FALMOUTH, Maine (AP) - The town of Falmouth is going to spend $200,000 to help buy a portion of Clapboard Island off the coast of Maine so it can remain open to the public.
Falmouth town councilors voted this week to spend the money that would be spent as part of a fundraising campaign by the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, which must raise about $1.6 million to purchase 17 acres of the private island and pay for its future care.
“(The town’s donation) is a lot of money, and it’s going to help leverage other dollars,” said Trust Project Manager Keith Fletcher. “We had actual funders who were saying they would wait for the town to act.”
So far the trust, which has until Aug. 15 to close the deal, has raised about $500,000.
The 17 acres on the north end of the island includes a seasonal residence, which the trust plans to separate into a 2.3-acre parcel that will be sold to help cover the cost of the purchase.
Fletcher tells the Portland Press Herald (https://bit.ly/MDQ10i) the parcel would likely fetch a substantial portion of what is left to be raised.
He says about 15 acres of wooded land will remain for public use, he said.
Wildlife thrives on the island, said Susan Gilpin of the Friends of Clapboard Island group, who helped push for the acquisition.
Giplin said that a pair of bald eagles and three pairs of nesting osprey call the island home. The island also features a hemlock spruce forest, which is typically found on islands farther north in Penobscot Bay and parts of Down East Maine.
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Information from: Portland Press Herald, https://www.pressherald.com
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