The Boothbay Region Land Trust dedicated another preserve last weekend. It is a wooded area on the backside of Ocean Point alongside the duck pond on Van Horn Road. The highlight of the event was an emotional speech by Ken Dodge.

Ken and his family owned the property since, well, a long time, until they sold it to the land trust for a preserve. In a few words, he told folks about his love for the land and how he and his grandfather used to walk around what he called the upper meadow. That was a long time ago, he said, when the trees were just shoulder high.

It is a pretty neat place. I urge you to go there and "take a hike."

For the record, I am a supporter of the land trust and currently serve on its board of directors. I have worked for the group. I have donated money to them in the past and will do so again in the future. The purpose of this column is to explain why I support the land trust.

Now, I know there are a lot of folks who don't care for the land trust. Some folks talk about "tree huggers" from away and grouse about how the BRLT's tax exempt status means they have to a pay more property taxes because of the land the BRLT has was removed from the tax rolls.

OK, OK, I get it, I really do. But...

It is no secret that I am from away. Some 44 years ago, I married an East Boothbay girl who grew up in a shipyard on the banks of the Damariscotta River. Over the years, I heard tale after tale about how she and her pals and cousins spent much of their childhood in the woods, streams, ponds and coves.

She would talk about how in summer they would head for the woods at dawn and stay out until suppertime turning over rocks seeking critters, creeping through the woods pretending to be Indians, crafting lean-to huts in the rain and on and on.

Not far from Meadow Cove was the place they were not supposed to go swimming because of the dogfish. Her dad, a teller of tall tales, would warn them that they might get bitten by the dogfish if they ventured into those waters. She would smile remembering how they would visit the wharf where salt cod was drying in the sun. When no one was looking, they would snatch and eat brick-like pieces and chew on them most of the day.

She would talk of how they would catch eels using spears the shipyard workers made for them. She still remembers being forced to take swimming lessons down at Little River and how cold it was on her skinny little figure on those foggy days in June.

Today, she looks at some of the places she used to roam and shakes her head. For example, some of the places she played in Meadow Cove now sport million-dollar homes. Other places are fenced off while others have written or unwritten signs that discourage visitors.

Now, I understand and support the right of folks to buy a piece of property and build a fine home for themselves and their kids. I understand and support their right to discourage strangers from tromping through their back woods and playing in the water near their side porch or beach house.

But I feel sad for my bride and others who grew up in the region, folks like Alan (Scrimpy) Lewis and Don Solar who can no longer take their grandkids to the places they loved as kids, places where they always found critters under rocks and hid from the phantom wild critters that lurked in the dark woods by the big stone ledge.

Over the last 25 years, the Boothbay Region Land Trust has collected a group of preserves that provide ordinary folks with access to the shore, the woods, the coves and the islands.

Today, after a short hike on the Ovens Mouth preserves, you can watch the tide rush through the narrow opening in the granite ledges as it runs to the sea and back. At the Zak Preserve you can watch wetland birds soar and twitter as you wander through the paths and trails. Not far from the Hannaford grocery, you can walk the trails in the meadows and woods around Penny Lake.

Tie your boat up in the tiny harbor at Damariscove Island and you can wander through an island that was home to one of the earliest European settlements, dating from the 16th century or earlier. The land trust even has a skiff you can use to row from the shore from your mooring.

On the preserves, you can spot lady slippers, fill up your lifetime birding list, dip your toes in the cool water and just feast your eyes on God's grand geography, and no one will chide you about trespassing. On all but one of the preserves, you can bring your dog with you too, although please keep Fido at home when you visit Damariscove as there are colonies of nesting birds that are a bit endangered. I hope you understand.

At the tip of Barters Island, the land trust volunteers built a dock so neighborhood lobstermen would have access to the shore. Volunteers also opened up a place where they could store a few traps too.

The land trust hosts events, teaches kids about nature, will show you the good places to spot a wood cock's mating flight and prowl for an occasional owl. Not a hundred paces from the tiny parking lots, you can leave asphalt far behind and wander through woods and meadows where there is never a fence nor a house nor a sign saying "private property."

Best of all, there will not be anyone there to sell you an admission ticket or charge you to get into this or that attraction. Like all nonprofit groups, they do hold fundraising events and campaigns, but the offerings, while welcomed, are not required.

Not only can you have access to some of the wonderful landscape that helps make the Boothbay Region so special, but it is all free. For the record, there is no special charge for the ticks and the black flies.

And thanks to the hard work of the volunteers of and donors to the Boothbay Region Land Trust, the preserves will provide access to the magnificent shore land, woods, islands and coves for you, your children, your grandchildren and your grandchildren's grandchildren.

And that is why I support the Boothbay Land Trust. I urge you to do so too.

Joe Gelarden