More Tumbledown Mountain acreage preserved

AUGUSTA — More acreage at a popular western Maine hiking destination, Tumbledown Mountain, is being protected for public use, Gov. John Baldacci and Maine's congressional delegation said Thursday, [September 2, 2004]

More than 6,700 acres of MeadWestvaco paper company land are being added to acreage in the area that's already been conserved. The newly conserved lands include trails leading to the top of Tumbledown Mountain.

A local, state, federal and private partnership secured $2.4 million for the transaction, which includes $1.4 million from the federal government's Forest Legacy Program.

The transaction is the latest in a series that have protected thousands of acres at Tumbledown Mountain and nearby Mount Blue State Park in Weld. Conservationists' goal has been to protect about 30,000 acres.

Associated Press