Land Conservation

Including parts of the towns of Nobleboro, Newcastle, Jefferson, Somerville and Washington, the Damariscotta Lake watershed is a beautiful and unique region of Midcoast Maine. Streams flow through active forestland to bring cool, clean water into the lake. Active farms dot the landscape. The lake itself is important habitat for alewives, loons and other animals. Tourists and residents enjoy the lake for fishing, boating and swimming.

The same qualities that make the lake unique put it in danger as well. Development in the watershed has increased over the years, adding more houses and roads where forests and fields once were.

Visitors enjoy historic Chimney Farm, where DLWA holds a conservation easement on 8.7 acres.

The Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association has been working since 1966 to enhance the quality of life in and around Damariscotta Lake, assuring enjoyment for all of its natural and human residents. Realizing that protecting the land around the lake is essential to protecting the lake, DLWA began its land protection efforts in 1995. We recognize that protection of the working landscape, including family farms and small commercial woodlots, is vital to maintaining both rural character and water quality.

Since 1995, DLWA, a land trust, has worked with private landowners and local, state and national conservation organizations to protect more than 900 acres of open space in and around the watershed. Land on the lake is under heavy pressure to be developed, and its preservation is important for maintaining wildlife habitat, retaining scenic value and acting as a buffer against harmful runoff. DLWA seeks opportunities to protect wild land within the watershed to protect water quality, wildlife habitat, scenic views, productive agricultural or forestland and historical or cultural value.

DLWA protects land through accepting donations of conservation easements, accepting donations of property, purchasing property and purchasing development rights. DLWA has obtained conservation easements on 450 acres in or adjacent to the watershed. Conservation easements allow landowners to maintain ownership of their property, while protecting their land from development by giving up development rights such as subdivision and building rights.

Through generous donations of land and money, DLWA has obtained an additional 485 acres, which will be set aside as forever wild. Included in this acreage are part of a mountaintop, upland forests, fields, a rocky stream (part of the West Branch of the Davis Stream), the forested flood plain of Davis Stream at the head of Great Bay and the small eyeglass-shaped Spectacle Island in the South Basin of Damariscotta Lake.

                       Spectacle Island, owned by DLWA

Three of DLWA’s preserves are open to the public for low-impact recreation. DLWA maintains trails on these preserves as a service to the community.

We usually have several land conservation projects underway, as landowners in the watershed seek to protect their “special places” from development. There may be tax advantages to donors of easements. Although the town may lose property tax revenues in the short term, undeveloped land does not increase town expenses for infrastructure and services, and the scenic and ecological benefits are an asset to the town.

Click here to download a map of DLWA’s conserved lands within the watershed. You can also download an article published in the Lincoln County News about donating conservation easements.

For an in-depth look at conservation tools available to landowners, including conservation easements and bargain sales, call or email DLWA and ask for "Conservation Options: A Guide for Maine Landowners.” This guide and other valuable information is also available at the website for the Maine Coast Heritage Trust.

If you have a piece of property you wish to protect, please contact us at 207-549-3836 or dlwa@roadrunner.com to arrange a meeting.

Chimney Farm

“I look downward from the wide expanse of window above the sink. The hayfields are under deep snow, and the pond has closed the marble lid of its eye and now seems only a level field where the wind patterns the old snow. Loon Island is no longer a dark ship moored in the bay. It seems a ridge rising above an unfenced meadow. Where are the loons which have nested there for as long as anyone can remember? Gone, and gone are all the birds, even the crows. On most days we shall see no living thing from any of our windows; but then unexpectedly a blue jay will call or a squirrel run along a stone wall, and when we walk in the woods we shall find ourselves surrounded by a tale of tracks of rabbits and mice and fox and partridge and deer, and know that we have secret neighbors whom we do not see, and that the drama of life and death goes on intensely behind the screen of trees and rocks.”

-- Elizabeth Coatsworth in "Maine Memories," 1968.

One conservation project, Chimney Farm, is particularly exciting. This lovely 89 acres of land on Nobleboro’s East Neck inspired nature writer Henry Beston and children’s book author Elizabeth Coatsworth, who lived and wrote together there for more than 35 years. Their eloquent chronicles of Chimney Farm’s pastoral beauty, including Beston’s "Northern Farm," are part of what makes this conservation project so special. 

In the case of Chimney Farm, DLWA conserved more than just land, but also a valuable historical and cultural site that inspired an American literary tradition of nature writing that continues to thrive on the farm today. Protecting Chimney Farm also preserves the land and history of the New England farming tradition.  

