Conservation trust seeks appraisal funds for Gelinas Farm easement; commission weighs landowner's request for limited dirt-bike use

Jeff Evans, director of conservation at 5 Rivers Conservation Trust, asked the Pembroke Conservation Commission to support an appraisal as a first step toward protecting about 62-63 acres of Gelinas (also referred to as Joanna's) Farm through an Agricultural Land Easement (ALE) using USDA NRCS funding.

Evans said NRCS's ALE program could cover roughly half the easement purchase price and that the trust would seek the remaining funds from other sources. He asked the commission to fund an appraisal (the commission had previously discussed an appraisal allocation of up to $10,000). "We're hopeful that this commission will be willing to find a portion of the purchase price and the project cost," he said. Evans explained how an appraisal estimates pre-easement (highest-and-best-use) and post-easement (restricted agricultural/forestry) values and described how the easement value is calculated.

A major point of contention was a landowner request for a reserved right to ride dirt bikes on the property for personal use. Evans said the land-protection stewardship committee had discussed allowing a narrow, non-transferable reserved right limited to the current owner and immediate family, mapped to existing trails, and coupled with increased stewardship funding and monitoring. Several commissioners pushed back strongly, noting enforceability, optics and precedent concerns. "There's gonna be impact. There's no way there can't be impact," one commissioner said, adding the public might resent a situation where the town helps pay to protect land but a landowner is allowed recreational motorized use.

Commissioners also debated whether appraisal funding should include conditions — for example, repayment by the landowner if the owners decline to proceed after appraisal — or whether the commission should honor an earlier vote to fund the appraisal absent conditions. Several members urged consulting Ami (the commission's NRCS/contact expert) and the landowners for clarification on expected easement value and on whether the reserved-right language could be tailored (non-transferable, limited to existing trails, stewardship-funded) to address concerns.

Evans noted timing pressure: NRCS funding batching dates and an expiration window for the award mean the project must progress this year if it is to use the grant. The commission asked Evans to seek owners' input on a target easement price and to return with a map of excluded areas, a stewardship plan and further clarification about the dirt-bike request; several members said they would like Ami or the landowners present at the next discussion.