The meandering Kezar River in Lovell is seen in this drone shot. The Greater Lovell Land Trust purchased more than 1,411 acres along the 12-mile river, which begins at Five Kezar Ponds in Lovell and flows through Sweden and Fryeburg into the Saco River. Submitted photo

LOVELL — The Greater Lovell Land Trust purchased more than 1,411 acres to expand its land holdings along the Kezar River in Lovell and Sweden.

The purchase gives the trust more than 2,700 contiguous acres along the river and cost about $1.4 million.

Kezar River is a small meandering tributary of the Saco River with high bluffs, rolling hills, beaver ponds and nearly 100 acres of wetlands, Rhyan Paquereau, the conversation director of the land trust, said. The Greater Lovell Land Trust has conserved seven miles along the river.

The purchase builds on the 1,315 acres the trust acquired in 2022 and 2023.

It is the largest land purchase in the trust’s history. Much of the funding came from a $1,035,000 grant from the Land for Maine’s Future Program. The Open Space Institute’s Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund contributed another $200,000 toward the purchase.

Open Space Institute “is thrilled to support this project, which beautifully integrates biodiversity protection with sustainable forest management and thoughtful community access for recreation,” Sarah Wells, project manager for the institute’s Conservation Strategies New England, said in a statement.

Advertisement

Further funding came from The Nature Conservancy in Maine, the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, the Maine Community Foundation, private foundations, and contributions from community members.

As stewards of this land, the trust will keep the land open to everyone for generations. Hunting and fishing will be allowed, as will snowmobiling and ATV riding and other types of recreational activities. Paquereau said the trust will consider a formal presentation on future plans for the property within a year, but he does expect that a couple of hiking trails will be built in the interim, as well as trailhead parking areas.

The land along the river includes diverse tree growth and multiple species of wildlife. The newly conserved properties provide crucial wildlife connectivity and link key conservation focus areas, including the Upper Saco River/Kezar Pond region and Caribou and Speckled Mountains within the White Mountain National Forest.

The trust now owns more than 5,700 acres in the towns of Lovell, Sweden, Stow and Stoneham in Oxford County.

Join the Conversation

Please sign into your Sun Journal account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe. Questions? Please see our FAQs.

filed under: