebec County.

"We have such a good story to tell," said Mort Libby, one of the land trust's founding members and a summer resident of Winthrop.

Libby's Cincinnati-based business, LPK, contributed the book's graphic design and printing; Libby estimated the value at about $30,000. The land trust had about 3,000 copies printed.

Kerchner said the Kennebec Land Trust will use the book in its efforts to expand in order to handle a growing interest in conserving Kennebec County land.

"The vision was really, how can we elevate our organization to the next level?" Kerchner said. "The success that people read about will breed more success."

The land trust's book is available for $12 at Apple Valley Books in Winthrop, Mr. Paperback in Augusta and online at the land trust's website, www.tklt.org.

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com