MADRID TOWNSHIP, Maine - More than 5,700 acres of forested property in Franklin County has been permanently protected by a conservation easement, officials announced today.
Wolfe Tone, Maine state director for The Trust for Public Land, says the property, which includes the Orbeton Stream, is the largest remaining working forest parcel in Madrid Township.
Tone says the land has been under threat of potential subdivision and development.
"There is an alternative where the parcel could have been carved up into several lots," he says, "and this is going to keep it as a 5,700-acre working forest. And you and I will be able to fish that corridor, we'll be able to hike it and ride our ATV's and/or snowmobiles."
Under provisions of the $1.6 million easement agreement, Linkletter Timberlands will continue to own and manage the property, but the acreage can never be subdivided or developed.
Linkletter uses wood from the parcel to help supply its pellet mill and to provide fiber for other mills in Franklin County.
