PORTLAND (Portland Press Herald) – Maine Coast Heritage Trust has administered the L.L. Bean Maine Land Trust Grant Program, which has provided over $400,000 in grants to almost 60 land trusts across Maine since 2004. The most recent round of awards, announced in November, included $65,000 in grant funding for land trusts in Kennebec, Lovell, Falmouth, Somerset, Washington, and York counties to upgrade their trail systems and for other improvements.

The projects include the design and planning of a parking area and the final steps of a trail reroute at nature preserves in Cape Elizabeth and Topsham, as well as the installation of lights on a Nordic ski trail in Norway.

Robinson Woods Preserve in Cape Elizabeth will be provided with a new parking area designed to be universally accessible. A $10,000 grant from the program will enable the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust to construct the parking area and design and build a wider, wheelchair-accessible trail network. The new trail will be part of an existing network of trails but will be wider, include rest stops, and provide access to individuals with physical challenges.

The Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust will use its $10,000 grant to complete a wooden step construction project that has been under development for five years at Cathance River Nature Preserve in Topsham. The funding will also help to reroute the trail, which was previously connected to development on adjacent land.

The Western Foothills Land Trust in Norway will receive $4,500 from the program, which, in combination with $4,000 raised by Oxford Hill High School alumni and parents, will be used to install solar LED lights on a 2-kilometer Nordic ski loop at Roberts Farm. The ski trail is expected to open during the 2024 ski season and will be named “Coach’s Loop” in honor of the high school’s retiring Nordic ski coach, Christopher Easton.

Angela Twitchell, land trust program director for the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, said, “The entire land trust community is deeply appreciative of this investment in our collective effort to connect more people to Maine’s special places.”