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A Gift of Nature’s Bounty

December 12, 2011 - Shapleigh - Nestled in the heart of Shapleigh is a large, nearly undeveloped tract of land featuring fields, woodland, brooks and ponds that are home to all kinds of wildlife, from birds to moose and even bear.

That land was recently donated to the town to be kept in perpetuity as open space. Now, selectmen are forming a committee to help determine the best way to maintain the parcel, which also includes man-made features, such as gravel roads and a 30-foot observation tower.

With the help of the Three Rivers Land Trust, property owner Roger Williams agreed to donate around 300 acres to Shapleigh, as long as the town agreed to keep it maintained and open to the public for non-motorized uses such as hunting, hiking and cross-country skiing.

A native of Sanford, Williams now lives in Florida full time. Getting older and facing serious back surgery this fall, Williams finally agreed to let the land he’s owned for more than 40 years go.

Madge Baker, a Shapleigh resident and secretary for the land trust, said she’s worked with Williams since 2002, trying to 
convince him to donate the property.

The land trust will have no official role in the ownership or maintenance of the parcel going forward, but, Baker said, it was “instrumental in getting the donation made.”

She said Williams didn’t think the land trust was big enough to afford to properly keep up the land, which would include annual mowing of the open fields, maintaining the roads and forest management.

Williams could not be reached for comment due to his planned surgery, but, Baker said, the property “became really special to him as he came to know it intimately. He would spend whole days at a time out here.”

Residents approved the donation of the property during a special meeting on Nov. 19. Bruce Lamb, a friend and neighbor to Williams, said he’s thrilled the land will now stay open and wild forever.

“I’ve had a lot of good times up there,” he said this week. “My kids learned to cross country ski there, my son bagged his first turkey there and it’s a great place to walk your dog.”

Lamb said the care, love and money Williams expended on maintaining the property during the last 40 years or so “is obvious.”

“I love the area up there,” he added. “It’s just beautiful. It’s a wonderful place to get away from it all.”

Lamb said Williams came to the realization earlier this year that he simply wouldn’t be able to maintain the land on his own anymore.

Baker said Williams first purchased the land in the 1970s and would come to Maine two to three times a year for a couple weeks at a time to both visit family and take care of the land.

“When he was in town, he was out here all day. I think it was just a complete break from his daily life,” Baker said.

She said his family was in the oil business “and (Williams) was quite successful.”

In addition to the ponds, roads and observation tower, Williams also built two small garages to house the equipment he used in maintaining the property.

The land was once farmed, and after Williams purchased it, he initially thought about building a house there. However, the property is rural and hard to access in terms of utilities, such as electricity, and so he never did construct his dream home there.

The acreage actually consists of two abutting lots. One of the lots has frontage on County Road and the other has frontage on Gulf Road. When he first purchased the land, Baker said, Williams allowed a local farmer to hay the fields, but that arrangement is now defunct.

“It’s a remarkable place,” Baker said while walking the property with her dog, a Corgi named Collette. “It’s expansive and peaceful. It’s particularly beautiful in the spring when there are lots of wild flowers.”

Baker said one of the first things she would like the town committee to look into is creating a forest management plan. The land was burned over during the 1947 wildfires, but the hemlock and oak trees are starting to come back, and she believes some of the smaller trees would be good for firewood.

Baker said the land is part of the Pump Box Brook watershed, which feeds into Mousam Lake. It’s also surrounded by about 6,000 acres of nearly unbroken woodland, and its conservation meets a long-term goal of the Three Rivers Land Trust to “create a continuous wildlife corridor from Mt. Washington to the ocean.”

“This is an extraordinarily generous gift to the townspeople,” Baker added of the donation.

Kate Irish Collins, Reporter, December 2011


Lakes: Mousam Lake
Regions: Sanford


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