Land Trust receives award

BUCKFIELD — Western Foothills Land Trust has been awarded technical planning assistance for The Virgil Parris Forest, Buckfield from the National Park Service’s Recreational Trails Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program.

The Virgil Parris Forest is a 1250-acre conservation area encompassing South Pond in Buckfield. The parcel includes the predominance of the undeveloped shore of the 49-acre South Pond, over 300 acres of wetlands, and embraces a 2.5 mile stretch of a multi-use rail trail, the ITS 89. It is the largest single preserve owned and stewarded by the Western Foothills Land Trust.

Local stakeholders include the Oxford Riders ATV club, the Bouncing Bogies Snowmobile Club, the Hebron Elementary School, the Buckfield Historical Society, Healthy Oxford Hills, and the towns of Hebron and Buckfield. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine Department of Conservation, and Land for Maine’s Future are state-level partners.

This summer, supported by the Land for Maine’s Future program, the Trust completed mechanized construction of one mile of a designed two-mile loop-trail off the Sodom Road.

Volunteer trail builders have opened up an additional half mile of the trail and intend to finish the loop by hand before winter so that snowshoers and backwoods x-c skiers can enjoy the system.

The new non-motorized trail, called the Packard Trail, in honor of the Packard Family Cemetery which is located near the trail head, will be comfortable for walkers, runners, skiers and snowshoers. While the loop has not been completed, the extant trail is welcoming: Kate Goldberg led a Healthy Oxford Hills walk there recently.

The parking area and trailhead are located 1.2 miles south of Rte 117 on the Sodom Road. The Trust is hopeful that a Recreational Trails Program application will provide funding for the balance of the mechanized work needed to finish the trail in 2013.