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RANGELELY – The Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust has announced the purchase of 175 acres on the west shore of Hunter Cove on Rangeley Lake. The acquisition of this parcel, to be known as Hunter Cove Uplands, was finalized on Sept. 2. The addition of the parcel, “greatly enhances the ecological, scenic, and recreational values of the trust’s existing Hunter Cove Wildlife Sanctuary on the opposite shore of the cove,” according to Bill Pierce, the trust’s director of development.
The property also secures a snowmobile trail for public use and 3,700 feet of frontage on Hunter Cove as well as 1,200 feet of frontage on Route 4 and the Mingo Loop Road. A new trail system, picnic areas, and a shallow water/paddle to dock system are all planned for the property.
Hunter Cove Uplands includes a scenic wetland area which protects water quality and provides amphibians and waterfowl with important habitat, Pierce said. The forests on the property are primarily old farmland that has reverted back to excellent upland habitat important for a wide array of birds and small mammals. The property also contains important deer wintering habitat.
“Hunter Cove Uplands will provide the public with excellent wildlife watching and recreational opportunities,” said Nancy Perlson, the trust’s executive director. “It represents an exciting addition to the 12,500 acres RLHT has conserved since 1991 and is particularly important because of its connectivity with existing RLHT conservation lands on Hunter Cove and Bonney Point.”
The property is also on the route of the multi-state Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) and the nationally designated Rangeley Lakes Scenic Byway. Hunter Cove is a featured destination point on the Rangeley Lake section of the NFCT for its quiet paddling, undeveloped character, and abundant wildlife. The cove is also a popular day paddle, particularly when wind and waves on the open lake make paddling dangerous or challenging. Travelers along the Byway will have easy access to the property along Rt. 4 and RLHT plans to provide a link through the Hunter Cove Upland parcel to the trail network on the adjacent Bonney Point property.
In most years, when the rest of the lake is still covered in ice, the cove becomes a popular early season fishing spot. Hunter Cove traditionally provides some of the first open water of the season due to the inlet flowing from Dodge Pond. These flows attract Rangeley Lake’s brook trout and landlocked salmon which congregate there and provide an excellent spring fishery.
The acquisition of this parcel is part of a regional effort to preserve a portion of the undeveloped land on the Rangeley Lakes region’
s lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams. RLHT’s priorities for land acquisition have focused on waterfront which often has the highest natural resource values and is at greatest risk of being converted to development.
The trust has conserved over 1,500 acres on Rangeley Lake with over two and a half miles of shore frontage. These properties have protected a wide range of values including productive forest lands, critical wetlands, wildlife and fisheries habitat, public recreational opportunities, and scenic qualities which contribute to the nature-based tourism economy that provides both direct and associated revenues and jobs to the region.
The Land For Maine’s Future Program (LMF) provided $607,000 in grant funding and the Trust borrowed additional funds to be able to close on the acquisition. This grant put RLHT within reach of raising the $1 million necessary to cover the purchase price, closing costs, stewardship and access improvements.
RLHT would like to thank landowners Colin Grant and Joe George for their cooperation and patience as RLHT obtained the funding from LMF which made it possible for this project to go forward, Pierce noted.
The trust is now embarking on a campaign to raise the balance of funds necessary to pay off the debt associated with this new acquisition. To learn more about Hunter Cove Uplands, or any of RLHT’s other conservation properties, trails or programs, www.rlht.org or contact Bill Pierce at 207-864-7311 (Ext. 3), or by email at bpierce@rlht.org
