correct, and if there are any othercorrections or additions you wouldlike to make. Errors creep in, in spiteof our best efforts.

Our members are the heart of ourorganization and we want tocommunicate with you in the way youwould most prefer.

Please call the Bangor Land Trustoffice, at 942-1010, or e-mailinfo@bangorlandtrust.org

Many cities around the worldhave a dedicated fleet of bicycle-riding messengers who fly by the carsand trucks stalled in traffic jams todeliver crucial documents in a timelyfashion. There is camaraderie amongthese riders as well as competition tomake sure that the best service isdelivered to their waiting customers.

On September 13th Bangor LandTrust will be sending off a couple ofhundred bike messengers carryingvery important information.

Their message will not be thelatest financial transaction or legaldocument but rather the enthusiasticsupport of friends of the natural worldin the Bangor area. These riders willbe carrying the message that BangorLand Trust has preserved hundreds ofacres in the Bangor area. In addition,it has worked with Orono Land Trustto preserve thousands of acres inPenobscot County. These riders willhave raised money to support theongoing stewardship and educationalprograms of the Land Trust whileenjoying the companionship of fellowcyclists.

As the powerful Penobscot Riverflows silently to the sea it mirrors thenoiseless power of the bicyclists as

they carry our message of connection tothe natural world and the support of ourcommunity.

Last year a number of riders toldus they enjoyed the 28-mile“Greenprint” loop but wantedsomething more ambitious as well.

This year we have added a 76-mileloop through Howland. Both loops willbe well-marked and supported with reststops and sag wagon patrols.

Here are some ways to increase thepleasure of this year’s ride:

Take several small preparatoryrides to get in shape and make sure yourequipment works well.

Wear clothing that is brightlycolored and expresses your spirit.

Get your sponsors to raiseadditional support and receive raffletickets to win prizes donated by areamerchants. Each additional $25raised gets the rider an additionalraffle ticket. See the back cover for alist of prizes.

Better yet, join with friends andco-workers and enter as a team. It’smore fun in a group!

You can register by calling theBLT office at 942-1010, picking up abrochure and entry form at bike andsporting goods stores around town, oronline throughwww.bangorlandtrust.org.

We extend our warm and heartythanks to our major sponsors,BANGOR HYDRO and MAINEDISTRIBUTORS.

Many other area businesses havegiven money, prizes, and volunteertime. Please look inside for our thankyou list and remember to supportthese folks with your business.

Please join us! The 28-mile looparound the “Greenprint”towns and 76-mile loop throughHowland promise to be exceptionaland enjoyable opportunities to supportFrogs, Logs, and Bogs!

Frogs, Logs, and Bogs Road Ride Adds New Loop and Carries a Message

IN THIS ISSUE:

President's Message 2

Frogs, Logs, and Bogs

Sponsors 3

Annual Meeting Program 4

Nature Notes 4

Greenprint Maps & Report 5

Volunteers Needed 5

New Office Manager 5

Frogs, Logs, and Bogs Prizes 6

Thanks to a grant from the DavisConservation Foundation, we nowhave a new database to help us keeptrack of members, donors, andvolunteers. Board member BillPhillips courageously tackled thetechnological challenges oftransferring all our membershipinformation into the new Giftworksdatabase.

Now is a good time to let us knowif we have your name and address

Bangor Land TrustNewsletter

Our New Database

Bangor Land TrustNewsletter

Summer 2009Photo by Tom Sawyer.

Photo by Tom Sawyer.

Bangor Land TrustBoard of Directors

2 Bangor Land Trust Newsletter, Summer 2009

A Message from our President: The Accreditation Challenge

Lucy QuimbyPresident

William PhillipsVice President

James HindsTreasurer

Paul PasquineSecretary

Brian AhernRichard AndrenKathy BillingsHope BrogunierFred CostlowJames ElmoreWilliam GlanzKarla GustafsonCaroline NobletDavid Thompson

At our July meeting Bangor Land Trustboard members unanimously voted to seekaccreditation from the national Land TrustAlliance. This is projected to be a 3-yearprocess requiring significant organizationalwork. What is this all about and whywould we undertake such a project?

