Our Mission

The Kennebunkport Conservation Trust is dedicated to preserving land for use by current and future generations, and to managing properties in a way that reflects the natural and cultural heritage of Kennebunkport. 

KCT & Community Conservation

What is Community Conservation?  Well, if you are involved with the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust, it is something you are already experiencing.

The concept is sweeping the country and strengthening communities.  Simply, it blends land preservation, stewardship, member engagement, education of natural and historic resources into one program.  This practice was a primary focus at the 2013 National Land Rally.  With this approach, the health of both the lands and its people benefit from one another.  

When we were young, our mothers used to send us out to play with the admonition, “Don’t come back until supper time!”  And so, we filled the daylight hours with explorations spawned by our imaginations. A tree house built in the woods became our castle.  We splashed through tide pools looking for exotic creatures and explored the islands in search of hidden treasure.  The landscape was our constant companion, our playmate, friend and teacher.  Years later, when those places we had grown to love were threatened by development, we fought to save them.  We said that we would “preserve them forever”, and indeed we will.  But in the process we have come to realize that it’s not just the land, its people’s relationship to the land that matters. It’s the lifelong memories that are made from a family day at the beach or a picnic on the island.  It’s the comfort to be found on a quiet wooded trail when the wanderings of the mind seek peace.   It’s the sense of accomplishment after a long hike or a bike ride to a remote place of beauty seldom seen by others.  It’s the satisfaction of knowing that there are still places of wilderness left untouched and wild for those species who roamed these lands long before us.  It’s an age old balance between man and nature, made all the more urgent by the crush of technology, development and the ever decreasing time spent by most people in the natural world.

The Kennebunkport Conservation Trust spent four decades asking the community to help build a network of protected places.  Now we want to use those special places to help build a stronger community.  We invite you to join us on that journey.