Land for Maine eyeing Hancock tracts

Extensive tracts of land in Hancock County including pristine waterways, forests, mountains and the state’s clearest lake are expected to be purchased next week by a state organization that buys land for preservation.

The Land for Maine’s Future Board will vote March 25 whether to spend $2.6 million for more than 7,300 acres and 16 miles of shorefront in the Tunk and Spring River lakes area.

The purchase, expected to be approved by the 11-member board, would add to the 6,952 acres in the area already owned by the state, leaving ownership of township T10 SD mostly in state hands. The township is located northeast of Sullivan, west of Cherryfield and about 20 minutes from Ellsworth.

“It’s some of the best land that Maine has to offer,” said James Bernard, a state planning official and board spokesman.

The second largest single acquisition in the board’s history, the purchase would be a bargain, according to Bernard. In addition to offering breathtaking scenery, timberland, wildlife habitats and recreational areas, it’s being sold at millions of dollars below the asking price of the land four years ago, when the state first sought to purchase it.

Bisected by Route 182, one of three designated scenic highways in the state, the area includes two highly-rated lakes. One of them, Tunk Lake, has been cited by the state as the clearest lake in Maine. There are also six ponds, a wetlands bog and a landlocked salmon fishery. The top of Tunk Mountain provides sights of not only the area but also of Acadia National Park and the coast.

“The views from Tunk Mountain are really spectacular,” Bernard said, adding that the area “gives you a real feeling of remote wilderness and at the same time it allows you relatively easy access to recreational activities.”

The 7,316 acres of land are currently owned by John M. Pierce, a former Bangor developer, and his sister, Mary Ridlon, who lives in Florida. Pierce, who now resides in Rhode Island, will continue to own one of the 37 camps on the land that aren’t part of the package being purchased by the state. Also excluded is a parcel of land owned by Champion International Corp., formerly St. Regis Paper Co.

“My sister and I thought about it a lot and we’d like the land to stay the way it is,” Pierce said in a prepared statement. “We see our actions as carrying on my father’s stewardship to manage the land for its timber values and to maintain its scenic and recreation values accessible to the public.”

Funding for the purchase would come from the $35 million that Maine voters set aside seven years ago for the board to buy Maine land. Less than $2.5 million remains. But since 1987, the Land for Maine’s Future Fund has been used to buy nearly 60,000 acres of land, including more than 123 miles of shorefront on lakes, rivers and along the coast.

Meeting in Augusta on the March 25, the board will also be voting on spending $59,000 to purchase 240 acres of land in Turner that abuts property already purchased by the state.