No, this is not a hair-raising, high-adventure tale of two starved hikers being found in the woods after having been lost for days.

This is another kind of story. An equally important story. It deals in a different kind of heroics, though, the kind that involves unselfish, principled, determined people holding down day jobs, and plodding ahead in their spare time trying to do the right thing against near-impossible odds.

Recently rescued from the brink, is the Greenland Point Center at Long Lake in Princeton. Over the years, Greenland Point was a summer conservation camp for kids. Hundreds of youngsters, supported by scholarships donated by state sporting organizations and area fish and game clubs, got a chance to taste the great outdoors and learn about our precious resources. They also learned dozens of outdoor skills that will stay with them the rest of their lives.

More than a year ago, the University of Maine System, which owned the camps, decided that the property was not financially sound, and elected to shut down the summer camps and sell the property for a price tag that approached a half-million dollars.

In fact, the University had a tentative purchase-sales agreement with a private individual. Concerned citizens and other interested intervenors were unsuccessful in persuading the University to reduce the asking price and put it within reach of those trying to save the conservation camps. Although the University of Maine originally acquired the camps as a gift from a large landowner, the Chancellor’s office apparently was not moved by the earnest pleas, and decided that money had to come before altruism. The University refused to budge on its asking price.

Incredibly, the group trying to save the camps – the Greenland Point Coalition – was not discouraged or deterred by the University’s intransigence. Lesser folks would have given up in despair, frightened off by all of the zeroes attached to the acquisition price. But not these folks. The Greenland Point Coalition pressed on.

Then it happened!

An answer to their prayers. An anonymous benefactor stepped forward and saved the day. This benefactor purchased the Greenland Point properties and agreed to mortgage them to the Greenland Point Coalition. During the first year of the agreement, there will be no interest on the mortgage. Thereafter, the Coalition has agreed to purchase the camps from the new buyer at a mortgage interest rate of five percent.

The camps were not open this summer. That means that 1,200 Maine youngsters missed out on a wonderful summer opportunity in natural resource education. According to Woody Higgins, who is President of the Penobscot County Conservation Association (PCCA), which is a member of the Greenland Point Coalition, every effort will be made to open the camps next summer. Meanwhile, there is much hard work and heavy lifting left to be done. According to Al Faust, PCCA’s treasurer, the aim is to get the mortgage paid off, and then concentrate on operating a summer conservation camp that is solvent and self-sustaining.

In a recent letter, GPC’s President Jon Speed, put out a request for help of any kind, financial or otherwise. “Donated labor, materials and equipment are needed as well as cash,” wrote Speed.

State fish and game clubs, as well as individuals who appreciate the value of natural resource education for youngsters, will not find a more constructive use of discretionary funds, nor are they likely to find a more worthy cause with the potential to deliver long-term dividends.

My hat is off to the anonymous benefactor, and to the heavy lifters like Woody Higgins, Al Faust, and Jon Speed, as well as the many state-wide organizations like the PCCA, that have worked tirelessly to pull off what many said could not be done.

We can show our thanks by making donations to:

Greenland Point Center

C/O Downeast RC&D

P O Box 210

Cherryfield, ME 04622-0210.

Contributions are tax deductible.

V. Paul Reynolds is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WCME-FM 96.7) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected].