Governor Unveils River~Link Project

River~Link is a collaboration of several land trusts and towns working to create a contin-uous foot trail and wildlife corridor connecting the Damariscotta and Sheepscot Rivers and stretching south to Boothbay. A fact sheet about the project is available as a PDF or at the DRA.

On October 25 Governor Baldacci joined other dignitaries from state agencies, surrounding towns, and Midcoast land trusts for the official unveiling of one of the most important conservation efforts this region has seen.  The event was at Dodge Point off the River Road in the town of Newcastle.
(Photo courtesy of Lincoln County News – read the article)

River~Link began as a concept and a plan to link the Damariscotta River with the Sheepscot River beginning with Dodge Point.  The concept evolved from a simple foot path into an effort to not only accommodate hikers but to include a corridor to support the diversity of wildlife which migrates from place to place, season to season, providing access to food, water, wintering grounds, and habitat in general. Without corridors allowing for such movements, we will in time lose the diversity of wildlife we all enjoy in this beautiful coastal area of Maine.  As development progresses, these linkages become broken and wildlife becomes uncommon and will eventually disappear.  Our quality of life in the mid-coast region is closely tied to an abundance of wild land and the wildlife it supports. Click the map for a pdf file with a larger image.

The River~Link project is a partnership between several towns including Edgecomb and Newcastle, state agencies including Department of Conservation, and land trusts including the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association, Damariscotta River Association, Boothbay Region Land Trust, the Schmid Preserve Committee, and Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Working together, and with the essential funding support of the Land for Maine’s Future with two grants totaling $700,000, this linkage is becoming a reality.

The total project when completed will protect 1,400 acres of land that will link several existing public and private protected lands and add to existing public access points to both land and water resources, creating a three town recreational and wildlife corridor straddling Route One between two of Maine's most heavily used rivers, the Sheepscot and Damariscotta.

Some of the key components of this effort include:

• New public access to lands and waters, connecting existing state and private conservation lands, trails and water access points to provide a public access recreation corridor linking the Dodge Point Preserve on the Damariscotta River, the Schmid Preserve in Edgecomb, Sherman Lake along Route One and the Griggs Preserve on the Sheepscot.

• Creation of a river-to-river wildlife corridor ensuring long-term wildlife habitat protection for midcoast Maine's most significant species and natural communities and facilitating wildlife travel between two major river systems.

• Establishment of a nucleus for a major north/south wildlife corridor stretching from Whitefield in the north to Boothbay Harbor in the south as well as connecting the Damariscotta and Sheepscot Rivers.

• The project has brought together a winning team and active partnership between three land trusts, the Town of Edgecomb's Schmid Preserve Committee, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, the Departments of Conservation, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and Transportation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.