Committee recommends council rename recreation sites as ‘Windham Community Forest’

By Ed Pierce

The steering committee overseeing the East Windham Conservation Area and Lowell Preserve has recommended to the Windham Town Council that the sites be renamed as the Windham Community Forest.

Two conserved outdoor recreation properties in Windham,
including the East Windham Conservation Area and
Lowell Preserve, are expected to be renamed as the
Windham Community Forest by the Windham Town
Council during a meeting on Sept. 22.
COURTESY PHOTO
   

In January, town councilors established the East Windham Steering Committee to guide the process of creating a vision and management plan for the combined parcels of the East Windham Conservation Area (700 acres) and the Lowell Preserve (300 acres) and to provide ongoing oversight of the maintenance of operation of the sites. One of the tasks of the committee was to “seek public input and recommend a new name that unifies the shared character and use of property” which is jointly managed by the Town of Windham and Presumpscot Regional Land Trust.

The East Windham Conservation Area opened to the public in 2024, and Lowell Preserve opened in 2000. Committee members brainstormed potential names and included them in a FlashVote survey for Windham residents in August with Windham Community Forest receiving the most votes.

The preserved site is part of a 2,000-acre conservation corridor and larger than any state park in Southern Maine. A connecting 30-mile trail network links the Windham outdoor recreational sites with the North Falmouth Community Forest and Blackstrap Hill Preserve owned and maintained by Falmouth Land Trust. It is also the largest wildlife habitat, clean water, and recreational trail corridor in Greater Portland.

The Windham Town Council is expected to approve the new Windham Community Forest name for the sites during its meeting on Sept. 22.

East Windham Conservation Area

With nearly 10 miles of multi-use trails and hilly and forested terrain, the East Windham Conservation Area is a mix of hardwood trees and offers scenic views of the White Mountains and Little Duck Pond with three main trails running throughout the property.

Funding to create the area was about $3.7 million and included a $1 million grant from the Land for Maine’s Future initiative. In 2021, voters from Windham approved a $1.8 million conservation bond using open space impact fees and another $400,000 raised privately from public donations. A Land and Water Conservation Fund federal grant for $500,000 was obtained to pay for the infrastructure improvements at the site.

In June 2022, Windham residents voted during the Annual Town Meeting to allow the town to enter a partnership with Presumpscot Regional Land Trust to purchase and conserve 661 acres near Little Duck Pond in East Windham. The project acquired the forested acreage for recreational opportunities in Windham while also adding 1,545 feet of undeveloped water frontage on Little Duck Pond, the 150-acre Deer Wintering Area for hunting, and Atherton Hill.

The site includes Atherton Hill, which at nearly 600 feet, is the largest hill in Windham. It also features 2,000 feet of frontage along Little Duck Pond and 1,500 feet of pristine headwater streams that lead to Forest Lake, Highland Lake, and onto the Presumpscot River and an excellent wild brook trout habitat. Lowell Preserve, a 300-acre site owned by the town and for which the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust holds a conservation easement, is adjacent and includes an additional five miles of multi-use trails. The area offers programming opportunities for school and afterschool groups and creates an accessible one-mile trail for people of all ages to walk, push a stroller, and bike to visit Little Duck Pond.

Lowell Preserve

With eight miles of trails, ranging from moderate to difficult, through scenic forest, Lowell Preserve offers 308 acres to explore with interesting forest views, topography, and geology. The views change with the seasons as some areas are dominated by evergreen hemlock while beech, maple, or oak are more prevalent in others. There are both permanent and intermittent streams within the preserve that run in the valleys of the gradual hills. Unlike many other preserves, rocks are plentiful ranging from exposed ledges to smaller exposed stones to large glacial boulders in interesting granite formations near the trails.

It is a diverse network that accommodates multiple outdoor recreational activities, from hiking and mountain biking to horseback riding and use by ATVs.

The McIntosh Brook runs through the preserve and there are many areas with gradual inclines. <