Word spreads fast in small towns, and old connections have a neat way of enduring. Take Dick Randall and Gene Stuart, two longtime Standish residents and landowners with one thing in common: protecting their properties from development.

Dick Randall is getting closer to safeguarding his apple orchard and surrounding acreage thanks to the Land for Maine’s Future Bond, which passed last November with 60 percent of the vote.

Additional Photos

Standish landowners Gene Stuart, left, and Dick Randall used the same local land trust to protect their land. Don Perkins photo

Last October, this column told of the partnership between Presumpscot Regional Land Trust and Randall Orchards. The scope of this conservation project is large for southern Maine. Randall Orchards comprises 100 acres with 400 acres of attached forestland.

Presumpscot Regional Land Trust says the conservation effort will provide a long-term benefit for Maine residents by protecting a working farm, its prime soils, wildlife habitat, scenic views, public access, critical woodlands and open space.

A collaboration

Gene Stuart protected his 56 acres from development with Presumpscot Regional Land Trust a decade ago and recently agreed to contribute to the Randall campaign. The two men grew up within a few years of each other and went to the same high school. Now, some 60 years later and living on opposite ends of town, they’re teaming up to save some of the original rural character in the hometown they so fondly remember.

“I want to see that conservation deal happen,” Stuart said. “When I heard of the potential of the easement – 500 acres – I didn’t hesitate. I would have given more if I could have. Dick’s older brother John and I were pretty good friends. We were on the track team together.”

In recent years, Randall has held alumni gatherings for Standish High School students at his orchard. Two years ago at one of these get-togethers, Stuart heard Randall wanted to protect his land. Since Stuart had already been through the process, he wrote a letter urging Randall to explore options with Presumpscot Regional Land Trust.

Seeing fields vanish

Randall has seen a lot of southern Maine turn into cul-de-sacs and strip malls. He used to supplement the farm income by doing aerial advertising – pulling banners up and down the coast. He’s flown all over the area in small planes and has had a bird’s eye view of southern Maine sprawl.

Farmers remember a different time and a different landscape. Randall knows why Route 25 is mostly cleared land in Westbrook and Gorham. He remembers when it was fields with big barns left from when his father had a milk, butter and egg route in Portland.

“At the turn-of-the-century before the automobile, Portland required many horses to move people and supplies,” Randall said. “They had livery stables. That area was hayed and it got stored in huge barns. Hay was taken into Portland almost on a daily basis.”

The crossroads at Gorham Village was always fairly built-up with shops and side streets, but the picturesque hayfields continued along Route 25 to Standish.

“As you came up to Standish, most of it was all farmland,” recalls Randall. “Eighty-percent of the people derived their living from agriculture.”

Development has come a little too close for comfort for Randall. A grocery store and strip mall are now right next to his property.

Forging ahead

Because of the size of Randall’s holdings, a conservation easement will be more complicated than it was for Stuart. The effort is the biggest parcel Presumpscot Regional Land Trust has yet undertaken.

The easement will become part of Randall’s deed, although he is not selling the land. Presumpscot Regional Land Trust has sought grants and help from the community to pay for land surveys, environmental assessments and associated legal costs.

But the stars appear to be aligning. The Davis Conservation Fund recently awarded a $10,000 grant. Maine Farmland Trust gave $5,000 and another $5,000 (including Stuart’s gift) came from community members.

“We’ve made great progress with the fund-raising and individuals in the community have been very forthcoming,” said Will Plumley, trust co-chairman of the Randall Orchard Campaign Steering Committee. “It’s put us much closer to our goal, but we still have $10,000 to go to reach our target for managing the transactional costs.”

In the meantime the project is currently ranked fourth out of 11 proposals in front of those at Land for Maine’s Future in Augusta. Dick Randall is cautiously optimistic.

“I’m just trying to do the right thing,” he said.

If you’d like to send a tax-deductible donation, contact Plumley at 595-2134 or w.plumley@roadrunner.com.

Don Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Raymond. He can be reached at: presswriter@gmail.com

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