By Emily Patrick
Meet the faces behind the Moosehead Regional Land Trust: Bill Baker, Vice President, Kay York Johnson, Treasurer, and Carla Ritchie, President. While the organization waits on its 501(c)3 nonprofit status, let me tell you a bit more about them!
You may already know Kay Johnson; she was born and raised right here in Greenville. She is also President of Friends of Wilson Ponds, the only other land trust of its kind in the Moosehead Region, aiming to “protect and conserve Upper and Lower Wilson Ponds and their surrounding areas for the benefit of residents and visitors.” Kay, who graduated from GHS, continued on to the University of Maine Orono and eventually earned her graduate degree in Business Administration. She has worked as a Science teacher, and as Executive Director of Camp Ketcha and Pine Tree Hospice.
With her diverse background, Kay says now: “My focus over the last 20 years has been on preserving the environment, specifically in the Wilson Pond region and generally in the state of Maine. As president of Friends of Wilson Ponds’ Board of Directors, we have implemented a Courtesy Boat Inspection program and continued our Water Quality Monitoring program. We manage a 150-acre parcel of forested shoreland on Lower Wilson Pond which contains five rustic campsites available to the public free of charge.”
Bill Baker is a transplant from Stonington down on the coast where he owned a campground for many years. He also ran a charter boat business from the oceanfront campground. On a regular basis, he used the charter boat to transport staff from the Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) to the dozens of conserved islands that they owned out in the archipelago. He also worked with the small local land trust in Deer Isle/Stonington doing pelagic seabird tours on the boat, among other things.
Over the years and partly because of this exposure, Bill became very interested in conserving important environmentally and recreationally significant places. At one point while visiting one of the privately owned and uninhabited islands off of Stonington, he discovered that this 50-acre island had dozens of Great Blue Heron nests in the tree tops. He did some research and then contacted his connections at MCHT about protecting the island. They jumped right on it. It is now a protected island and the herons have a safe rookery forever.
Upon moving to Greenville five years ago Bill saw that there wasn’t a land trust for the region and wondered why not. He immediately saw the intrinsic beauty of the area and the need for a region-wide land trust to protect it. Eventually, he met up with Kay and had a few discussions about expanding the Wilson Pond Land Trust. It was then decided that a separate regional land trust would better serve the area. A seed was planted.
Then, in another fortuitous meet up not long after, Bill met Carla while on a hike up on Big Moose Mt. Soon thereafter they were hiking again, this time up on the former Fitzgerald Farm property, next to the ski area, when Bill said to Carla how beautiful the property was and that it needs to be conserved and protected from development for people to enjoy. Carla said, “let’s do it.”
When it was Carla’s turn, she said of Bill and Kay, “These two had the inspiration, and I’m a project manager. [I] was able to bring it all together.” Carla may be a bit modest; her love of and connection to our region runs deep. Her family built a camp in Baker Cove in 1968, and Carla has been coming to Moosehead ever since.
Her father loved snowmobiling, and did a lot for the sport in our area, especially in Rockwood. Carla admits he may have been a bit infamous, but she has carried his passion for recreation in and around Moosehead Lake throughout her life, and is to this day an enthusiastic proponent of public access to conserved lands for recreation purposes. She also notes she is a “recovering educator,” and is on the Friends of Baxter Park Board. She says the park is, “Just a tremendous model for people to have if they’re looking to protect land.”
Kay, Bill and Carla will serve as the Executive Committee for the Moosehead Regional Land Trust, whose mission is “to conserve and protect the headwaters of the Kennebec and Penobscot watersheds and to sustain the tradition of public access to land in the Moosehead region through land acquisition and stewardship.” Aside from Friends of Wilson Ponds, the MRLT will be the only land trust of its kind in the vast Moosehead Region.
What exactly is a land trust? From Land Trust Alliance’s website, “A land trust or land conservancy is a community-based, nonprofit organization that actively works to permanently conserve land. In some cases, land trusts acquire land outright. They also partner to conserve land that remains the property of willing landowners using a tool called a conservation easement. Land trusts also manage or restore land once it has been conserved.”
Though we now understand what a land trust is, why do we need or want one in the Moosehead Lake Region? From MRLT’s website, mrlt.org: “No matter how our journey brought us here, we all have one thing in common–unequivocal love of the region and a commitment to preserve and protect the Moosehead region’s way of life.”
This region is our home, and it’s home to many plant and animal species. Moosehead Lake is also the watershed for the Penobscot and Kennebec Rivers. As Carla says, “What happens here is eventually gonna get there.” Because 90% of Maine is forested, it’s an important hub for carbon sequestration. It has important cultural significance for the Wabanaki people who called it home before us. It’s, “a place to recreate, rest, think, hunt, fish, hike, camp, and replenish our souls.” (mrlt.org)
To keep it that way, it’s important conservation efforts accompany the region’s development. MRLT is still forming their board and many committees, so the opportunity is there if you’d like to get involved and help to preserve our legacy for future generations. You can email info@mrlt.org to learn more.
More than anything, MRLT hopes to get the public involved with conserving Moosehead. It’s likely a public forum will be held in the near future to give the public a chance to ask questions and share any insights or concerns. The organization is particularly looking for input on tracts of land to acquire, whether that’s through bequest, a conservation easement, or acquisition of the parcel through fundraising efforts.
Great article- well done- very informative