GRLT & Me: A Beginner’s Guide
May 04, 2022When people are first learning about what we do and want to get involved in our efforts, these are the questions we hear most often:
Where do I start?
What can I do?
How can I make a difference?
We’ve created a Beginner’s Guide that can help you prioritize your interests and motivations. We can help you ...
New Shared Leadership
April 28, 2022We are excited to announce we are moving to a shared leadership structure between Annette Naegel, the Director of Lands, Marie McNeely, the Director of Partnerships and Jula Sampson, in a newly created position, Director of Operations. The trio will divide leadership responsibilities for GRLT’s program, development and operational needs and work in partnership with ...
New Easement in Thomaston
April 02, 2022The Town of Thomaston partnered with Georges River Land Trust to permanently protect 66 acres in the Thomaston Town Forest through a conservation easement. This conservation effort will ensure public access to woodlands and wetlands along the Oyster River, habitat for wildlife, and a protected wetland ecosystem for flood control and carbon sequestration. It joins ...
Valuable Volunteers!
April 02, 2022Four of our trusted volunteers were recognized for their service to trails, land protection, stewardship, and graphic design at our annual volunteer party around a roaring bonfire at our Gibson Preserve in Searsmont.
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- Chris Hirsch is one of those can-do volunteers who is always ready to head into the woods and help with trail clearing, improvements ...
Meg Moves On
April 01, 2022Our Executive Director, Meg Rasmussen has recently resigned from Georges River Land Trust indicating that she wants to pursue other opportunities. Meg has been at the helm since 2018, the last two years helping us navigate through a pandemic.
Meg was the driving force in getting our 5-year campaign to Keep the Watershed Wild conceived and off to ...
Calling Ash Tree Owners
February 18, 2022If you have ash trees, you are invited to participate in a research study to assess landowners’ perceptions of emerald ash borer and the management approaches that can be used to address this forest health issue. This anonymous survey is being conducted by the University of Maine School of Forest Resources.
The survey is part of ...
GRLT Awarded Bog Protection Grant
February 18, 2022Georges River Land Trust has been awarded a grant from the Maine Natural Resources Conservation Program (MNRCP) mitigation funds that will help us purchase 500+ acres of the western woodlands buffer of the Rockland Bog, increasing the protected wilderness in Rockland’s backyard, by 50%. New public access will be created into this amazing resource ...
Marie McNeely, Director of Partnerships
December 18, 2021Marie McNeely credits the trails of Georges River Land Trust for keeping her sane during the 2020-21 Covid pandemic. They inspired her to find out more about our organization and recently enlist, as Director of Partnerships. “I’d like to make Georges River irresistible for others to join. These days, there’s an urgent call for all ...
Return to Langlais Film
November 28, 2021Melanie Essex, who spent time at the Langlais farm as a child and is now a year-round resident of Cushing, spent more than 150 hours in summer 2021 capturing footage from early morning to dusk, in rain, fog, and bright sunlight at the Langlais Sculpture Preserve. She observed recently-conserved sculptures in vivid hues and ...
Our Community Forest
October 30, 2021In the winter of 2020 Georges River Land Trust acquired the northern half of Quigg Island on Stevens Pond in Liberty from Jim and Jenness Robbins. We have now established a community forest as part of a national effort sponsored by the U. S. Forest Service. We are pleased to be among this growing number ...
Hunting On Preserves/Trails
October 22, 2021The 2021 hunting season starts October 23rd and runs through December 11th, except Sundays. Some of our preserves are open for hunting. The details about whether a preserve is open for hunting can be found on our Preserves page and the individual preserve pages you can link to from there.
Hunters must have prior permission ...
Annual Meeting Recording
October 04, 2021What fun! We were happy to see so many members attend our Annual Meeting on Oct. 3 on Zoom. Even though we weren’t able to gather in-person this year, it was great to share some important updates and info with all of you! Watch the recorded presentations here.
Featuring:
“Keep The Watershed Wild”
Watch ...
Unwelcome Guests: Invasive Plants
September 30, 2021An invasive plant is a plant that is both non-native (does not occur in an area naturally) and able to establish on many sites, grow quickly, and spread to the point of disrupting plant communities or ecosystems. Many invasive plants were intentionally brought to the United States for ornamental purposes, and some to attack agricultural ...
A Trail and Blueberry Wine
August 23, 2021We are all about partnerships and innovation – in this case, one landowner, two conservation organizations, a trail, and a vintner. We celebrated this winning combination on Appleton Ridge in July.
Jim and Ann Robbins have been conservation leaders in Maine and for GRLT for many years. When they saw 74 acres for sale on ...
30th Annual Gardens in the Watershed Tour a Success
July 31, 2021It was another successful year for our annual Gardens in the Watershed tour.
Helmed by an 11-person committee of volunteer gardeners and community members, this year’s tour took place on Sunday, July 18th in downtown Thomaston. The tour featured seven beautiful home gardens for tour guests to enjoy, and a talk about the importance of ...
Renewed Support for Conservation in S. Thomaston
July 27, 2021The Georges River Land Trust has partnered with the local town conservation commissions throughout the lower Georges River watershed, which has been a wonderful way to hear, respond and engage in local priorities relative to the protection and care of their woodlands, shoreline, wetlands, farms, scenic and recreational places.
A conservation commission is a ...
Birds in the Grass
June 22, 2021We’ve entered into a partnership with Ag Allies (Sommerset County Soil and Water Conservation District) and Cornell Lab of Ornithology to improve nesting success of grassland birds through education, management and incentives. While linked to our agricultural landscape, the goal of this initiative is to find a balance between hay mowing and grassland nesting ...
Land Trust Trees to Sail East
May 17, 2021Imagine reinvigorating a marine tradition in Portugal, a country whose seafaring culture is at risk of being lost, from the coast of Maine. João Bentes, an instructor at the Apprenticeshop will build a traditional Portuguese sardine carrier, sail it across the Atlantic, and start a traditional boat building apprentice shop in Portugal. ...
Boosting Local Conservation Commissions
May 17, 2021We recently hosted the first Midcoast Conservation Commission Summit with volunteers from the five towns that cover the lower watershed of the Georges River region (Rockland, Thomaston, S. Thomaston, Owls Head, and St. George ). We met online via Zoom, and it was a great way for these volunteers to meet their colleagues.
Local conservation commissions ...