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Standish Man's Efforts Preserve the Land He Loves

September 15, 2009 - STANDISH -- Now in his late 70s, Gene Stuart is proud to live along the Sebago Lake Basin in Standish where his family first settled more than 200 years ago.

Thanks to dedication and foresight secured a decade ago, 53 acres of these woods and fields are forever protected with an easement through the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust.

Normally closed to the public, folks will have a special opportunity to walk the property on Saturday when the land trust holds its annual business meeting, picnic lunch and outdoor family walk here from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

"The land was embedded in my mind at an early age," said Stuart who suffers from the effects of ALS. But he has many childhood memories of exploring the woods and lakeshore near the headgates of the Eel Weir Canal. "I never really broke away from this place."

Retired from a teaching career that took him to California and then back to Portsmouth, N.H., Stuart is the only one of six children – and the only one born in a hospital – who actively fought to preserve the land that once stretched from Route 35 all the way to White's Bridge. Originally, some 250 acres in size, the chipping away began in the 1950s when his mother, Eva Wescott Stuart, began to sell cottage lots along the Sebago Lake Basin out of financial necessity. The old farm buildings needed repair. Sadly, the original barn never recovered from the hurricane of 1938.

But as a child in the 1940s out on the family farm, Stuart remembers much about this old place – a classic New England connected farmhouse, including a large barn joined to the house via an ell and summer kitchen. A subsistence operation with chickens, cows and sheep, Stuart's grandfather made horseshoes in the blacksmith shop, a cistern collected rainwater off the roof for washing clothes, and Stuart often hauled water to the main house from a spring on the property.

But perhaps his most cherished time was plying the lake in an old wooden rowboat. Readers of this column may recall the story published here March 11 (Childhood Treasures) about Stuart's "rock collection" that he gleaned during his teenage years along the lakeshore.

These interesting "rocks" turned out to be 7,000-year-old American Indian artifacts. Still in his possession, the collection of spearpoints, stone knives and woodworking tools has received the attention of archaeologists and historians and is ultimately bound for the Maine State Museum in Augusta.

"There is just a ton of history there," says Richard Curtis, PRLT president. "It's fascinating to talk to Gene about the area, his family, and his desire to preserve it; it's a great story."

The property was deeded to Stuart a few years before his mother's passing in 1995. Stuart had learned from experience the importance of getting things in order.

In 1939, when Stewart was young, his grandfather was struck and killed by a car in North Windham. "He didn't leave a will," recalls Stewart. "I'm surprised at the number of folks I've run into over the years who do not have a will. Whatever you do, face the facts, get a will."

The lack of family foresight was the beginning of events that led to the carving up of the families 250 acres. Stuart's father passed in 1971, and when Stewart returned here after retiring from teaching in the early 1990s to look after his aging mother, he knew he had to get things in order if he was to leave a legacy of the land that had become such a part of him.

"Back in the '70s, it first started to hit me," said Stuart. "Most of my siblings were not that concerned with the property back then, but I had a fondness for it beyond words. I wanted to save this area."

So in 1988 when his 88-year-old mother was hospitalized with congestive heart failure the question of what would happen to the land began to accelerate. However, Stuart's mother – a healthy woman whose only other trip to the hospital occurred at Gene's birth – fully recovered to live another seven years at home.

But the incident prompted her to consider the future of the farmstead. She knew her son's attachment to the property and in 1989 decided to formally deed it to him for the sum of $1.

"I made sure she had lifetime residency," said Stuart, "but I had no idea how to really save the land for the future."

Enter conservation.

Land trusts were in their infancy at the time. Conservation easements were not well understood. Stuart said he had heard of an arrangement involving one landowner who had sold development rights, but maintained title to his property. "This intrigued me," Stuart said.

Stuart's first option was The Nature Conservancy, but ultimately he decided to partner with a local land trust. "I chose a type of easement where I have absolute control over my property," he said. "It's written into the deed; I just have to abide by my own restrictions. I have not given my land away."

PRLT was known as Gorham Land Trust when Stuart finalized his agreement in 1996. One of the oldest land trusts in Maine, PRLT has become a regional nonprofit over its 25 years and preserves parcels primarily on the western shore of the Presumpscot River.

Saturday's event will be a chance to see a slide show of PRLT's holdings as well as meet like-minded folks with an interest in preserving the area's open space.

"I just can't imagine ever being away from here," says a reassured Stuart. "I'm so relieved the property will remain for those who want to pursue farming opportunities in the future."

DON PERKINS September 9, 2009
Portland Press Herald


Lakes: Sebago Lake
Regions: Sebago


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