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Coastal Mountains Land Trust has purchased a 55-acre parcel in Lincolnville, as part of a three-decade-long effort to protect habitat for endangered wild Atlantic Salmon.
The parcel is “biologically quite important and quite active,” said Ian Stewart, executive director of the land trust.
The land includes 1,580 feet of frontage on Kendall Brook, one of the Ducktrap River’s three main tributaries.
The Ducktrap River is one of just eight rivers in the country, all in Maine, with a population of naturally spawning Atlantic salmon, according to the state Department of Marine Resources.
The newly acquired parcel is a “puzzle piece” that abuts other land that’s been conserved to support salmon recovery, Stewart said. To date, a coalition of more than two dozen organizations has protected more than 85% of the shorefront of the Ducktrap River and its main tributaries, and more than 5,500 acres within the watershed.
In addition to providing salmon habitat, the Lincolnville parcel features a wide open wetland that supports wading birds and waterfowl. Alewives also migrate through the brook, which attracts bald eagles and other birds in the spring, Stewart said.
Atlantic salmon were once found in many coastal rivers in the northeastern U.S. but their populations declined amid dams, pollution and overfishing, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The land was purchased in late March for $450,000 from a New York resident, according to documents filed with the Maine Revenue Service. The land trust put together funds from a number of sources, including two anonymous donors, the Maine Coast Heritage Trust and the Climate Resilience Conservation Fund.
Coastal Mountains Land Trust is prioritizing habitat preservation for the parcel, and it has no trail or parking space. As the trust develops a plan for managing the property, it will consider whether it would be suitable to create more public access in the future.
Headquartered in Camden, Coastal Mountains Land Trust serves 15 communities from Rockport to Prospect and operates more than three dozen nature preserves.