Easement donor and former Maine Poet Laureate, Kate Barnes, negotiated an easement with DLWA that encourages Chimney Farm to be used as active farmland. Working with caretakers Gary Lawless and Beth Leonard, their donkeys Jenny and Emmy Lou and neighbor Henry Oliver, DLWA is working to reclaim pastureland at the farm.

Efforts to save Chimney Farm from development began in 1997 and reached a resting point late in 2007, with all but 6½ acres preserved in perpetuity. Easement protection of 8.7 acres of fields with views to the lake was purchased for $225,000, thanks to some very dedicated fundraising and more than 180 individual cash donations. The remaining 6½ acres, including the farmstead buildings, is owned by the Beston/Coatsworth family and remains unprotected.  However, DLWA has a right of first refusal should the property come on the market.

Sara and Alexander Buck, Sr. bought the Chimney Farm property on the west side of the road. They donated an easement on the field and cemetery (and had a lovely replacement picket fence built); and in December 2007 donated an easement on the remaining woodland between the road and Deep Cove. This 60+ acre woodlot is managed as a working forest.

The writing shack where Beston spent time has now been restored. Volunteers reclaimed this shack over the period of a year and a half, culminating in 2009.

               Henry Beston's writer's shack at Chimney Farm

Twice annual events are held at Chimney Farm for people who are interested in visiting this historic literary landmark. Check out the Calendar of Events page for more information, or contact DLWA at 207-549-3836 or dlwa@roadrunner.com

West Branch Preserve

Including more than 450 acres in Somerville and Jefferson, the West Branch Preserve protects a lengthy section of the West Branch of the Davis Stream, one of the major tributaries to Damariscotta Lake. Hiking trails and multi-use trails are open to the public.

                            The beautiful West Branch of the Davis Stream

The West Branch Trail allow self-guided public access to an 85-acre tract of steeply sloping terrain bordering a major tributary of Damariscotta Lake and forming the lower eastern slopes of  “The Mountain” aka Haskell Hill (elev. 495 feet). In 1998, Joe and Mary Fiore donated the land to DLWA to protect the native plants and wildlife, mountain stream and the waters of Damariscotta Lake. Hikers should be aware that seasonal deer and turkey hunting is allowed by permission of DLWA.

The Mountain Trail brings walkers through forest to an old beaver meadow and stream. This is a fairly easy hike – great for families!

The Somerville section of the West Branch Preserve offers flat, wide multi-use trails for hikers, mountain bikers, snowmobilers, cross-country skiers, horseback riders and more. These trails pass through a variety of habitats, including fields, forest, wetlands and streams.

Download a trail map here or stop by our office to pick one up. Please stay on the trail and leave no trace. Enjoy your visit!

                                                                   A skier enjoying the West Branch Preserve

Davis Stream Preserve

In 1990 DLWA purchased nine acres along the west bank of Davis Stream in Jefferson through a bargain sale from Jim and Barbara O'Halloran. DLWA's riverside acreage is protected under the terms of a conservation easement donated to the Damariscotta River Association. A half-mile interpretive trail winds its way along the stream bank, offering visitors the opportunity to experience the variety of ecosystems found in the floodplain and upland forests. Visitors are welcome to walk the trail at any time. Walkers can park at the Willow Grange and access the trail from the road bordering the left side of the cemetery. Download a trail map here or stop by our office to pick up a paper copy.

Meadow Lark Farm

                                        A Cardinal at Meadow Lark Farm

In 1995, Newcastle resident Patricia Geiringer donated a conservation easement on a 95-acre tract of land at Jones Corner (junction of Maine Routes 213 and 215). DLWA prepared a baseline study, with photographs, to document the condition of the property, much of which is managed as a working forest and wildlife preserve. Following Pat's death in 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) prepared a conservation easement on the meticulously restored early 19th century farmhouse, outbuildings, fields and farm pond. In 2006, NTHP found a buyer willing to respect the integrity of the historic restoration, as well as the 80-acre woodlot. The property cannot be subdivided or developed. DLWA and NTHP jointly hold an easement in which both the natural and cultural values at stake have been protected.

Other Easements

DLWA holds conservation easements on 450 acres in or adjacent to the watershed. Donating an easement allows landowners to maintain ownership and control over their properties, while ensuring that the land will remain undeveloped. Many of DLWA’s easements are working forest easements, which allow owners to continue to cut wood sustainably. DLWA easements protect agricultural land, woodland, pristine shoreline on Damariscotta Lake and Cooks Pond and islands.

                                         DLWA holds several working woodland easements.

©2003 Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association
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