AUGUSTA – The Land for Maine’s Future board earlier this week approved funds for 26 land conservation projects, the largest of which seeks to protect the wild character of 37,000 acres in the Katahdin Iron Works region.

The board is expected to spend $11.6 million including $10 million for conservation and recreation projects and $1.6 million for farmland protection projects, according to Tim Glidden, director of Land for Maine’s Future Program.

With this latest round of projects, the board has allocated nearly all of the $50 million bond approved in 1999 by voters in all 16 counties. Of those funds, $40 million was set aside for recreation and conservation projects, $5 million for farm sites and $5 million for water projects. Only about $3.5 million remains for water projects, Glidden said Thursday.

“I’m always impressed with the quality of the projects,” Glidden said. “Taken as a whole, these projects represent a striking example of the creativity of Maine citizens all over the state who are working for a better future in their communities.”

In addition to the Katahdin Iron Works request submitted by the Appalachian Mountain Club, the board approved funds for projects in 13 counties. These projects included the longest remaining stretch of abandoned rail bed in Aroostook County, viewed as an essential link in the county’s snowmobile trail system, as well as five farmland protection projects. One of the farmland projects is a collaborative effort between the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Department of Agriculture.

Glidden said the two agencies want to purchase about 2,500 acres of land that is for sale along the Piscataquis River in Sebec and Dover-Foxcroft. The DIF&W wants to protect the long stretch along the river for wildlife habitat while the Department of Agriculture proposes to lease the fields to local farmers.

The largest of the farmland protection projects, which are located in northern Kennebec and western Waldo counties, has the goal of conserving multiple farms that are active in the state’s dairy industry and in an area with significant natural resource value, according to Glidden.

About half the projects approved are located in southern Maine, many of which are subject to development pressure and sprawl, such as coastal property in Yarmouth along the Royal River. This property can provide citizens of this area access to the coast. Another will conserve several thousand acres of working forest around Sebago Lake.

As for the Katahdin Iron Works project, Glidden said the Appalachian Mountain Club has proposed that the state take some form of a working conservation easement that will control and guide the club’s management of the property, which surrounds Gulf Hagas and the upper Pleasant River.

The board voted to support the project but before funds are released, Appalachian Mountain Club and the Department of Conservation will return to the board with a detailed set of specifics, including what is planned for the property and what its management will entail, Glidden said. The board is aware that the club wants to develop opportunities for nature-based tourism and practice sustainable forest practices on the property. Communities in the region submitted letters of support for this project, he said.

Also in Piscataquis County, the board approved the Department of Conservation’s acquisition of 789 acres of land surrounding Seboeis Lake. This latest acquisition will abut property the department already owns. Basically, the department will own all of the shoreline of the lake, according to Glidden.

Unless a new bond is approved, this will mean the end of the popular program that helps state agencies and local land trusts buy land and easements for conservation.

Since its creation in 1997, Land for Maine’s Future has secured the purchase, or protection through easement, of more than 130,000 acres.

The Legislature is currently considering several proposals for a new Land for Maine’s Future bond next November, which range from the $100 million proposed by Gov. John Baldacci during his campaign to $150 million. The bond proposals have wide support, including such diverse groups as the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, the Nature Conservancy and the Natural Resources Defense Council.