Key Research and Planning
Study and Analysis...
TO KEEP OUR WORK CURRENT AND RELEVANT
The Greater Lovell Land Trust has commissioned several studies and planning tools that are customized for the specific needs and characteristics of our area. By engaging outside experts in our challenges, we strive to keep our work current, timely and relevant.
Upper Saco River Watershed Map
More info coming in the near future!
Build Out Analysis — Lovell, Maine — 2016
“Build-out” is a theoretical condition in which all available land suitable for residential, commercial, and industrial construction has been developed to the maximum conditions permitted by local ordinances. A build-out analysis is a planning tool that identifies areas with development potential and projects future development based on a set of conditions (e.g., zoning regulations) and assumptions (e.g., population growth rate).
This is not what will be, only what can be. It is based upon the developable land that remains in Lovell and also on the ordinances currently in place. Funding limited the work to one of our service area towns, the results may be similar for the towns of Stoneham, Stow and Sweden.
Conservation Plan for the Kezar River, Kezar Lake, and Cold River Watersheds — 2008
These watersheds compose a region of contrasts that includes large roadless blocks of forest as well as small, settled village centers. Recreational opportunities and spectacular panoramic vistas abound in the region making it a marvelous place to call home. Rooted in deep traditions of agricultural and forest stewardship, the shifting dynamics of landownership and visitor patterns present growing challenges for resource protection. This conservation plan had its origins in the recognition that this precious landscape is poised on the edge of great changes.
A GIS specialist collected and organized existing spatial data for the Cold River, Kezar Lake and Kezar River watersheds and incorporated these into a regional database covering the study area that can assist in the identification of areas of interest and help reveal underlying patterns across the landscape. This information was utilized throughout the planning process to map and analyze a variety of features such as rare plant, rare animal, natural community and habitat data. The data also offered insight into where future field efforts would have the greatest likelihood of documenting additional significant natural features
Focus Species and Conservation Forestry Practices for the Kezar River, Kezar Lake, and Cold River Watersheds — 2008
This plan was prepared as part of the Focus Species Forestry – Community Forestry Project, a cooperative venture between Maine Audubon and towns and land trusts that own managed forest land throughout Maine. The objective of the project is to involve community members and local foresters in developing ecologically based forest management plans using the Focus Species Forestry guidebook as a planning tool. While most of the plans prepared to date have focused on a specific property, this plan has been developed to assist GLLT’s conservation planning goals.