Scarborough Town Council unanimously approved the resolution in support of the 30×30 campaign to conserve and protect at least 30 percent of the town’s land and water by 2030.  

The action was recommended by the town’s Conservation Commission as part of a workshop with the town council. The commission worked on the resolution with councilors Karin Shupe and Jean-Marie Caterina. The resolution comes as part of the council’s goal this year to conserve more land and better involve sustainability and conservation principles into planning processes. 

“I think this is a great resolution. I think this also reflects very well on our town to say that we take conservation seriously and that we’re willing to give our efforts to it,” said Shupe. “We realize it’s a bold goal, but I think it’s something and we have a lot of residents who want to work to this goal. And part of this resolution is the proposal of an Ad Hoc Open Space Committee to further reach the 30×30 goal.” 

Currently, Scarborough has about 17 percent of its land conserved. The resolution calls for at least 13 percent more conserved by 2030. The council plans to form an Ad Hoc Open Space Committee this autumn that will involve members representing related groups and committees within Scarborough. 

“I’m a firm believer that when you set out on a car trip and you don’t have a map you’re gonna end up anywhere,” said Caterina. “So when you set a goal, even though it’s an ambitious goal like this, aspirational in many ways, it at least gives you something to aim for as a council.” 

The council unanimously approved the resolution after a brief discussion. 

“I think it’s important that we do this,” said Jon Anderson, council chair. “I think we can make as much progress to this as we can and if we hit the exact number by 2030, amazing, but if we can make significant progress in closing the gap we have, I think that’s also great. But we won’t know until we try and I think this is a first step to get some energy behind this and move it forward. So I’m excited to support it tonight.” 

The Scarborough Conservation Commission works with the town to protect Scarborough’s natural resources and spread awareness. Conservation commissions exist in a number of municipalities, but they do not all do the same thing. Rather, they create goals for the priorities for each town. 

“For the last couple of years, we have been focusing on three goals,” said Randi Hogan, chair of the Scarborough Conservation Commission. 

One goal is conserving land and increasing awareness and interest to that end. The 30×30 initiative is one piece of that. 

The second goal is about building resiliency to climate change and sea level rise. For example, the commission has worked on addressing the issue of where the marsh floods Route 1 during major weather events. 

The third goal is about engaging citizens and contributing to good stewardship of the town’s natural resources. The commission has an active education subcommittee that is organizing workshops and sessions about Scarborough’s lands and natural resources, and how citizens can get involved. 

“And so each of those goals has a subcommittee, so we have active work in between our monthly meetings,” Hogan said. “And it’s all to the purpose of protecting natural areas, conserving land, preparing for sea level rise, protecting our farms and open space, and listening to what residents have to say and educating the public in what opportunities they have to participate in conserving our resources here in Scarborough.” 

The Conservation Commission is also focused on five key principles on best practices for conservation as land development is planned. 

“We want to see these five conservation principles taken into consideration and be part of the design process when people have proposals about how to use land,” Hogan said. “Right now, we have site plan reviews, we have proposals that come to the planning department and then are heard by the planning board. And the Conservation Commission would like for the entire process to include a review of how these plans take into consideration the conservation principles.

“Through thoughtful planning and design, every land development project holds the potential to protect, conserve, restore, and sustain a healthy environment and ecosystem in Scarborough.”

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