Responsible Trail Use
The weather these days is perfect for hitting the trails: cool, dry, and no bugs (but do remember to check for ticks!). We’ve seen a large increase in the use of our trails this year, and we expect that trend to continue through the fall as people seek out places to see the foliage. We’re issuing a few friendly reminders as we head into this new season:
- If a parking lot is full, please do not park along the road out of respect for our neighbors and the safety of motorists. This is especially important at the Ledges & Bald Peak (Pleasant Mountain) trailheads.
- Leave no trace: carry out what you bring in. That includes dog poop!
- Please keep dogs on a leash at Pleasant Mountain, Bald Pate, Peabody-Fitch Woods, Raymond Community Forest and Hackers Hill.
- Heed all posted use guidelines.
- Always be prepared with enough water, snacks, and appropriate footwear & clothing.
Access to these special places is a privilege - one we’re grateful to be able to provide - but we’re all stakeholders. We all have a responsibility to care for the land and trails we use and love. Thanks for doing your part.
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Upcoming Events
All 2020 LELT events will take current guidance from state officials & health professionals into consideration in order to protect the health of everyone in our community. Precautions include physical distancing, limiting the number of participants, required pre-registration, and wearing masks when distancing is not possible. All events are subject to cancellation and/or changes. Keep tabs on our events page for more details about upcoming events.
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Hats for Sale
Hats! They're $25 each if you purchase them online with a credit card, or $20 each if you pay with check or cash. Shipping is $5. Picking them up at the office is free. Buy one (or more!) online using the link below or email Maggie at membership@lelt.org to schedule a time to pick one up at the office.
Thanks to Maine Street Graphics for their great service and work. We love buying local.
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Volunteer Opportunities
Peabody-Fitch Trail Work - 10/23/2020, 9am - 11am, South Bridgton
Come out for a couple hours of trail work at Peabody-Fitch Woods. We'll be rerouting a snowmobile trail on the property. Please email Maggie (membership@lelt.org) to RSVP.
Easement Monitors Needed
We are looking for a couple dedicated volunteers to monitor LELT conservation easements once a year, starting this fall. We typically ask for a three year commitment, and each volunteer is assigned one property.
The basic gist of the commitment is:
- 1 initial training (in-person, outside, early fall)
- Review of the easement (own time, using digital files we will send)
- 1 monitoring visit to the assigned property per year (fall, few hours), ideally for three years
- Filling out and submitting a brief questionnaire about the property after the visit
Please email Hadley (conservation@lelt.org) if you are interested.
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Learning Opportunity: Age of Nature Series
Free, online learning opportunity this Thursday (9/24) at noon provided by The Nature Conservancy in Maine and Maine Public. Dr. Andrew Barton, Professor of Biology at the University of Maine at Farmington, will discuss Maine’s Forests: Learning from the Past, Planning for a Different Future. Use the link below to sign up!
There will be two other seminars in the series:
Maine's Rivers - Thursday, 10/1 at noon
Maine's Ocean - Thursday, 10/8 at noon
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"What if all young people in Maine had access to powerful outdoor learning experiences?"
We are thrilled that the Katahdin Program will be using Raymond Community Forest as an outdoor classroom this fall. There is now a porta-potty at the preserve to serve these students during their time there.
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Fall is here! Bob Dunning Memorial Bridge in Pondicherry Park. Photo taken October 2018.
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Have you renewed your membership this year?
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Loon Echo Land Trust is a community-supported nonprofit. Everything we're able to do is a direct result of your support. We're working hard to ensure our trails and preserves stay open for all through this time. You can make sure more forests are accessible for you and your family, local critters have forever homes, and our earth is more resilient to climate change.
Learn more here.
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Loon Echo Land Trust protects land in the northern Sebago Lake region of Maine to conserve its natural resources and character for future generations.
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