Nearly 600 acres proposed for Windham town park with conservation and trails

The Town of Windham and the Presumpscot Land Trust have
agreed to work together to protect nearly 600 acres of forested
land for open space and outdoor recreation in east Windham
off Falmouth Road. The area includes Atherton Hill which at
nearly 600 feet is the largest hill in Windham. FILE PHOTO

Windham is one of the fastest-growing towns in the state and the Town of Windham and the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust have agreed to work together toward forever protecting nearly 600 acres of forested land for open space and outdoor recreation in east Windham off Falmouth Road. Once protected, this will be one of the largest conservation projects in the Greater Portland area. 

The announcement was made in a press release issued by the Town of Windham on Tuesday.

This conservation project is within one of the largest undeveloped forested blocks of land in the region. This land includes Atherton Hill, at nearly 600 feet, which is the largest hill in Windham and includes 1,545 feet of frontage along Little Duck Pond and 1,500 feet of stream frontage that provides wild brook trout habitat.

In addition, nearly 25 percent of the land is identified by the state as a significant deer wintering area, one of just a few large deer wintering areas remaining in the region.

The Town of Windham has the 13th largest population in the state, has nearly tripled in size in the last 50 years, and continues to be one of the fastest-growing towns in Maine. With concerns about the pace of development and lack of protected open space, Windham has recently completed its first Open Space Plan.  

This project meets the criteria for Open Space land in Windham.

The Windham Open Space Plan prioritizes permanently conserving areas to forever provide open space and outdoor recreation for the community. Currently, 14 percent of the Casco Bay Watershed (which includes Greater Portland and the area around Sebago Lake) is permanently conserved, while only 4 percent of Windham is conserved, which is why Windham has prioritized in the Open Space Plan conserving the last remaining large scale forested lands in east Windham, which includes the Highland Lake, Forest Lake and Pleasant River watersheds.

Lowell Preserve, the 300-acres owned by the town and which the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust now holds a conservation easement on, is adjacent to this new 600-acre project. The goal with this new project would be to mirror Lowell Preserve ensuring the land will never be subdivided or developed and multi-use trails will always be available for the community.

“This regionally significant 600-acre conservation project once protected will become part of a nearly 2,000-acre contiguously conserved land area connecting with Lowell Preserve, North Falmouth Community Forest, and Blackstrap Hill Preserve, providing an unfragmented forest habitat corridor of exceptional size,” said Rachelle Curran Apse, Presumpscot Regional Land Trust Executive Director. “This land also includes 40 acres of wetlands, which provide high-quality habitat for species such as spring peepers, spotted salamanders, and leopard frogs – amphibians that are declining quickly, due to habitat loss.”

For this project to become a reality, $3 million needs to be raised within the next year to pay for land acquisition costs, trail building, recreational amenities, and long-term stewardship of the land for wildlife and people, said David Nadeau, Windham Town Council chair.

“This significant project is possible because the town is committed to investing in this project locally while also raising state, federal, and private funds in collaboration with the Land Trust,” Nadeau said. “Like Lowell Preserve, the Town looks forward to collaborating with the Land Trust to conserve the land and provide shared management of trails so they are welcoming for all.”

While still early in the planning phases, the outdoor recreation experience on these 600 acres of forever conserved land will include miles of new trails for walkers, bikers, snowmobilers, and ATVers, while continuing to provide hunting access.

In addition, the plan is to create an ADA trail that provides a beautiful stroll through the forest, access to Little Duck Pond for picnicking, and the option to climb an observation tower that will give views of Mount Washington and the Ocean from the top of Atherton Hill. <