LLCT to unveil new town trail guide
By Cheryl Lecesse/ Staff Writer
Thursday, November 17, 2005
When a new trail map was published two years ago, residents started questioning whether a new trail guide would follow.
But when copies of the sold-out 1992 "A Guide to Conservation Land in Lincoln" began to surface on eBay, it became obvious it was time for the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust to publish a second edition.
On Saturday, Nov. 19, the LLCT will unveil the comprehensive trail guide's second edition during a reception at the library. Trail guides will be available for purchase at Saturday's reception, which will also include a short program that shares some of the book's features.
"I feel this is an extremely important part of the Land Trust's mission: To get Lincoln residents to know the land, and to really appreciate what we have saved the town," said Gwyn Loud, LLCT member and Trail Guide Committee chairman, about the book.
The new guide will feature 24 chapters on various conservation properties. Each chapter includes a map, parking suggestions and links to other trails, as well as the land's history and information about its acquisition.
The LLCT had 2,000 copies of the guide printed. After the reception the guide will be for sale at the Library, Town Offices, Old Town Hall Exchange, Something Special, the Cambridge Trust and the Drumlin Farm gift shop.
Loud said those who pick up a new trail guide will see great similarity on the way it looks.
"We think it was such a successful format," Loud said.
Residents appreciated that the guide was pocket-sized and had very clear maps for each parcel, she said. Each chapter also has clear sections about the land's natural history and acquisition.
"All the chapters have been updated to reflect changes in the saved land," Loud said. "A lot of parcels have had new pieces attached to them. Also there have been changes in trails."
To make sure the guide was as accurate as possible, Loud said the LLCT garnered the help of residents who frequently walked the trails.
"So many people in town worked on this," Loud said. "We invited generally more than one person to review the original chapter from the first edition and walk the trails."
Those who walked each trail would send in any changes they found to the LLCT.
"We really made quite a lot of changes in the intermitting years to the trail system," Loud said.
Margaret Flint, who drew the maps in the first edition, updated them for the second printing. David Ford, a well-known book designer, also offered his expertise for the book's production. Also included in the new guide is an essay on the changes of flora and fauna in Lincoln by Sue Klem, as well as an updated bird sightings list.
The entire process has taken about two years to complete, Loud said.
The second edition features a new preface, reflecting changes in the growth of conservation land and land preservation since 1992. Dwight Gertz, who wrote the preface to the new guide with Ginny Welles, said three issues regarding land use and protection in Lincoln over the past 15 years have really come to the surface.
"One of the issues is the price of land and the value of real estate," said Gertz.
Gertz said it has become increasingly more difficult for the community to decide whether to spend taxpayer dollars or donated funds to buy land for open space, putting pressure on organizations such as the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust as they choice how to best preserve Lincoln's land.
It has also become apparent that a lot of the community's character will be determined by how people manage the land they own, Gertz said. If the town has an overarching goal to maintain its rural character and environment, then the town has to worry about whether residents are using chemicals on their property, introducing invasive species and fencing themselves off from their neighbors.
Gertz said one of the characteristics many people love about Lincoln is the fact that they can stand in an open field or in the woods, and see miles upon miles away.
"What people do on the sort of built 50 percent of the town may turn out to be just as important," Gertz said.
In addition, because Lincoln has taken the initiative to preserve so much open space, and thus its rural character, there is a demand to live here.
"What we have here is extremely desirable and in short supply and therefore extremely expensive," Gertz said.
But this high demand could strike a blow in the long-run economic diversity of the town, and raises the question of whether Lincoln's innovation in its land preservation has made the town a community for the wealthy.
Gertz said there are many conversations under way whose topics are how to address these three issues.
"There is a growing voice in the community for affordable housing," Gertz said.
In the neighborhood meetings the LLCT holds, the issue of what people do on their own lands is also becoming increasingly important, he said.
"This brings on a pretty significant contradiction between private property rights and the issue of actions on private property that diminish the experience for everyone in the community living around," he said. "That's a tough conflict."
But Gertz said there is a generation of land owners in Lincoln strongly committed to environmentalism, who actively seek out how they can legally limit the amount of growth that can occur on the property once they're gone.
The decreasing availability of playing fields in town is another issue community groups will have to tackle, Gertz said.
"Those issues will make the choices a lot more sensitive than they might have been in the last few years," he said.
In light of these ongoing land preservation issues, both Loud and Gertz said they hope the new guide encourages its readers to walk Lincoln's trails.
"It's extraordinary how much land we have preserved," Loud said. "To understand how precious it is you need to get out and explore the trails."
The reception will take place from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Lincoln Public Library. | | |
