Town of Phippsburg 2012 Annual Report

TOWN OF PHIPPSBURG
Phippsburg Land Trust Report
P.O. Box 123
Phippsburg, Maine 04562
www.phippsburglandtrust.com
This year, your Phippsburg Land Trust is celebrating our acquisition of a two small but key
pieces of land. First, we acquired eight acres that complete the protection of the shoreline of
Spirit Pond at Popham. This parcel, which was sold to the Land Trust by Frances McDonald at
a significant discount, connects an early Land Trust piece on the north side of Spirit Pond to
192 acres already owned by the State of Maine and managed as part of the Popham Beach State
Park.
Spirit Pond is less a pond than a tidal embayment, with a handful of streams providing a
trickle of fresh water to a salt water pond that rises and falls each day with the tides.
Your Land Trust already manages a network of trails on the State Park lands at Spirit Pond.
Spirit Pond is valuable habitat for both shorebirds and shellfish, and a new trail linking the State
lands to the Land Trust's holdings will feature amazing views of the pond and salt marsh, travel
through ledge outcroppings and a mature forest, and opportunities to see wildlife.
Frances McDonald's generosity was matched with many gifts from Phippsburg's residents
and friends, making this acquisition possible. We are still working to raise the last of the funds
needed for this land, and your support is greatly appreciated.
The Land Trust was also able to acquire 15 acres from Trish Staples on the westerly shore
of North Creek, abutting our Ridgewell Preserve. This land provides a buffer for our Ridgewell
Preserve, as well as ensuring better protection for the slow-moving, marshy stream that drains
the center of Phippsburg from the Elementary School to Totman Cove. The broad marsh,
named by earlier generations as the "Jonathan Morse Meadow" can be viewed from the improved
marsh view loop trail at the Ridgewell Preserve.
One of the biggest jobs the land trust has every year is to maintain our trails. There are over
31 miles of trails on publicly-accessible lands in Phippsburg; about 22 miles are on Phippsburg
Land Trust lands. We have 18 preserves, both small and large, in just about every part of town.
Some are lands we own, others are on lands where the Land Trust holds a conservation easement.
This year, we welcomed Diane and Gary Grahling, who volunteered to adopt the Spirit
Pond trails. They have done a terrific job keeping the Spirit Pond preserve in good shape, and
we thank them. If you'd like help us maintain a trail in your favorite preserve, please let us
know. Lynn Kay is our volunteer coordinator.
Our partnership with the Phippsburg Elementary School is one of the Land Trust's most rewarding
efforts. We are delighted to bring Chewonki educational programs to PES classrooms.
Each year we do a special project with the 3rd grade; we'll be taking the students out with a forester
to one of our preserves this spring. We also co-sponsored a mushroom walk with the
Sportsman's Club in the fall; the second year for this event.
The Phippsburg Land Trust is coordinated by a volunteer Board of Directors. Some of our
directors represent Phippsburg organizations, such as the Conservation Commission and the
Sportsman's Club. Others are citizen volunteers. We are seeking new members for our Board
this year. Most especially, we are looking for a person to volunteer as Treasurer, filling the
shoes of Steve Masters who retired from the Board in 2012. Steve did a tremendous job and we
thank him.
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