BTLT in the News, “Land trust looks back at 2018”
December 28, 2018
Angela Twitchell, Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust Executive Director, and Emily Swan, Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust Board President, co-wrote a piece for the Times Record summing up another successful year at the Land Trust.
Key to our mission is connecting the people of our region to the land and enriching community appreciation of the natural world. 2018 has been a busy year for the Land Trust thanks to the generous support of our more than 1,000 members.
First and foremost is land conservation, and leading the pack there is Head of Tide Park, the result of a 12-year collaboration between BTLT, the town of Topsham, and many other individuals and organizations. Spanning 12 acres of land on both banks of the Cathance River, Head of Tide Park’s amenities include hand-carry boat access, a riverfront trail connecting to BTLT’s Cathance River Nature Preserve, and a picnic area to bird-watch, fish, swim, and just enjoy being outdoors in a beautiful setting – and all of this is open to everyone!
This is just one of several projects that created or improved public access to the outdoors for the people of our region in 2018. Others include conservation of the Smart parcel behind Riverview Cemetery in Topsham, which permanently protects a large section of the recently built Topsham River Trail; construction of a bridge connecting BTLT’s Chase Reserve trail to the Freeport Conservation Trust’s Antoinette Jackman Trail thanks to the hard work of Eagle Scout Sam Hughes; and completion of a trail on BTLT’s Woodward Cove property in East Brunswick that ensures public access to these productive clam flats.
Our most recently completed land conservation project is Neptune Woods at Brunswick Landing and its great new mountain bike and multi-use trails opened in October. No project better exemplifies BTLT’s proud history of partnering with other organizations – in this case, Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, 6 Rivers New England Mountain Bike Association, and Mid Coast Hospital – to create access to the out-of-doors for the people of our region.
We can’t leave the list of land conservation successes in 2018 without mentioning the exciting Woodward Point property which, when complete, will conserve nearly 90 acres and two miles of shorefront on Woodward Cove and the New Meadow River in Brunswick. While this project (being done in a wonderful partnership with Maine Coast Heritage Trust) is ongoing and still in need of significant funding to be completed, we count the progress we have made to date as one of our most important accomplishments of 2018. Expect to hear more about this project in 2019.
Virtually all of BTLT’s work supports community wellness, from protecting clean water, open spaces, and recreation, to supporting access to healthy food, and much more.
