FRYEBURG — A cooperation between the Upper Saco Valley Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy will preserve 524 acres of habitat on the Saco River and Pleasant Pond.

According to the land trust, the purchase will protect a rare tract of floodplain forest along the Saco River from development. The area is a habitat for turtles and songbirds, according to the land trust, and is a popular canoeing spot.

The project, called the Pleasant Pond Floodplain Forest, comes from a partnership between a private landowner, the state of Maine, the land trust and the Nature Conservancy. A conservation easement on the property allows sustainable forestry but blocks development.

According to a release from the land trust, the forest absorbs part of the heavy spring flow of water and protects areas downstream from flooding. According to Will Brune of the Nature Conservancy, in some years the water is high enough for paddlers to canoe between the silver maple trees there.

The project was funded by The Nature Conservancy and a grant program managed by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife called the Landowner Incentive Program.

The Upper Saco Valley Land Trust is a nonprofit organization in Western Maine and New Hampshire.

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