Outdoors and Along the Trails: Dedication, Videos, Turtles, SCF & More

On Thursday July 1 at 7:30 a.m., the Hazen Carpenter Trail, which circles Deering Pond, will be dedicated. It is a joint project of the Sanford-Springvale Rotary Club and the Mousam Way Land Trust. Meet at the Rail trail entrance on Hanson’s Ridge Road. There will be a few remarks to honor Mr. Carpenter, and then those who are interested can walk the trail, which takes about 45 minutes.

On June 16, Sanford Trails Committee members got together on the Rail Trail with members of the Sanford Maine ATV Club, along with Monica McKenna and her horse Ember, to create some educational ‘Do’ and ‘Don’t’ videos related to multi-use interactions on the trail. Some of the videos they shot are horse/bike, bike/ATV, pedestrian/horse, in different scenarios. Matthew Leggett is working on cleaning the videos up and adding commentary, so they can be made available to all.

From Kevin McKeon: It’s rewarding to notice the many folks who’ve been active in flagging turtle nesting sites along the Rail Trail. I thank ALL who’ve taken the time to do this. I wrote to the lead amphibian biologist at Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife regarding the best way to flag these sites. Here is his suggestion: “Ideally, you can use 3 or 4 stakes to form a triangle or square around the nest. The diameter of your cordoned off area can be just a couple feet or slightly larger if you aren’t exactly sure where the nest is. High-visibility flagging can be tied to the top of each stake or strung between them and it would be great too for there to be some kind of little sign indicating it is a turtle nest.”

Three Rivers Land Trust has now raised over 90% of the funds needed to purchase the land to create the Sanford Community Forest. 3RLT recently received a total of $32,500 in grants from the Davis Conservation Foundation and the John Sage Foundation. Public fundraising has also raised over $15,000 this year from local residents and businesses. However, due to the large scope of the acquisition, which will provide permanent recreation, water quality, and climate benefits to the Sanford region, they still need to raise about $76,500 more by this December. The public is invited for a trail walk, refreshments, and a brief presentation about the Sanford Community Forest project, at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 11. The event will start from the Community Garden on Blanchard Rd., part of the McKeon Environmental Reserve owned by Mousam Way Land Trust. For more information about the project or the event, visit www.3rlt.org, or contact Executive Director Cheri Brunault at 207-358-9695 or cheri@3rlt.org. RSVPs are recommended.

Mark your calendars for the Springvale Farm Walk, coming up on July 25. This year, a new element has been added: Paint the Working Landscape: a Plein Air Event & Fundraiser for Sanford Community Forest. Local artists are invited to paint at participating farms in Springvale from July 10-24. The next day, which is Farm Walk day, there will be silent auction of the artworks at McDougal Orchards, with proceeds split between the artist and 3RLT. More information and registration links are here. We will have more info on the Farm Walk and Open Farm Day as the date gets closer.

There’s still a few days left for kids to enter the Parks Passport contest. See you outside!