Mount Blue State Park adds nearly 800 acres

By Associated Press, 3/7/2002 08:57

WELD, Maine (AP) The latest expansion at Mount Blue State Park is scheduled to become final early next week with the closing of a deal to add nearly 800 acres to the popular hiking area.

The new parcels, owned by T.R. Dillon Logging Inc. of Anson, include 375 acres next to Webb Lake Campground and 421 acres on the west side of the park.

The smaller parcel, valued at $131,600, is being bought with private funding and a $56,000 matching grant from the National Park Service. The $148,000 for the larger property came through the federal Forest Legacy program.

The 797 acres are part of an overall land preservation effort to protect about 33,000 acres in the Mount Blue State Park/Tumbledown Mountain region in Township 6 North of Weld.

Earlier this year, the state increased the size of the park by acquiring 2,468 acres known as the Hedgehog Hill parcel the part that includes the 1,298-foot peak of Hedgehog Hill and about half of the park's multi-use trail system.

That parcel was bought for $980,000, raised from state, federal and private sources.