Wild Walkway Coalition seeks to preserve undeveloped Greater Bangor land corridor

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Someday soon, it may be possible to snowshoe from Hudson all the way to the Bangor Mall, skirting the shore of Pushaw Lake through a hushed landscape where bobcats roam and deer graze on cedar boughs.

A coalition of local conservationists, land trusts and communities recently received several hundred thousand dollars in grants to preserve as much as possible of the last large undeveloped swath in Greater Bangor and start making this “wildlife and recreation corridor” a reality.

Despite rapid growth rates in Bangor and Orono, about 18,000 acres, tucked between Pushaw Lake and the interstate, remain essentially undeveloped – a narrow bridge to the wild lands just north of the suburbs.

“It’s the only link left,” said Sally Jacobs, a founder of the Orono Land Trust. “It’s like preserving our big community back yard.”

It’s not possible to buy all 18,000 acres, she said. That kind of money is out of reach, and besides, the Corridor Committee – which includes members of the Orono and Bangor land trusts as well as birders and biologists, hunters and skiers – has no interest in driving homeowners in the area off their properties, Jacobs added.

Instead, the committee has spent the past four years planning to buy or negotiate conservation easements on a long thin ribbon of land, passing though ecological gems such as the Hirundo Wildlife Refuge, Penjajawoc Marsh and the Bangor City Forest.

When it’s possible to expand the corridor to protect an ecologically significant site such as Caribou Bog, the committee will jump at the opportunity.

“We want to have something that looks like a boa constrictor that ate a bunch of rabbits,” Jacobs said.

The Land for Maine’s Future board recently gave tentative approval to a $200,000 to $300,000 grant for the corridor project, though the exact amount won’t be determined until the state finishes assessing some of the properties.

The LMF money can be used for several parcels throughout the wildlife corridor, but by taking the funds, the committee agrees to pay no more than the assessed value for any property.

The Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund also has given $70,000, which is dedicated to buying a 930-acre chunk of Caribou Bog, one of the most ecologically valuable bogs in the state.

Ron Davis, a retired biology professor and member of the Corridor Committee, said that species and landscape diversity in the 5,400-acre bog is “outstanding,” with rare dragonflies and orchids.

And even a relatively narrow conserved area can provide a crucial wildlife highway north to the commercial forestland for more-common animals such as moose and coyotes that need space to browse or hunt, he said.

“If you force them to survive in little [unconnected] enclaves, eventually there are a whole range of problems,” Davis said.

The corridor area already boasts hiking and snowmobile trails, and it traditionally has been used by local hunters and fishermen. Though planning will consider ecologically sensitive areas, access for all types of outdoor recreation will be guaranteed somewhere on the property.

“It’s a reflection of community values,” said David Struck, assistant town manager in Orono, one of seven towns that has participated in the state’s Beginning With Habitat program to learn more about designing housing and business developments around an area’s natural resources.

Conservation can be a balancing act for college towns like Orono, where more than half of the property is already tax-exempt, Struck explained.

“We want to do the right thing environmentally, but we also have to make sure we can afford to run the town,” Struck said.

The towns also hope that a wildlife and recreation corridor will boost ecotourism, drawing bird-watchers, hikers and canoeists to the area. Last year alone, more than 15,000 people visited the new Orono Bog Walk that cuts through a southern portion of Caribou Bog, Jacobs said.

But popular recreation areas also make popular suburban housing developments. In recent years, a large portion of Caribou Bog – which once was owned by a sheik from Qatar – has been sold three times. With each sale, local people worried about new no-trespassing signs.

“We’ve seen a lot of places where we used to hike and ski get developed. We thought it was important to see some land left open,” said Jim Hinds of Orono, a committee member.

So last year, Hinds and a fellow conservationist, Steven Keleti of Malden, Mass., who has seen ads for the property in The Boston Globe, bought the 1,100 acres of the Caribou Bog to keep it safe until the Corridor Committee could raise enough money to buy it for conservation.

The men closed on the bog property in July, paying about 10 percent above its assessed value. Municipal tax assessments total about $176,000, because the land is in the state’s tree growth tax reduction program, which reduces its valuation.

Hinds and Keleti hope to sell a house that a previous owner had built, along with the nearly 200 acres that it sits on, for enough profit to break even – despite a conservation easement that will be required on most of the property.

The rest of the 1,100 acres will be sold to the state at its assessed value, using the Outdoor Heritage Fund Grant and some LMF money.

Though the Corridor Committee is negotiating the deal, the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will hold the property as a state-owned preserve.

“I’m prepared to lose money on this. If I do, that’s the way it is. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s for a good cause,” Hinds said.

Both men hope that their participation will inspire other local landowners to consider selling conservation easements or making donations so the corridor can be realized.

Caribou Bog is an anchor, but there’s a lot more land to be saved, Hines said.

For more information on the wildlife and recreation corridor effort, contact Jacobs at 866-4520 or sjacobs@maine.edu.