Fryeburg Town Forest Forever Conserved
Upper Saco Valley Land Trust (USVLT) is excited to announce the finalizing of a conservation agreement with the Town of Fryeburg on its 62.9-acre town forest. The forest is located just upstream of the Town’s popular campground and put-in at Canal Bridge on Route 5. “This agreement will help protect the wildlife, old growth forests, and carbon-capture capabilities of the land. This property is very special to both townspeople and visitors, and I am very happy it will be preserved forever” says Nels Liljedahl of the Fryeburg Conservation Committee.
For over 9,000 years since the glaciers melted and the land became habitable, the area inside the Great Bend of the Saco was the home of the Pequawket tribe of the Abenaki people. The Saco River was key to their way of life, providing fishing, fertile floodplains for agriculture, and an important transportation corridor. After Lovewell’s Fight in 1725, the local Pequawkets fled to Canada, and European settlement followed, especially when Colonel Joseph Frye set up his township here in the 1760s. The Colonel built his house on a prominent hill just south of the present Town Forest, where his central village was envisioned, instead gradually forsaken for the more favorable and current village site three miles to the south. The Saco’s meandering course through broad floodplains was permanently diverted when a canal was ambitiously built through the north flank of Frye’s hill in the 1810s, thus easing the annual flooding which so plagued North Fryeburg’s farmers. In 1864, the Town purchased the 230-acre Blanchard Farm along the west bank of the new river either side of Canal Bridge, establishing it as a “poor farm.” After farming to benefit the poor was curtailed in the late 1800s/early 1900s, the land was once again claimed by forest, though the remnants of its history can still be seen in the old stone walls scattered throughout the property.
“We are so excited to work with the Town of Fryeburg to preserve this great site for future generations. The location, historical relevance, and natural significance makes this a great asset for our region,” shared USVLT Executive Director, Eric White. The Fryeburg Town Forest holds important conservation values, including 59 acres of softwood, hardwood, and mixed forests, as well as 4 acres of fields. Uncommon Silver Maple Floodplain Forests grow beneath a steep bank along its 1,110 ft. of river frontage, a habitat which helps to mitigate severe flooding. An open-sided timber frame pavilion was recently built to support outdoor learning opportunities, and which visitors can access via the one-mile trail looping around the property.
