YARMOUTH — Leon Gorman, chairman of the board of L.L. Bean, and his wife, Lisa, have donated a 28-acre island in Casco Bay to the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, according to a press release.

The donation, Lanes Island, sits near the mouth of the Royal River in Yarmouth, and is recognized as ecologically significant because of the island’s high concentration of waterfowl and shorebirds. The island also serves as a home to nesting bald eagles and is surrounded by local clammers’ mudflats.

“For those of us who live and work near Casco Bay, we understand what a precious resource the islands are,” the trust’s president, Tim Glidden, said in the press release. “With more people realizing what a unique quality of life and place there is in this region, it is essential that we continue the important work of maintaining and expanding public access to the land.”

The trust said it will soon begin developing a management plan for the island that seeks to balance ecological protection needs with opportunities for public recreation, including small boat visits and duck hunting.

Gorman became a partial owner of the island in 1968 and acquired full ownership in 2010.

The Maine Coast Heritage Trust is currently working to conserve part of Clapboard Island in Falmouth and two islands in Harpswell known as the Goslings.


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