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Mount Blue to Tumbledown Initiative (ME)

Photo: Monkman/www.Ecophotography.com

The Tumbledown Region

Located less than a half day's drive from Boston and two hours from Portland, the Tumbledown region of western Maine is known for its sweeping vistas, alpine ponds, and popular hiking trails. Nestled in the heart of this scenic area lies Webb Lake, a seven-mile long expanse of clear water, sandy beaches, and wooded shores in Weld. A series of peaks—stretching from Mount Blue to Tumbledown, Jackson, and Hurricane Mountains—rings the lake and forms the threshold to this part of the great North Woods.

Mount Blue at dawn Photo: Monkman/www.Ecophotography.com

Nearby Mount Blue State Park is the region's signature attraction, hosting more than 70,000 visitors each year. The park and surrounding Tumbledown region provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including moose and black bear, endangered Peregrine falcons and bald eagles, and the rare Bicknell's thrush, which breeds only in high elevation spruce-fir forests. In addition, the roughly 8,000-acre park offers visitors an extensive network of trails, a sandy beach, and a widely used camping area. Its popularity with everyone from hikers to mountain bikers, horseback riders, and snowmobilers recently earned it a spot on Outside Magazine Family Vacation Guide's top 10 list.

Although Mount Blue State Park provides a core of protected land, many of the area's scenic vistas and important recreation areas are located on private land, with no assurances of continued public access or sound stewardship. Changing patterns of land ownership and use, ranging from timber liquidation to growing rates of subdivision and second home development, now threaten the balance between working forest, wildlife habitat, and recreation that has characterized this region for generations. The recent closure of trails on private land in the area has highlighted the need to increase outreach to private landowners and efforts to permanently protect critical wildlife habitat and well-loved recreation destinations.

The Mount Blue to Tumbledown Conservation Initiative

In 1999, in response to large-scale changes in ownership and management practices in the region, five organizations—the Webb Lake Association, Friends of Maine State Parks, Western Maine Audubon Society, Foothills Land Conservancy, and Appalachian Mountain Club—formed the Tumbledown Conservation Alliance to promote a conservation vision for the region.

The Maine Department of Conservation, the Trust for Public Land (TPL), and the Alliance have been working together since then to conserve 30,000 acres of high-priority conservation land, including mountaintops, popular recreation trails, and habitat for declining wildlife species like the peregrine falcon, Bicknell's thrush, and spring salamander. Specifically, TPL and our partners are working to

1. strategically expand Mount Blue State Park and protect critical buffer lands around it, and
2. conserve significant portions of the Tumbledown Range, through a combination of outright purchases and conservation easements over working forestland. The success of these initiatives will guarantee permanent public access to trails and recreation areas, ensure sustainable forestry practices, keep land on the tax rolls, and help maintain the long-term ecological health of the area and its popularity as a destination for recreation-based tourism.

Webb Lake Photo: Monkman/www.Ecophotography.com

Safeguarding Mount Blue State Park

When this initiative was launched, Mount Blue State Park faced significant challenges. Approximately half of the park's popular 20-mile Multiuse Trail was located on private land. Many of its other trails also crossed private land, making them vulnerable to disruption should future landowners deny public access or develop key areas. In the Mount Blue area, a 1,298-foot crest known as Hedgehog Hill near the center of the park was unprotected. Surrounding valleys that provided the scenic views enjoyed by visitors to the park were also unprotected, as were Pope Mountain, Holt Hill, and Hurricane Mountain, remote hiking destinations near the park. In addition, the park's Webb Lake unit faced the potential for overcrowding and encroaching development along nearby West Side Road.

With strong support from Maine's Congressional delegation, state officials, and hundreds of private supporters, the coalition has been able to make significant progress towards protecting key tracts by:

• adding 2,468 acres to Mount Blue State Park in 2001, including Hedgehog Hill and nearly ten miles of the Multiuse Trail,
• adding 376 acres to Mount Blue State Park's Webb Lake unit in 2002, providing expanded camping opportunities near the lake, and providing a buffer against development pressures, and
• conserving approximately 421 acres adjacent to Mount Blue State Park in 2002, including a key snowmobile corridor and access to a scenic stretch of East Brook.

