Coveted land acquired for conservation
By David Harry
Staff Writer
It is a parcel of land C. D. Armstrong said he and other members of the Friends of the Scarborough Marsh have eyed for a long time.
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m., the public is invited to tour the object of Armstrong’s desire at a ceremony celebrating the preservation of the 46-acre Gervais (pronounced “Jar-vis”) Farm, which sits at the upper edge of the Scarborough Marsh.
The farm sits near the Scarborough Industrial Park on Manson Libby Road. With a house and barn, the farm also has a hayfield, wooded area, freshwater wetlands and saltmarsh habitat, according to a press release from Armstrong and Scarborough Land Conservation Trust member Marla Zando. The organizations are hosting the celebration.
Armstrong said when Friends of the Scarborough Marsh evaluated the most important parcels of land adjacent to the marsh in 2001 that might be preserved, the Gervais Farm topped their list.
“Priceless is too clichéd,” Armstrong said about the land. “If we had not gone the route we are going, it may well have been developed.”
The farm is across the street from the depot area for the Scarborough School Department, and Armstrong said 8 to 10 acres could have been developed with more land becoming parking areas if it had been bought privately.
With the farm now part of the Scarborough Marsh Wildlife Management Area owned by the state and managed by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Armstrong said a two-year effort for buying the land from the Gervais family has been completed.
Armstrong and Zando said money for the purchase was raised from sources including Land for Maine’s Future, a town fund used to buy land for conservation and recreation, as well as conservation association Ducks Unlimited.
“The Friends and our partners are very indebted to the Gervais family for their perseverance and patience in working with us,” Armstrong said.
Money from funds established after two oil spills also helped buy the farm, according to the press release.
Before the purchase, money from an account created after the tanker Julie N. collided with the “Million Dollar Bridge,” connecting Portland and South Portland, was part of more than $750,000 raised.
Last month, Friends of Scarborough Marsh received a $65,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Association, started by Congress to award the proceeds from $37 million in criminal fines paid by New York-based Overseas Shipholding Group, said U.S. Attorney Paula Silsby.
The company paid the fines after pleading guilty to 33 counts of illegally dumping oil in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. The company also pleaded guilty to falsifying logbooks, Silsby said.
More than $1.9 million of the fines was allotted to conservation causes in Maine, and 42 applications were made to the association, which is overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard, Silsby said.
“It is exciting to have something so positive come out of a criminal prosecution,” Silsby said about the money awarded to 14 conservation projects. The fines were assessed in 2006.
Armstrong said the $65,000 grant, applied for during the winter before the Gervais farm sale was completed in April, was “the capstone of grant to finish the fundraising process.”
Before tours of the farm are given during the Oct. 21 event, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner Roland Martin and Town Manager Tom Hall will be among speakers noting the preservation effort.
Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219
Staff Writer
It is a parcel of land C. D. Armstrong said he and other members of the Friends of the Scarborough Marsh have eyed for a long time.
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m., the public is invited to tour the object of Armstrong’s desire at a ceremony celebrating the preservation of the 46-acre Gervais (pronounced “Jar-vis”) Farm, which sits at the upper edge of the Scarborough Marsh.
The farm sits near the Scarborough Industrial Park on Manson Libby Road. With a house and barn, the farm also has a hayfield, wooded area, freshwater wetlands and saltmarsh habitat, according to a press release from Armstrong and Scarborough Land Conservation Trust member Marla Zando. The organizations are hosting the celebration.
Armstrong said when Friends of the Scarborough Marsh evaluated the most important parcels of land adjacent to the marsh in 2001 that might be preserved, the Gervais Farm topped their list.
“Priceless is too clichéd,” Armstrong said about the land. “If we had not gone the route we are going, it may well have been developed.”
The farm is across the street from the depot area for the Scarborough School Department, and Armstrong said 8 to 10 acres could have been developed with more land becoming parking areas if it had been bought privately.
With the farm now part of the Scarborough Marsh Wildlife Management Area owned by the state and managed by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Armstrong said a two-year effort for buying the land from the Gervais family has been completed.
Armstrong and Zando said money for the purchase was raised from sources including Land for Maine’s Future, a town fund used to buy land for conservation and recreation, as well as conservation association Ducks Unlimited.
“The Friends and our partners are very indebted to the Gervais family for their perseverance and patience in working with us,” Armstrong said.
Money from funds established after two oil spills also helped buy the farm, according to the press release.
Before the purchase, money from an account created after the tanker Julie N. collided with the “Million Dollar Bridge,” connecting Portland and South Portland, was part of more than $750,000 raised.
Last month, Friends of Scarborough Marsh received a $65,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Association, started by Congress to award the proceeds from $37 million in criminal fines paid by New York-based Overseas Shipholding Group, said U.S. Attorney Paula Silsby.
The company paid the fines after pleading guilty to 33 counts of illegally dumping oil in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. The company also pleaded guilty to falsifying logbooks, Silsby said.
More than $1.9 million of the fines was allotted to conservation causes in Maine, and 42 applications were made to the association, which is overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard, Silsby said.
“It is exciting to have something so positive come out of a criminal prosecution,” Silsby said about the money awarded to 14 conservation projects. The fines were assessed in 2006.
Armstrong said the $65,000 grant, applied for during the winter before the Gervais farm sale was completed in April, was “the capstone of grant to finish the fundraising process.”
Before tours of the farm are given during the Oct. 21 event, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner Roland Martin and Town Manager Tom Hall will be among speakers noting the preservation effort.
Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219
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