ADAMSTOWN TOWNSHIP – Having undertaken an ambitious project to buy 125 acres of lake front property in the Rangeley area for $2 million to preserve public access, the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust is about halfway there.

Trust Executive Director Nancy Perlson of Madrid said early Tuesday evening that they have worked for nearly a year to buy the land along the north shore of Cupsuptic Lake, a 16,000-acre lake that splits northern Oxford and Franklin counties.

Additionally, the trust’s request for $500,000 from the Land for Maine’s Future Program will be voted on by LMF directors at the board’s meeting from 1 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14, in the Pine Tree State Arboretum, 153 Hospital St, Augusta.

“We would not have been able to do this project without Land for Maine’s Future help,” Perlson said.

“There is a tremendous opportunity right now with the transfer of land from paper companies, but the (financial) challenge on this stuff is making it difficult. That’s why the Land for Maine’s Future program has been so critically important,” she added.

To buy the property before the year-end closing date, Perlson said the trust has arranged short-term financing, which they hope to recoup through an ongoing fundraising campaign.

The Cupsuptic Lake Park proposal seeks to secure public access to Cupsuptic Lake and protect significant shorefront and riparian habitat.

“What it does,” Perlson said of the land buy, “is preserve the only readily accessible legal public swimming access on the lake. There is really no other spot like it on Cupsuptic or Mooselookmeguntic lakes. It has a lovely sandy beach.”

There are three public boat ramps on Cupsuptic and Mooselookmeguntic, but it’s illegal to swim at the sites.

The parcels include more than two miles of frontage on Cupsuptic Lake, of which, 1 miles are accessible by Route 16; more than 500 feet on Toothaker Brook; and all of two-acre Big Birch Island.

Also included is adjacent Cupsuptic Lake Campground, which will continue to operate under its existing lease until 2011. After 2011, the trust will take over managing and running the campground, Perlson said.

At the Nov. 14 LMF meeting, directors are also seeking comment for, and voting to allocate funding to two other land purchase proposals:

• Rumford Whitecap mountain, 761 acres that abut Black Mountain ski area in Rumford, include most of the 2,214-foot-high summit and end about a mile to 1 miles east of East Andover Road. Mahoosuc Land Trust is seeking $243,000 toward a total project cost of $678,153.

• Androscoggin River Park, 14.3 acres of Androscoggin River frontage in Lewiston, on which the Androscoggin Land Trust is proposing to create a non-motorized trail network and non-motorized boat launch site to give the public access to three miles of river between Deer Rips Dam and Great Falls Dam. The trust is requesting $75,000 toward the total cost of between $125,000 and $150,000.

Public comment on the acquisitions will be accepted at the LMF meeting on Nov. 14. Written comments will be accepted until noon on Nov. 13, and should be submitted to Tim Glidden, Land for Maine’s Future Program, No. 38 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333. For more information, call 287-1485.