TIMES RECORD • December 25, 2023
A set of 40 stairs carved into a steep embankment along the Cathance River will now be completed thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Maine Land Trust Grant Program. The steps are a key connecting piece of a project that the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust began five years ago: rerouting a trail that wends along the river to avoid a new expansion to the adjacent Highland Green retirement community. The BTLT owns or holds easements on 3,200 acres spread across Brunswick, Topsham and Bowdoin. Two hundred thirty-one of those are along the Cathance River, a waterway that’s a popular destination for hikers, birdwatchers and whitewater paddlers. Since 2004, L.L. Bean has given over $400,000 to nearly 60 local land trusts through the program.