Woodie Wheaton Land Trust

2012 Presidents Letter - 2010 Presidents Letter

Fall 2010

Dear Friends:

The Woodie Wheaton Land Trust has experienced a busy and productive summer and fall! Our speakers forum/field trip series was well attended and drew positive feedback. Our WWLT Center office is up and running, with lots of hard work from board member, Art Wheaton, and office manager, Patty BuBar. Most of the needed equipment and furnishings are now in place, and we have begun landscaping the grounds, a task that will be completed next spring, welcomed four new board members at the August annual meeting: Jeff Bursaw, Norm Eykel, Bruce Hoyt, and Phil McLellan. Many thanks to Dave Hentosh, Steve Keith, and Chris Madigan, all of whom stepped down as directors this year. Steve remains involved by serving as project coordinator for our East Grand Watershed Initiative, while Leslie Hudson coordinates fundraising activities for the East Grand project and other WWLT needs.

Much of our time and energy the past few months has been invested in the East Grand Watershed Initiative, a project to conserve more than 12,000 acres around Monument Brook and North, East Grand, Longley, Deering, Brackett, and Sucker Lakes. This collaboration between the land trust, the towns of Orient and Weston, The Conservation Fund, the state of Maine, and Wagner Forest Management represents a tremendous opportunity to protect the undeveloped character of the upper St. Croix watershed. We are currently exploring some innovative ideas to strengthen the local economy through this initiative, and we look forward to reporting more progress in the spring – and hopefully the launch of a major capital campaign!

Greenland Island on East Grand Lake is a very special place that is loved by many, as portrayed in a brief history by Art and Dale Wheaton (below). We have worked hard to draw significant support from individuals and foundations to complete the Greenland Island campaign. Now, as we wrote in our summer newsletter, we seek to pay off the mortgage and establish a modest stewardship fund to ensure the island is cared for into the future. We would greatly appreciate your tax-deductible donation to the Woodie Wheaton Land Trust in support of Greenland Island, the East Grand Watershed Initiative, and any and all of our various activities. Like you, we treasure these lakes and this special part of Maine and New Brunswick. We thank you for your past support and hope we can count on you for a generous year-end gift!

Sincerely,
Elbridge G. Cleaves, President
WWLT Board of Directors