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CONSERVATION NOTES (continued)...
But wait, the Town’s $150,000 contribution
from the conservation fund and Blue Hill Trust’s $200,000
have covered less than half of the $765,000 purchase price.
Where’d the rest come from? Bear-Paw, the Town, and Blue
Hills Trust considered the project so important that they
were willing to go out on a limb and secure loans for the
remainder—loans that will need to be repaid within two
years. How can we do that? Dan Kern at Bear-Paw is already
busy writing grant proposals, and chances are good that
these will be successful and cover the money owed, though we
won’t know until later this year when the funding sources
make those decisions. And grant funding may not completely
cover the entire amount owed. We may well need to do some
local fundraising here to make the mountain truly ours.
Anyone can make a direct contribution to the effort by
calling Dan at Bear-Paw, 463-9400. And we can also use any
good ideas for fundraising events—there has already been a
suggestion to hold a contra dance evening at the BLCC—what
do you think? Please call Harmony Anderson, 332-0709, with
any of your ideas. It would be nice to have some fun while
we work to conserve our mountain!
The second conservation project that needs
citizen input this spring is the Managing Growth Committee (MGC)
and Planning Board’s work toward strategies to protect
our town’s farmlands. In the last few years the town has
been making good progress conserving forestlands and
wetlands, but our valuable agricultural lands are still
vulnerable. These are the lands that give Strafford so much
of the rural character we value. And one doesn’t have to be
a believer in Hollywood doomsday scenarios to feel that it
is a very good idea to protect our soils that can produce
food right here. Consideration of landowner rights must be a
big part of developing ways to protect our farmlands. Some
combination of compensating landowners for conserving
their agricultural lands as well as ordinance to direct any
development of farm tracts away from the best soils seems
like a reasonable approach. Instead of presenting any
proposals among the Warrants this year, the MGC and Planning
Board wish to gather ideas from Strafford citizens to help
in this effort. At both the Tuesday voting day and the
Saturday Town Meeting day, a survey will be available for
you to fill out. Please give us your opinions and ideas! |