BLUE HILL, Maine — Moving up the coast from southern Maine to the western fringes of Downeast, the Outside Edge is exploring the Blue Hill Peninsula for its next two episodes.
The beauty of the Blue Hill Peninsula is captured throughout the area, and the land continues to be conserved through the Blue Hill Heritage Trust.
Land trusts have become quite common in Maine, especially in towns that don't have designated parks and recreation departments.
Chrissy Beardsley Allen, development director of the Blue Hill Heritage Trust, says it’s truly a community-based land trust, and nearly all its work is supported by donors who either live on or visit the Blue Hill Peninsula regularly.
“We really have such a vibrant community that crosses political lines because we all care about this place," Beardsley Allen explains. "We want to protect it into the future, we want to protect not only our access but the environmental importance of this place.”
Education seminars and programs are held for community members and through work at each of the 10 schools in the region. Topics, such as climate migration, have been at the forefront of conversations as many new people move north as the climate warms.
“We are trying to do some work with our local municipalities to help them do smart planning," Beardsley Allen said. "So that we can welcome all of these new people into our community while protecting the nature and character of this place, as well as protecting the areas that are important for climate resiliency.”
Though they are protecting the near 12,000 acres of land in the trust, it is open for public use. Hiking is the most popular recreational activity on the peninsula, and they’ve also created wheelchair-accessible trails with hard-packed gravel.
Cycling is also popular in the summer, with snowshoeing and snowmobiling being popular in the winter. Three "gems" of the trail system were highlighted in the latest Outside Edge episode.
"Peter's Brooke and Penny's Preserve," Beardsley Allen began in the episode. "This is a neat story because it came out of many, many donations of either conservation easement or land donations from local land donors over the course of about 15 to 20 years, it’s now about 325 acres, has a five-mile trail system, through waterfalls, a quarry, and up this beautiful brook. It's really quite gorgeous. Another spot is [the] Kingdom Woods Conservation area. This is a parcel of land that is over 875 acres, [and] it’s a major ecological conversation area."
"There’s a trail system just below the pond, but the rest of the property has been left wild and open because it’s a critical part of our watershed and our ecosystem here," Beardsley Allen added. "Blue Hill Mountain is the highest peak on the Blue Hill Peninsula. It has a lot of cultural and historic importance to our area, and the view you get from the top of the mountain is just outstanding, you’re looking out over Acadia, Blue Hill Bay, and just the whole landscape of the Blue Hill Peninsula."
The mission of preservation and accessibility has deep and historic roots for Beardsley Allen.
"My ancestors were part of the founding of the town of Blue Hill, and I grew up here, I was born and raised here," Beardsley Allen said. "I went away for college and when I came back, I had a very new perspective on this place. I saw what was happening out in the Midwest and how they were losing land. And I saw it happening here. I can think of nothing better to do with my time than to be supporting the mission of this organization because it supports my community."
Our Outside Edge adventure on the Blue Hill Peninsula continues in two weeks with an adventure you have to truly see to believe.