Kathadin Lake Conservation Initiative Subject of Presentation at Unity Centre for the Performing Arts

Unity, Maine – November, 2006 –  On Monday, November 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Unity Centre for the Performing Arts, District 45 Representative John Piotti and recently retired Director of Baxter State Park Buzz Caverly will offer a presentation about the state’s effort to preserve 6,000 acres around Kathadin Lake.  The presentation is free and open to the general public.

Representative John Piotti

     Called the most significant land conservation deal of the last 75 years, the Kathadin Lake preservation initiative completes the vision of Maine’s legendary conservationist Governor Percival Baxter (1876-1969).  In 1930, Baxter bought Mt. Katahdin, along with six thousand acres of wilderness. A year later, he donated the land to the state, on the condition that the state make it a park and that it be left "forever wild."

     Piotti, a former Trustee and Chair of the Unity College Board of Trustees, and Caverly, also a former Trustee at the environmental college in Unity, were involved in the complex land deal.  The Legislature recently approved a complicated and fascinating compromise which Piotti says will influence how land conservation is done in Maine long into the future.

     The Unity Centre for the Performing Arts, operated by Unity College, is located at 42 Depot Street, Unity, Maine.  For more information contact Mark Tardif, Associate Director of College Communications, Unity College at (207) 948-3131, ext. 292, or by e-mail at mtardif@unity.edu.

     Unity College is a small private college in rural Maine that provides dedicated, engaged students with a liberal arts education which emphasizes the environment and natural resources.  Unity College graduates are prepared to be environmental stewards, effective leaders, and responsible citizens through active learning experiences within a supportive community.