GLLT owns about 5,700 acres in the towns of Stow, Stoneham, Sweden, Lovell, Fryeburg, Waterford, and Albany Township. Another 3,600 acres are conserved as easements owned by other individuals. In total, we conserve 9,300 acres.

GLLT currently owns:

• 4,765 acres in Lovell

• 342 acres in Stow

• 304 acres in Stoneham

• 112 acres in Sweden

• 74 acres in Fryeburg

• 69 acres in Albany Township

• 9.2 acres in Waterford

All of the conservation lands owned by GLLT (those historically labeled as preserves, reserves, or fee lands) are open to public access. We do not formally mark property boundaries (i.e., post) in order to restrict use on any of the conservation lands we own.

Some of our conservation lands lack trails and/or official parking areas or are located down private roads or “landlocked” by parcels owned by others. These lands are still open to the public, but entry to the properties may require parking on a roadside, bushwhacking, or accessing it from a body of water. When conservation land is located down a private road or landlocked by other parcels, we advise visitors to seek the permission of abutting landowners/road owners before crossing private lands to access GLLT land.

While public access is permitted, all visitors are asked to abide by the Use Guidelines, which are posted on every kiosk.

Yes, hunting, trapping, and fishing are permitted on all GLLT conservation lands that may be legally hunted, trapped, or fished from.

Permission is required only where state or federal conservation laws require it (e.g., state law generally requires permission to maintain a bear bait site on land that you do not own). We do not currently have an internal hunting policy. Legally required permission can be obtained by contacting info@gllt.org.

GLLT does not post its conservation lands.

Yes, GLLT actively manages the forests on some of its conservation lands. Forest health, property size, grant/deed restrictions, and access to the land are examples of factors that help determine if a forest will be actively managed and, if so, to what extent. 

GLLT’s forest management goals are centered on enhancing/restoring forest health, building resilient forests in a changing climate, and supporting a sustainable local forest products industry. We call this restorative, adaptive approach to forest management Forestry for Resilience.

While generating revenue is not the primary goal of Forestry for Resilience, GLLT does earn income from some of its forest management operations. This money goes toward supporting other forest management work. In fact, rather than making money, many of the Forestry for Resilience management operations cost us money. 

A conservation easement is a voluntary, legally binding, permanent agreement that restricts the development of a property in perpetuity, regardless of who owns the land. GLLT holds the agreement and is responsible for working with the landowner to ensure that its conservation values are well cared for. GLLT does not own the land but is responsible for making sure the land is managed in a certain way.

The terms of every conservation easement are specific to the property they are placed on. Typically, easements restrict development, industrial activity, and resource extraction.

First and foremost, GLLT strives to build strong working relationships with easement landowners, who are important conservation partners, to ensure that the land is well cared for.

GLLT visits every easement property once a year to verify that the terms of the easement are being upheld and to record any changes to the land. We work closely with landowners to ensure that changes to the land align with the conservation easement. This often includes forest management, farming, trail construction, rebuilding existing structures, and erecting new structures.

No, the Stone House Farm is privately owned by a conservation partner and conserved through a conservation easement.

Public access to the Stone House Farm is at the discretion of the landowner (conservation partner). The conservation easement does not guarantee public access. Please be respectful of this land and abide by the access guidelines posted on signs by our conservation partner.

Yes, the conservation land that GLLT owns is enrolled in Maine’s Open Space current use tax program. Open Space incentivizes landowners to do things like manage their forests, limit development, and keep their land open to the public in exchange for discounts on their property taxes. Any private landowner can apply for Open Space, up to a maximum of 15,000 acres. Until 2019, GLLT sometimes applied for exemption from property taxes, and as a result, some conserved lands are exempt today. Land conserved after 2019 is enrolled in Open Space.

Possibly. We are currently researching models used by other land trusts.

Yes. These properties are owned by individuals, families, and other organizations (conservation partners) and are conserved through a voluntary legal agreement held by GLLT. Many easement owners enroll their lands in Maine’s Open Space or Tree Growth current use tax program.

A key part of our current conservation planning is conserving lands that are mapped as resilient in the context of climate change. We utilize numerous data sources to map resilient lands, most notably the Nature Conservancy’s Resilient and Connected Network data. In general, resilient lands are defined as having high diversity. This includes diverse habitat types, diverse natural communities, diverse elevation, diverse aspect, diverse aquatic resources, and diverse connections to other open spaces. Typically, the more diverse a landscape is, the better its ability to both withstand changes and adapt to them.

GLLT’s Forestry for Resilience supports the above by enhancing the resilience of our forests through planning and management that emphasize restoration, adaptation, and enrichment. Please see “Does GLLT manage the forests it owns?” above for more information.

No, GLLT is not against development. Well-planned, well-zoned, community-supported development projects are important to the livelihood and sustainability of the towns we serve.

We conserve land, water, and access that is of ecological and community importance. Each property that we consider conserving must meet certain criteria. For example, a 5-acre parcel that does not improve access to open space or contain important habitats may be more suitable for a house lot than a conservation parcel.