|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Baxter State Park Authority is selling the Austin Cary Lot, a 228-acre woodlot on the north end of Great Island, to the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust for $100. The agreement gives a local organization control over a property whose distance from northern Maine made it difficult for the park to manage.
The Cary Lot will be the largest tract of land that the Land Trust owns, and with the Long Reach Preserve and easements on properties in between, it will create the largest connected wildlife habitat in town, according to Emma Balazs, lands and stewardship director with the Land Trust.
The property consists of 180 acres of woodland, 34 acres of salt marsh and 13.5 acres of freshwater wetland. It encompasses Long Marsh, where the Land Trust and several partners are embarking on a project to restore the salt marsh.
Land Trust representatives said the organization will take its time as it decides how to use the property. It comes with restrictions from both a 2025 law and the original agreement governing its sale to the state in 1976. The Land Trust will continue to prioritize wildlife management, sustainable forestry, education and recreation.
Balazs said she is excited about the possibilities to engage students from Harpswell Community School, which borders the lot’s eastern edge.
Matt Newberg, executive director of the Land Trust, said he sees the acquisition as a moment to review the organization’s property holdings and think about what and who the group might be missing, whether that’s cross-country skiers, mountain bikers or ATV riders.
“If there’s a voice, I want to hear it. I’m open,” Newberg said. The Land Trust is considering holding open forums or polling residents about how the land could be used.
Newberg said the Land Trust has been talking to landowners on Long Reach Lane, which borders the west side of the lot. Some had expressed concerns about increased use of the road if Baxter sold the lot.
Newberg said the Land Trust intends to contribute to road maintenance and to be a good neighbor, although he said they have yet to work out the details.
Austin Cary, a pioneering forester, purchased the land in the early 1900s. The state bought it from sisters Virginia Bailey and Patricia Bousfield in the 1970s, using funds left by Gov. Percival Baxter to acquire land for recreation, reforestation or sustainable forestry.
But the lot is roughly 180 miles from the headquarters of Baxter’s namesake park, making it a hard-to-manage oddity. After talks with neighbors and the park, state Rep. Cheryl Golek, of Harpswell, introduced a bill that would clear the way for Baxter to sell or donate the property. Gov. Janet Mills signed it into law in June 2025.
Newberg said stewarding the lot in perpetuity will be a significant financial commitment for the Land Trust. He expects to start a fundraising campaign to address it at some point. But he said the Land Trust is committed to taking good care of the property.
“Forever is a long time. We take that really seriously — the stewardship and our ability to take that on — and I think that’s one of the things they knew when they selected us,” Newberg said.
