Scarborough Land Conservation Trust

Lands - Introduction

Land Trusts acquire property in a variety of ways. They buy it at market value. Someone donates it for zero money. They buy it at a bargain price. They use grants to purchase it. They hold conservation easements, or they only manage it, which limits the type of development on a property, while the landowner retains ownership.

In the beginning, the Scarborough Land Conservation Trust had no set policy for its land acquisition program; however, its mission is clearly stated in the Articles of Agreement of 1975

"The purposes of the corporation are to receive and administer property and funds for the promotion and advancement of conservation, education, science, and..."

"...a specific purpose of the corporation shall be the acquisition of small areas of environmentally sensitive and undeveloped land within the Town of Scarborough, with particular emphasis on shoreland, tidal areas, inland wetlands, and other unique or scenic areas, to be held forever in its natural state for the benefit and enjoyment of the people..."

Until 1995, SLCT’s holdings were minimal. At that time, a generous man named Albert G. Sewell, Jr. donated 35 acres outright. His only request was the wise stewardship of the property that he and his family had taken care of for 60 years. It was an exciting time for the Land Trust, because the woods included two loop trails and a couple of bridges over small streams. It represented the largest contribution to the Land Trust and provided parking and trails for visitors. This set the precedent for future acquisitions. Seeing the benefits of this, SLCT created an informal policy of only accepting lands with endowments for stewardship, locations for parking, and public access. The Land Trust was beginning to define the characteristics of land they wanted to protect.

In a very short period of time, the Scarborough Land Conservation Trust more than doubled its total property. In the fall of 1995 the Land Trust held 35 acres of easements and 69 acres outright. The purchase of the Libby River Farm 120+ acres more than doubled the property owned and/or managed by the SLCT. A list of those lands is found below. SLCT now protects over 1000 acres in Scarborough.

NAME	PROPERTY	DATE
Marion Jordan Road	35 acre scenic donated easement	1986
Marion Jordan Road	2.3 acre easement donated	1988
Kirkwood Road	4 acre ownership donated	1988
Old Colony Subdivision	20.8 acre ownership donated	1990
Windward Subdivision	9 acre ownership on tributary to Nonesuch River donated; another 9 acres donated	1995 1998
Pintail Point Subdivision	19 acres donated	1996
Albert Sewell Woods	35 acres ownership donated	1996
Libby River Farm	120 acres ownership purchased	1997-current
Eastern Road	Management Agreement	1995-current
Fuller Farm	180 acres ownership purchased	2001
Dunn Estates	20 acres donated
Meserve Farm	434 acres ownership purchased

Lands - Links

Information on our properites is listed here:

Broadturn Farm

In 2004, SLCT purchased the 434 acre Meserve Farm. In the fall of 2006, John Bliss and Stacy Brenner became tenants at the Farm, which they renamed Broadturn Farm. In their first full season, John and Stacy shared their organic vegetables with 80 families through their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. They also shared their farm life experience while teaching about animal welfare and organic gardening through their Farm Camp for children ages 4-9.

Libby River Farm
   Splash Page
   Resources
   Management
   Public Access
Sewell Woods
   Tree Growth Management Plan

Pictured at the top of the page is the Scarborough marsh at Libby River Farm. The photograph above shows field collection work at Fuller Farm.

lands

OFFICE ADDRESS
7 Oak Hill Terrace, 2nd Floor
Scarborough, ME 04074

MAILING ADDRESS
Scarborough Land Conservation Trust
P.O. Box 1237
Scarborough, ME 04070-1237

Telephone: 207-289-1199
Directions