Nearly $2 million in funding for these initial Mount Blue phases was provided by the federal Forest Legacy Program, Land and Water Conservation Fund, Land for Maine's Future Program, State ATV funds, Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund and private supporters.

Currently, TPL owns just over 4,000 acres, which we are working to conserve permanently as buffer areas adjacent to the park. This land includes Pope Mountain north of the park, Holt Hill west of Webb Lake, and additional frontage along East Brook, also north of the park.

Thanks to funding from the Forest Legacy Program, the Maine Department of Conservation is preparing to purchase conservation easements over these properties, which will permanently guarantee public access, prohibit development, and allow for sustainable forestry. Once the conservation easements are in place, a private buyer will purchase the properties for continued forestry use. With the conservation of these lands, the coalition will have accomplished the majority of its goals for the area directly surrounding Mount Blue State Park.

Pond at summit of Tumbledown Mountain  Photo: Monkman/www.Ecophotography.com

Conserving the Tumbledown Range

While most people have assumed for years that the popular hiking trails on Tumbledown Mountain and the surrounding peaks in Township 6 are permanently conserved, many of them are actually on private land. Because of its unusual scenic beauty, including a jewel-like alpine pond near the 3,068-foot summit, Tumbledown has developed a loyal and growing following. As Author Chloe Chunn writes in her book 50 Hikes in the Maine Mountains, "This is the hike to make you fall in love with hiking! The Mountain offers an excellent variety of climbing experiences, culminating in a beautiful pond nestled among its three peaks." Many of the other mountains in the Tumbledown Range, such as Little Jackson and Blueberry Mountains, are also popular hiking destinations in their own right.

Thanks to continued support from Maine's Congressional delegation, the Bush Administration, State of Maine, and more than 300 private supporters, in December 2002, TPL helped the Maine Department of Conservation permanently protect just over 11,600 acres on and around Tumbledown Mountain. Funding included more than $3 million from the federal Forest Legacy Program, the Land for Maine's Future Program, and private donations raised by the Tumbledown Conservation Alliance and TPL. The purchase included two phases:

• The Department of Conservation purchased nearly 3,800 acres from Hancock Land Company, including Tumbledown's peak, its alpine pond, and the summit of Little Jackson Mountain.
• The Department of Conservation purchased a conservation easement over roughly 7,800 acres, permanently prohibiting development, guaranteeing public access, and allowing for sustainable forestry. This land will continue to be owned and managed by Hancock Land Company, a Maine-based sixth-generation family owned timber company.

The coalition's future goals in this area include conserving much of the south facing slope of the Tumbledown Range, including the major trailheads and trails on Tumbledown, Jackson, Little Jackson, and Blueberry Mountains. Toward that end, TPL is currently negotiating with several key landowners in the region, as well as owners of other important recreation destinations nearby.

Hiker on the Tumbledown loop trail Photo: Monkman/www.Ecophotography.com

Your Support is Needed!

To protect the exceptional recreational and ecological values of the Mount Blue to Tumbledown region, TPL and our partners are actively seeking $4 million in state, federal, and private dollars over the next 18 months. Private donations will play a critical role in helping to secure additional commitments of public funds. To date, nearly $500,000 has been contributed to this project by private supporters, leveraging more than $8 in state and federal funding for every private dollar committed.

In addition, TPL is seeking private contributions to cover the costs associated with these projects and to support TPL's conservation staff working in the Weld area. Please help us continue the effort to protect one of Maine's best-loved places. For more information, please contact TPL's Portland office, (207) 772-7424.

Posted 12/2002

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FILE ATTACHMENTS:

Tumbledown/Mt. Blue Map