Land trusts across the nation protect anextremely valuable resource—our naturalareas—with the obligation to do so in per-petuity. We benefit from the support ofIRS and other governmental regulationsthat create federal, state, and local taxbenefits. In 2003, serious questions raisedby The Washington Post about tax deduc-tions claimed on transactions with The Na-ture Conservancy prompted Senate investi-gation into land trust practices and thethreat of close Internal Revenue Serviceoversight. In response, the Land Trust Al-liance persuaded Congress to give the landtrust community the opportunity to regu-late itself through an accreditation pro-gram.

In 2004 the Land Trust Alliance up-dated its Land Trust Standards and Prac-tices, a 2-volume set of “guidelines for theresponsible operation of a land trust, whichis run legally, ethically and in the publicinterest and conducts a sound program ofland transactions and stewardship.” By2006 the independent Land Trust Accredi-tation Commission had incorporated.Since the fall of 2008, a total of 78 landtrusts nationwide have passed the extensivescrutiny of the Accreditation Commissionand won accreditation.

After careful deliberation the BangorLand Trust board based its decision on thefollowing considerations:

All of the things we have to do to be-come eligible for accreditation are

things we should be doing anyway.There are 12 LTA Standards, compris-ing 88 practices, that define the criteriafor a sound conservation program.These include standards for record-keeping, financial transactions, stew-ardship, land and easement acquisition,and others. Preparing for accreditationwill help us have a more sound, effi-ciently run organization.

Accreditation will demonstrate to ourcommunity that our organization hasmet national standards for operation.This is especially important given thesize of the resources entrusted to us.

As more land trusts become accredited,un-accredited land trusts are likely tobe at a disadvantage in applying forgrants and perhaps in other ways aswell.

This year and next, there are grantmoneys available to help small landtrusts such as ours with the accredita-tion process.

Further information about the LandTrust Alliance and the accreditation proc-ess can be found at landtrustalliance.organd landtrustaccreditation.org.

Please Join Us!

If you received this newsletter, but you aren’t a member of Bangor Land Trust,please join us by filling out the enclosed envelope. As you can read in this newsletter,we have a lot to offer you and the entire community, in terms of maintaining the healthof our environment, learning, and just plain fun.

If you’re already a member, thank you for your support. After you’ve read thenewsletter, please share it with a friend, and encourage her or him to become a memberby filling out the enclosed envelope.

We hope to see you soon!

Would you like to receivemonthly reminders ofupcoming events and

be the first to know aboutBLT news and happenings?

Sign up now for our emaillisting by sending an email toinfo@bangorlandtrust.org.

Bangor Land Trust Newsletter, Summer 2009 3

Thank You to our Frogs, Logs, and Bogs Corporate Sponsors!

Conservator $5,000-$9,999

Bangor Hydro Electric Company Maine Distributors

Protector $2,500-$4,999

Dynegy – Casco Bay Energy Loiselle, Goodwin, and Hinds

Land Steward $1,000-$2,499

Bangor Daily News Bangor Letter ShopBoeing Corp. Bonney PersonnelDarlings Merrill BankSki Rack Sports

Guardian $500-$999

Ames A/E Beal CollegeCapital Ambulance Furbush-Roberts Printing Co., Inc.Husson University Nickerson & O’Day Inc.Quirk Subaru WBRC Architects/Engineers

Keeper $250-$499

Advertising Specialists of Maine City of BangorMiller Drug Northeast CardiologySea Dog Brewing Company

Supporter up to $249

Bangor Nature Club Edwards, Faust & SmithEverlasting Farm Full Circle Acupuncture HealthcareOrrington Garden Club Paul Bunyan Snowmobile ClubThe GE Foundation Woodard & Curran

There is still timeto sponsor the

2009 Frogs, Logs,and Bogs Road Ride.

A complete list of sponsors willappear in our next newsletter.

Photo by Tom Sawyer.

Bangor Land Trust Annual Meeting Program: Invasive Species

haul. Many are legumes which areable with the help of bacteria to adduseful nitrogen to the soil.Clover species fill this bill. Theancient and honorable horsetails(Equisetum sps) also can thrive hereby maintaining an extensiveunderground root and stem system .Growing fast and flowering quicklyare great advantages to life on theedge of the fast lane.

All these plants along theroadside hold the soil in place,preventing erosion and helping theroad maintain its integrity - but rootsystems and stems may takeadvantage of faulty engineering andconstruction and help turn the roadback to a more natural ecosystem.These tenacious species have beenaround much longer than roads andpatiently await their turn.

