BUCKFIELD — A collaboration among three Maine conservation groups will protect more than 1,200 acres of working forestland, which includes Jersey Bog in East Buckfield.

The land is the last part of a 6,000 parcel donated to the Nature Conservancy in 1999 with the understanding it would protect it from development and allow the timber to be harvested sustainably.

The Nature Conservancy has collaborated with the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine and the Androscoggin Land Trust to preserve it according to the anonymous donor’s wishes.

Most of the land is owned by U.S. Trust, a timber investment company that bought it in January. The contract says SWOAM holds an easement on the land that prevents it from being subdivided or developed and ensures harvests there will be done in accordance with sustainability criteria.

SWOAM bought a smaller part of the land nearby that it will use to demonstrate sustainable forestry practices. SWOAM’s parcel has been named the Everett Towle Forest.

The Androscoggin Land Trust holds an easement on the Everett Towle Forest with the same working forest conservation easement as the one SWOAM holds on U.S. Trust’s land. It now protects almost 500 acres in the Jersey Bog watershed

Will Brune of the Nature Conservancy said the Nature Conservancy only sells forestland when it can put some sort of easement in place. He said putting SWOAM in charge of the easement on their own land would put it in charge of enforcing its own easement, which Brune said was “uncommon.”

In a release from the Nature Conservancy, Androscoggin Land Trust Executive Director Jonathan P. LaBonte said his group was excited to be involved in the effort.

“For nearly a decade, Jersey Bog has been an area of focus for our organization,” he said. The bog is east of Bryant Road.

“Protecting the Androscoggin River also means working aggressively to conserve critical lands in its tributaries. We are proud to be part of this collaborative to advance that,” LaBonte said.

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