Funds to go toward purchase of 2,400 acres near Lake Webb

WELD—The National Park Service has chipped in $310,000 to help buy a 2,400 acre of land to add to Mt. Blue State Park. The purchase could be completed by early next year. It would be the first acquisition of a long-term project to protect about 33,000 acres near the park and in the nearby Tumbledown Range. “It’s real good news for the Tumbledown Conservation Alliance. It makes our efforts worthwhile and we’re starting to see some results,” said Bruce Farnham, the park’s manager.

                 The allocation of federal Land and Water Conservation Fund money was announced Wednesday by Maine’s U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. The acquisition of the so-called Hedgehog Hill parcel from New River Franklin Ltd. will increase by almost half the size of Mt. Blue State Park. It will also fill in a section between two upland areas of the park on the east side of Lake Webb that now touch only at one point. “It just makes a perfect fit to get that piece. The whole park becomes one unit with that acquisition,” said Farnham, who has managed the park for 15 years.

                   The 2,445 acre parcel includes a 180 acre deer yard, some beaver ponds and the summit of Hedgehog Hill, which offers “just spectacular vistas,” Farnham said.

                   The total purchase price is $980,000. A 50 acre inholding will remain in private hands. In addition to the $310,000 from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, other money will come from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, the Land for Maine’s Future Board, and private donations raised by the TCA.  The 2,445 acre purchase is part of a larger project to protect 7,400 acres around the park, including portions of Pope and Hurricane mountains, at an estimated total cost of $1.9 million.

                   The TCA is working to raise $300,000 as the local portion of that amount and Alliance spokesmen says they have raised $200,00. “We’re in the midst of a major push right now,” Farnham said. He said he is optimistic the Alliance can reach its goal.

                   The 7,400 acre project is in turn part of an even larger project, estimated at $9 million, to protect some 33,000 acres in the area, including the Tumbledown Range, a popular hiking destination and site of one of the state’s few glacial tarns.

                   The Hedgehog Hill parcel is located between the park’s two major upland parcels. The land had been owned by United Timber Corp., but was sold when the Dixfield-based company went bankrupt. A portion of the park’s multi-use trail crosses the property. Hunters frequently use the area. “This piece is one a lot of people sort of assume was already a part of the park,” Farnham said.
 

Tumbledown Conservation Alliance