River Elf: One Mile of Shoreline Conserved

RRCT and Maine Farmland Trust (MFT) are pleased to announce the establishment of a 150-acre conservation easement including the conservation of one mile of Royal River shoreline, on a farm on Cobbs Bridge Road in New Gloucester. The farm known as Willow Farm will remain in private ownership, with a conservation easement held by RRCT. Both RRCT and MFT provided funds for the project, with support from many donors and funders. This becomes RRCT's tenth working farm or "Forever Farm" conservation easement.

The easement includes exceptional terms to keep the farm in agricultural use and to protect high-value ecological areas, rare shoreline species, and mature forests. Easement terms allow future public access on the planned River Elf Trail to the Royal River.

With 75 acres of Maine’s best agricultural soils and 33 acres of open fields, the conservation easement includes an Option to Purchase at Agricultural Value which is designed to keep the rich, productive farmland accessible to working farmers in the future. If the property were under contract to be sold to a nonfarmer buyer outside the seller’s family, MFT – in consultation with RRCT – holds the right to purchase the farm and resell it at agricultural value to a farmer.

The River Elf Trail will allow public hiking and bank fishing access to a point on the Royal River. This stretch of river currently has public access only at road bridges. No public access to the parcel is allowed until the trail and off-road parking are built, with construction beginning in 2024 with likely completion in 2025. Public access will be on-trail only, respecting the working farm. The conservation easement and planned River Elf Trail fall within RRCT's four-town "hotspot" where Auburn, Durham, New Gloucester, and Pownal meet and represent another major conserved property in a critical upriver region. As the development of the watershed continues, and as sea-run fisheries may be restored by the removal of Yarmouth's dams, RRCT is accelerating its efforts to conserve and connect resilient lands, protect ecological integrity, mitigate the effects of climate change, and provide accessible respite for the region's growing population.

We are truly indebted to the generous vision of the landowners, and the Maine Farmland Trust -- both worked with us over several years. Just northwest of this conservation easement is a 239-acre private farm on Morgan Hill conserved by Maine Farmland Trust in 2023, and RRCT's new 67-acre Little Meadow Preserve also conserved in 2023.