The Maine Coast Heritage Trust will hold a public meeting in Phippsburg on Feb. 23 to gather input on the management of Malaga Island.

“If anyone has any constructive feedback, we’d love to hear it,” said Caitlin Gerber, regional steward of Maine Coast Heritage Trust.

The island was home to a small, mixed-race community from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. In 1912, the community was forcefully evicted due to racial prejudices, with many families losing their homes and belongings in the process. An official statement of regret was issued by the Maine Legislature nearly a century later in 2010.

The Maine Coast Heritage Trust first gained ownership of Malaga Island in 2001, and has held it as a public preservation since then. The 41-acre island lies off of the town of Phippsburg in Casco Bay. The island is uninhabited, though some lobstermen use the site to store their traps and gear. A beach allows public access to the island, and Maine Coast Heritage Trust maintains a loop trail around the island.

“This year we had 250 people sign in, and we figure that’s maybe around 10 to 20 percent of the number of actual visitors,” said Gerber.

The organization is updating its management plan for the island, and they’re hoping to gather public input on any possible changes. The last management plan was completed in 2009.

“We update our management plans periodically, and every time we do that we try to check in with the public because their input plays a big role in those updates and any changes we do make,” said Gerber. “From our point of view, it seems that everything is going well on Malaga so far and we don’t anticipate any big changes at all.”

Phippsburg meeting

“We’re just looking for constructive feedback on the trails, the signs, any issues that people have that we don’t know about. We also ask for volunteer help at these kind of meetings,” said Gerber. “We try to get out to the preserves as often as we can, but we rely on volunteers quite a bit to help us keep the preserves looking well and taken care of.”

The meeting will be held at Phippsburg Town Hall at 6 p.m.

nstrout@timesrecord.com

• MALAGA ISLAND was home to a small, mixed-race community from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. In 1912, the community was forcefully evicted due to racial prejudices, with many families losing their homes and belongings in the process. An official statement of regret was issued by the Maine Legislature nearly a century later in 2010.

The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu