A new land trust opens 66 acres along Belfast’s Little River to the public
A Maine-based organization called Land in Common has led the creation of the Little River Community Land Trust. The trust will hold a grand opening celebration at the site on Sunday, August 25, and is part of a larger effort to make the land more accessible to communities that have historically had a harder time accessing it, including people of color and members of the Wabanaki Nations.
The site, which was previously private property, will have publicly accessible trails and river access. The site is the site of a former home, and organizers plan to host various types of community events indoors and outdoors. They also plan to make the crops growing on the site available to Wabanaki communities for sustainable harvesting.
“A lot of conservation areas are about separating humans from nature,” said one of the organizers, Ethan Hughes. “We have this protected land: you can walk in it, and we’re part of healing and regenerative agriculture and all these traditional and now new ways of interacting with nature … that are based on a lot of indigenous knowledge.”
Land in Common’s leadership includes people from diverse ethnic and indigenous backgrounds, including Autumn Jade Fitch, a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, who said the principle of sharing will greatly influence the land trust’s activities.
“It is important that we also share knowledge and resources,” Fitch said.
Sunday’s opening ceremony will be from 2 to 6 p.m. and will include music, food, tea, walking the trails, fiber spinning demonstrations and bike repairs. Organizers will also discuss their plans for the site and gather other people’s ideas. The land trust is located at 3 Adney Pl., off Edgecomb Road.
