The Gray Community Endowment (GCE) is pleased to announce that it has negotiated an agreement with Hancock Land Co. to purchase 29 acres that are critical to the Libby Hill Trail
system. This agreement, which we have trying for eight years to secure, allows us to protect
the two main entrances to the trail system, located just behind the G-NG Middle
School on Libby Hill Road. Added to the land GCE and the town of Gray already
own on Libby Hill, the Hancock purchase creates a 145 acre parcel that has
7.5 miles of beautifully designed and maintained trails. These are
multi-use trails that are free and open to the public for hiking, running,
snowshoeing, skiing, mountain biking, horseback riding, and dog walking.
The middle and high school Nordic ski and cross-country ski teams practice
and compete on Libby Hill, and a separate set of trails is available for
motorized use. This is a priceless resource that all Gray residents will
enjoy for generations to come. We will need to mount an intensive local fundraising effort to cover the $160,000 purchase price (established by a fair market appraisal completed in March.) GCE submitted a proposal on April 1 to the Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) program which, if successful, could raise up to two-thirds of the purchase price. We will not know the outcome of that competitive grant process until July, however. Even if we are fortunate enough to receive a grant from LMF we still need to raise the local match. You can help by encouraging the Gray town council to include $25,000 towards the purchase price in this year’s budget; these funds would be drawn from an existing account created many years ago for open space land purchase. The Open Space fund is capitalized by fees on development, and there is plenty of money in the account, so supporting this in the town budget will not raise your taxes! Once it’s in the budget, you will need to support it again at the town meeting in May and at the polls in June. You can also make a contribution yourself. We’ve joined the 21st century! It is now possible to donate online .