A local conservation group that opposed the effort to build a salmon farm in Belfast has entered a contract to purchase 54 acres along the Little River where the project would have been located.
Nordic Aquafarms first announced its plans for the $500 million fish farm in 2018 and abandoned the project in January after years of opposition and lawsuits from Belfast-area residents. It then put its land up for sale for $2 million.
Upstream Watch, one of the groups that went to court to fight Nordic over the project, announced Monday morning that it had entered the contract to buy the property at 285 Northport Ave., which is also Route 1. The group’s president, Ethan Shaw, declined to share the purchase price.
The group is now working to keep the land permanently conserved. The site was previously owned by the Belfast Water District.
“We all understand that as long as that parcel remains on the market, it is vulnerable to another ill-conceived project,” said Amy Grant, former president of Upstream Watch. “Making sure the Little River ecosystem is protected means we will have completed our commitment to our supporters, the Bay and the Little River.”
After Upstream Watch was formed to push back against Nordic’s project, it is now turning its attention to other conservation needs in the Penobscot Bay region.
In its press release, the group noted the Little River is host to an array of assets, including a walking trail, swimming holes, wetlands, forest and meadow lands, and open views of the bay.
“This land is deeply cared for by the community and the location and ecology of this property are very rare along” the midcoast, said the group’s interim executive director, Pete Nichols.
Earlier this year, Nordic settled a legal case over claims it made against Upstream Watch, agreeing to pay the group $125,000, using three parcels of its Belfast land as collateral. It had to pay the group within two years or upon the sale of any of the properties.
Upstream did not immediately say if the sale of the Little River property would affect that settlement.
