A state board is scheduled to vote Tuesday on allocating money to help protect nearly 8,000 acres in Franklin County for public use.

The board is being asked to allocate $1.1 million in the two proposals, about one-third of the land’s $3 million value.

In the first proposal, the board of Land for Maine’s Future will consider a request to support the Maine Department of Conservation’s acquisition of about 6,776 acres in six parcels. This would be the third phase of an effort to preserve more than 30,000 acres in the Mount Blue State Park/Tumbledown Mountain Project. So far, 24,093 acres have been protected.

The land to be considered Tuesday is owned by MeadWestvaco.

The second one is the Conservation Department’s proposal to acquire about 1,153 acres on Mount Abram in Mount Abram Township. The land is owned by Mead Oxford Corp.

Recreational land

Both projects would protect the land for recreational use.

The board plans to meet from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday at MBNA’s Point Lookout campus on Route 1 in Northport. Written comments on both proposals are being accepted until noon Monday, July 19, or may be offered at the meeting.

The largest two parcels in the Mount Blue State Park/Tumbledown proposal contain 6,261 acres on the southeast side of Tumbledown in Phillips and Township 6 north of Weld. They includes trails going up Tumbledown, Blueberry and Jackson mountains, said Steve Brooke, a staff member who works for the Land For Maine’s Future board.

The four other lots in the proposal are:

• About 256 acres in an Avon lot that includes some slopes on Spruce Mountain, which is east of Mount Blue State Park.

• About 169 acres known as the Perkins Plantation lot on Bald Mountain.

• Two parcels in Weld, one with 40 acres, the second with 48 acres. Both adjoin Mount Blue State Park.

The Land for Maine’s Future board is being asked Tuesday for $960,000 for the project.

The total cost of the nearly 7,000 acres is $2.65 million, said Ralph Knoll, director of planning and land acquisition for the Bureau of Parks and Lands.

The rest of the money would come from the federal Forest Legacy Program, he said.

The board allocated $1.65 million for the first two phases of the Mount Blue State Park/Tumbledown Mountain project, Brooke said.

Protecting Mount Abram

In the Mount Abram project, the board will consider allocating $157,667 to help conserve 1,153 acres. The land runs on the western shoulder of the ridgeline and completes protection of Mount Abram, Brooke said.

The summit is 4,049 feet, one of 13 peaks in Maine over 4,000 feet and one of four not currently protected by public ownership, he said.

The cost of this portion of the project is $350,000, Knoll said. The rest of the money is coming from private sources and the Bureau of Parks and Lands.

The board spent $273,333 on land costs for the first parcel in the project, which preserved 1,026 acres, plus $6,500 in legal fees and other expenses, Brooke said. The total cost of that land was about $410,000, he said.

Additionally, the Appalachian Trail Conference donated 4,033 acres in the first phase, Brooke said. The land donated was valued at nearly $1.24 million.

Combined, the two parcels protect four miles of ridgeline above the timberline and is an extensive alpine community, Brooke said.

The Land For Maine’s Future board uses money from a $50 million state bond voters passed in 1999 to protect land for public access.

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