JAY — A state land board has awarded a $259,000 grant to conserve nearly 1,300 acres in Jay and Canton along the Androscoggin River.

Androscoggin Land Trust, Verso Paper Corp. and the town of Jay have partnered in the effort to permanently conserve the land. It will help continue to connect multiuse trails around the region, enhance recreational opportunities and bring more visitors into Maine towns.

The Land Trust and Jay submitted an application to the Land for Maine’s Future grant program and was among 22 projects the program’s board chose on Wednesday to award a total of $7 million to conserve 76,000 acres of undeveloped farm, forest and recreation land. The Land for Maine’s Future program is supported by a Maine bond that voters previously approved.

This project would permanently conserve land in the towns of Jay and Canton through Verso Paper’s sale and donation of fee title and a conservation easement on multiple parcels to the Androscoggin Land Trust and Verso’s donation of 30 acres of the French Falls parcel to Jay.

The value of the project is close to $1 million, Land Trust Executive Director Jonathan LaBonte said Thursday.

Verso’s transfer of lands to Androscoggin Land Trust has a very strong bargain sale component, the value of which is proposed as a match toward Land for Maine’s Future program funds, he said.

Otis Ventures LLC, the owner of the Otis Falls Mill property, plans to donate to the land trust an access easement on a corridor approximately one mile in length for the construction of a new access point for paddlers into the Androscoggin River and a multiuse recreational trail in Jay’s Chisholm Village and downtown Livermore Falls that also will serve as a critical portage around the Otis and Livermore dams, LaBonte said.

The Maine Department of Conservation acquired approximately 1.3 miles of former rail corridor in Jay from Pan Am Railways in March, which also counted as a match toward the project for the grant, he said.

The Department plans to construct a multiuse recreational trail on this property that will extend the 17-mile Whistle Stop Trail that currently runs from French Falls in Jay to near Oakes Street in West Farmington and link other components of the Androscoggin Greenway Project, LaBonte said.

“We are very happy with this outstanding show of support from Land for Maine’s Future,” LaBonte said in a prepared statement on Thursday. “While the grant is shy of our original $425,000 request, we are pleased that (Land for Maine’s Future) recognized the importance of this project and used limited funds to support such a key project for the Androscoggin River community and the state of Maine. Increasing recreation along the river corridor will not only allow Maine to take advantage of such an incredible resource, but will also have economic benefit to the state as it increases tourism to the area,” LaBonte said.

“Verso is so pleased to see a project that means a lot to us and our community receive such support from Land for Maine’s Future as well. We own land along the Androscoggin River that isn’t critical to our business, but has tremendous value to the community as a fishing area or other recreation resource. We are glad to be able to donate some of our land and give back to the community in this meaningful way,” Verso’s Androscoggin Mill Manager Marc Connor said in the release.

LaBonte said the Trust will reconvene with its local partners and look at other grant options and funding sources to complete the project.

The Androscoggin Greenway Project involves the sale and donation by Verso Paper Corp. of 1,250 acres of land in 21 parcels in Canton and Jay, mostly in Canton, to the Androscoggin Land Trust, and a conservation easement on another 15-acre parcel in Canton. Twenty acres of Verso’s proposed donation of a 30-acre parcel in Jay to the town is also included in the project proposal for the grant, LaBonte said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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