KINGFIELD – For the nine years that she has lived in Kingfield, Stacey Cuppernell has frequently walked a path along the Carrabassett River and through the large hayfields that highlight the entrance to town on Route 27.

While using the path for exercise and recreation, she hasn’t been alone seeing many familiar faces of residents who walk their dogs, bike, cross country ski or snowmobile across the large fields, she said.

When 46 acres of the hayfields owned by Mark and Mary Hurvitt of Blue Hill came up for sale earlier this summer, concern over losing part of the Kingfield Gateway prompted Cuppernell to seek support from area residents to purchase and protect what she sees as part of the town’s agricultural heritage.

A public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, at Webster Hall to assess public interest and provide more information, she said.

After seeing the “for sale” sign, Cuppernell signed a 90-day option on the property offered at $225,000. That option runs out at the end of September leaving “a small window of opportunity to purchase the farmland,” she said.

If there is interest in saving the field, Cuppernell expects two committees to be formed. One would oversee fundraising and the other would look into options for creating a conservation trust that allows the land to be leased to whomever wants to hay it, she said.

Cuppernell has already met with Maine Farmland Trust to explore permanently protecting the property as working farmland once it is purchased.

“They are great stewards of the land and their interests are in keeping it as farmland,” she said.

A representative of the nonprofit organization will attend the meeting.

“It needs to be a community venture,” she said. She has sent out more than 200 letters to area residents inviting them to the meeting.

The town’s selectmen haven’t discussed it, Selectman Heather Moody said, but she commended Cuppernell for her work to preserve the land.

Purchase of the hayfield and partial flood plain acreage on the Carrabassett River will take a lot of money but contributions would be tax deductible and help save the fields that many have admired from the road as they travel into town, she said.

“But it must be walked through to be appreciated,” she said. “The mountains surround you and it sets the tone for our town. As we move forward to attract more eco-tourism, it makes an excellent gateway into town. I have tremendous gratitude for the privilege to walk freely through those fields. It’s been a gift from the owners.”

Some community members have questioned the value of the land, she said, so she is also looking for a land assessor who would be willing to donate time and skills to assess it.

Poland Spring Water Co. purchased 42 acres of adjoining hayfields to the north of the property with the intention of selling them to the town over the next 10 years as part of a tax increment financing(TIF) agreement.

For more information about the Friends of Kingfield Farmland, contact Cuppernell at 265-2075.