Notes from the Field
Attean Pond Monitoring
From the Land Steward
The Forest Society of Maine is responsible for the oversight of 27 easements, five fee parcels, and more than 923,000 acres. To put that in perspective, that acreage would make us the fifth largest forestland manager in the state. Each of our easements has unique characteristics that require us to have an intimate knowledge of the property and the easement language, as well as open and regular communications with the landowner and other stakeholders.
The responsibility to oversee, or steward, conservation easements is one that FSM holds in high regard. In the case of donated easements, a landowner has trusted us to manage their vision and the conservation values of their property in perpetuity. With easements that FSM purchases with contributions from public and private funding sources, donors of various types have placed that same trust in us. These obligations can be daunting, but by carefully reviewing easement language and crafting plans that address the aspects of the easement that need monitoring, the ability to handle expectations becomes more manageable.
What does it really mean to steward a conservation easement?
Stewarding a conservation easement can mean many things. There are exciting adventures in the wilds of Maine looking for signs of loon nesting success, and days spent in the office pouring over legalese such as, “Trails may be allowed as shown on the maps kept at the offices of the Grantor and Holder, except that Grantor at its sole discretion reserves the right to close or relocate trails to locations of less ecological impact on the Protected Property. Other than the relocation of trails permitted in this section, no new trails will be allowed.”
Being a good land steward means remembering that language and 25-50 pages of similar terminology as you board a small floatplane to fly for hours in early spring, just after the snow melts and before leaves emerge on the hardwoods.
Sometimes stewardship means seeing what looks like a new trail from the air, and then making a note about its location and later a visit to the site to assess it and the other aspects of the easement that can only be monitored on the ground. It means communicating with the landowner about why the trail was created, and communicating with stakeholders with knowledge about the original trail or knowledge about the impacts on the local ecology that would justify the movement of the trail. It may mean communicating with local recreation leaders about why the trail had to be moved, and assuring them that it was replaced with a more appropriately located trail.
Stewardship might mean a 4 a.m. wake-up call to chat with the owners of Pittston Farm about the state of business, and then heading out in 0 degree weather, on snowshoes, through three feet of powdery snow with third-party forest certification auditors to make sure they understand the partnership between FSM and the landowner. Or, it can be a warm sunny fall day of site visits on multiple easements in the Katahdin region capped off with a swim in a remote pond (to monitor the water quality of course).
Most importantly, beyond the wording of the easement, the ground visits, and monitoring reports, there are the people. The landowners, the donors, the neighbors, the loggers, the wildlife biologists, and the recreationists are all an important part of the stewardship of each and every project. We work hard to ensure that our easements continue to work for them. A well-crafted easement is just the beginning of our work as stewards. We welcome the challenges and expectations that come to us with each new project.
