Phase II RRCT Campaign to Build Lower Village Trails, Repair the Interurban, and Restore Intervale Habitat

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New Gloucester’s Lower Village occupies a hillside overlooking the Royal River Intervale’s meadows, some of the richest ecology and habitat of the Royal River watershed with wading bird habitat, wild trout streams, rare plants, and vast wetlands.

Royal River Conservation Trust (RRCT) purchased 174.3 acres of this rich landscape on July 16, 2021, more than doubling the size of RRCT’s Intervale Preserve which now totals more than 300 acres. RRCT’s 300-acre ownership now includes two shoreline miles of the mainstem of the Royal River, open marsh land, a short section of the historic Interurban rail trail, a regional snowmobile trail junction, old woods roads, and forests buffering important historic sites.

RRCT’s new ownership is unique in the context of many land trust ownerships, in that it conserves such a large block of contiguous acreage integrally linked to trails and historic assets in a bustling village center.

RRCT public access easements and conservation easements provide additional buffers and trailheads for the Intervale Preserve, including trailhead parking and hunters’ access rights on what is now an adjacent 14.7 ballfield parcel now owned by Gray-New Gloucester Little League (GNGLL). The Intervale Preserve is today the largest of RRCT’s many preserves. RRCT’s Intervale Preserve website describes the full richness of the preserve.

Phase I of RRCT’s joint campaign with GNGLL raised funds to acquire the land for conservation and recreation, but stopped short of funds necessary for the restoration of habitat, the building and reparation of trails and bridges, and the investment in educating local youth on history, ecology and care for the land. During Phase II campaigns, GNGLL and RRCT are working independently to raise funds for the land that each now owns.

RRCT’s Phase II campaign focuses on habitat restoration and recreational trail development. The budget for the campaign will evolve with consultation with the Town of New Gloucester, as the Town explores its goals for the “Grange Hall Road Lot.” RRCT’s campaign goals include tens of thousands of dollars for drainage and narrow gravel trails on the Interurban, as well as tens of thousands of dollars needed recreational bridge rehabilitation, and active management of non-native invasive plants. RRCT campaign contributions will also fund long-term land stewardship reserves, managing this land for perpetuity.

GNGLL’s efforts and its separate Phase II campaign are described on GNGLL’s website.