As a bicyclist and a naturalist,I have had a great deal of experiencewith roadside ecology. Singing birdspierce through some of the roadnoise telling me who is about -defending territory, calling to youngor keeping in contact with flockmembers. Even when the songcannot be distinguished as I peddleby, the symphony is soothing.

Other animals that areencountered on the road-side showan unmistakable dorsal-ventralflattening. This characteristic iscommon in skunks, raccoons,beaver and porcupines who havemade poor pedestrian decisions.Frogs and snakes also share thedistinction of having dubiousjudgment.

There are some organisms that Icannot see from the roadside but areevident by their odor. Even up very

4 Bangor Land Trust Newsletter, Summer2009

Nature Notes “Ecology for Bikers” by Dick Andren

close you cannot see them butolfactory senses tell you they arequickly and efficiently recyclingother organisms. Their unmistakable“fragrance” advertises that nature’srecyclers are on the job. Thanks!

On less traveled country roads Ioccasionally interrupt a snakesunning itself on the dark pavement,raising its body temperature and thusits speed so that it can hunt moreefficiently.

But it is all the greenery thatreally draws attention. Closest to theroadside are the hardiest plants - thepioneer species that are seeing justhow close they can come to the roadand still survive. They can reproducequickly (their main job) andwithstand the occasional tire, thepollution, the temperature extremes,and scarce nutrients. Most areperennials - in the game for the long

The topic for Bangor LandTrust’s Annual Meeting, October 28,2009, will be “Invasive Species –What Are They and What Can WeDo about Them?” Our shrinkingplanet has in many ways become ourgarden. We need to think about howwe want to manage it - - not just onBangor Land Trust preserves, but as alarger community as well.

Our world is undergoing an ac-celerated process of habitat re-arrangement as a result of three typesof human activity. First, humans arechanging the landscape by clearing(or sometimes planting) forests, creat-ing farms and agricultural fields, andlaying down pavement and buildings.Second, humans are traveling theglobe and, purposely or not, trans-porting plants and animals to newplaces. And finally, scientists predictthat climate change will result inhabitat changes as areas become hot-ter, or wetter, or drier.

Land trusts are well equipped topreserve undeveloped land wherenature can take its course – but what

if nature’s course causes harm to localhabitat? Those lovely-looking spikesof magenta flowers along the roadsideare purple loosestrife, a very aggressiveforeign invader that takes over wet-

lands, choking out other vegetation andspoiling the nesting habitat for rails,sedge wrens, and other marsh birds.Common buckthorn is another aggres-sive invader that produces berries thatbirds like to eat to increase their fatstores for their long migrations. Theproblem is, Common buckthorn berriesare less nutritious than those of indige-

nous shrubs, and they give the poorbirds diarrhea.

We have problems with invasiveanimals as well. The hemlock woollyadelgid, emerald ash borer, and Asianlonghorned beetle live too close to usfor comfort and could have a devas-tating effect on our forests.These are problems not just on ourpreserves, but over the regional land-scape as well.

Bangor Land Trust and MaineAudubon representatives on Bangor’sMarsh/Mall Commission contributeda piece of the solution by helping tocraft a City Ordinance, later adoptedby the City Council, that requires siteplans for new construction to avoidplants that are listed as invasive bythe Department of Conservation.

What can we, as homeowners,landowners, and gardeners, do?What is Bangor Land Trust going todo about our preserves? Should webe taking action as a city?

Come to our Annual Meeting tolearn about the latest thinking on thistopic.

SAVE THE DATE!

Bangor Land TrustAnnual Meeting

Wednesday, October 28, 20097 p.m.

WBRC Architects & EngineersConference Center

Volunteers NeededFor Trail Work onNortheast Penjajawoc

Our wet and muddy trails onNortheast Penjajawoc Preserve at theend of the Kittredge Road will befixed this fall, weather permitting.Trail crews from the MaineConservation Corps, funded bygrants from Maine RecreationalTrails, the Land for Maine’s FutureFund, and Bangor Land Trust’sgenerous members, will lead thework.

The 6-person crew will work for5 weeks, beginning September 15.They will use a combination ofditching, water bars, and bogbridging to make trails that will be apleasure to use and won’t damagethe environment.

The amount of work to be done ishuge. This is a wonderful volunteeropportunity to get some healthyexercise, help your community, anddevelop your trail-building skills.Call or e-mail the Bangor Land TrustOffice at 942-1010 orinfo@bangorlandtrust.org, and let usknow when you’d like to pitch inand help.

The long-awaited Trust forPublic Land Penobscot CommunityGreenprint is now available on line.Go to bangorlandtrust.org for thelink. There’s a report you candownload in pdf and an interactivemap that you can look at layer bylayer if you have a fast connection.

The Trust for Public Land sur-vey of area citizens in 2008 foundthat a great majority are happy withwhere they live and enjoy engagingin outdoor activities close to home.Access to nature and working land-scapes are an important part of thequality of life for local residents.

Without effective land use plan-ning, we could lose all that. Thepurpose of the Greenprint is to map,on a regional basis, the areas thatour communities indicate should behigh priority for conservation and,conversely, the areas that are themost suitable for development.

Mapping is an essential tool,but it’s only part of the solution.Greenprint participants also saw theneed for continued regional plan-ning around land use, economic

Bangor Land Trust Newsletter, Summer 2009 5

development, transportation, andother issues. They asked for moredialogue among various recrea-tional groups and landowners andmore active, responsible communitystewardship of land that is open topublic use. They also wanted moremaps and trail markers. Andfinally, participants wanted ourcommunities to support local foodproduction.

This ambitious and forward-thinking agenda grew from seedsplanted at the 2006 Bangor LandTrust Annual Meeting, nurtured bythe work of Orono, Brewer, andHolden Land Trusts, and LandmarkHeritage Trust. Our thanks go tothe managers of the 12 Greenprintmunicipalities who carried the proc-ess forward, and especially to theTrust for Public Land who providedthe financing and expertise thatmade this plan possible.

The next chapter is ours towrite. What regional landscape dowe want for our future? Stay tunedfor opportunities for participation.

Welcome Nick Stahl, Bangor Land Trust’s New Office Manager

When you call the Bangor LandTrust office, the friendly baritoneanswering the phone is most likely tobe Nick Stahl, Bangor Land Trust’snew Office Manager.

Nick grew up in the Brunswickarea and went into the Army aftergraduating from BrunswickHigh. He served as a NationalGuard medic in Baghdad and post-Katrina New Orleans. He attendedcollege in Louisiana before deciding

that Maine really is the best place tolive. He moved to Bangor and cur-rently serves as a National Guardmedic locally and is a member of theCapital Ambulance crew.

In his free time, Nick enjoys avariety of outdoor recreationalactivities. He’s usually in the BLToffice three days a week, so if youdon’t find him in, leave a message orsend an e-mail.

Penobscot Valley Community Greenprint Mapsand Report Available

“ConservingBangor’sNaturalHeritage”

Ourmissionistoprotectinperpetuityforpublicbenefitsignificantlandsandwatersandtheirnatural,agricultural,scenic,andtraditionalvaluesandcharacteristics;promotegeneralandscientificunderstandingoftheregion’snaturalresourcesandtheneedfortheirpreservation;collaboratewithorganizationshavingrelatedmissions.

NonprofitOrg.USPOSTAGE

PAIDPermit#76

Bangor,ME

P.O.Box288Bangor,ME04402-0288

Newsletter printed on recycled paper and created by Trish Hansen, volunteer.Printing generously donated by Furbush-Roberts Printing Company.

Frogs, Logs, and Bogs Road Ride Prizes

A Cannondale F9 with CO2 Frame Technology Bikefrom Ski Rack Sports (color and size of winner’s choice)

A month’s FREE membership toGold's Gym to ALL participants

A year’s free membership at Gold's Gym in Bangor

Four $25 gift certificates to Miguel’s Restaurant in Bangor

Two $25 gift certificates toRose’s Bike Shop in Orono

A Bike Computer from Rose’s Bike Shop in Orono

A gift certificate from the Penobscot Valley Country Club for 18 hole green feesw/ carts for two people

FREE tuition for one course at Beal College

Four $25 Gift certificates worth $100 from Dysarts Restaurant

One cord of firewood from Dysarts

Lithium Ion Skill Screwdriver from Advantage Gasses and Tools

Every $25 raised insponsorships gets araffle ticket for a

generous prize from oneof our ride sponsors.

The raffle drawing willbe held at noon at the post-ride

celebration.