Last Piece
The Spiller Parcel
Help Protect Farm and Forest Land Forever
There’s a beloved parcel of land directly across the street from our Alheim Commons dormitory on Laudholm Farm Road. For years, visitors have driven past its 25 acres of farmland and forest, marveling that such a large piece of developable land exists so close to Route 1. For years, we’ve held onto the hope that someday, the Wells Reserve would be able to protect that land forever. It connects to the Reserve’s Yankee Woodlot and Laudholm parcels, is upstream from the newly acquired Goodwin Marsh, and abuts already-protected US Fish & Wildlife Service lands.
The Spiller Parcel is more than beautiful—it’s irreplaceable. It’s the missing piece in an otherwise protected landscape. It’s where generations have farmed since 1894, where migrating birds and endangered bats find safe haven, where turkeys roam and cornstalks wave. Permanent protection of this parcel through an easement will increase the amount of contiguous protected land around the Wells Reserve and provide for continued farming and habitat management activities. It will also allow future Reserve educational opportunities for the public to learn about farm, forest, and habitat management and the value of protecting open spaces.
This parcel has been the highest acquisition priority for the Wells Reserve for nearly 20 years. The generous and conservation-minded landowners have offered the Wells Reserve a once-in-a-generation chance to protect it forever. The time has come to save this piece and complete the puzzle.
With your help, we can purchase a farmland conservation easement that keeps these precious 25 acres in cultivation and preserves the habitats there forever. The Wells Reserve has secured a large federal grant to go towards the purchase, and a generous private donor has stepped in with a $150,000 challenge grant to spur donations and seal the deal by March 30, 2026.
Laudholm Trust, the nonprofit partner of the Wells Reserve, seeks to raise the final $200,000 to match these already pledged funds. Every gift will bring us closer to securing this vital link in our protected landscape, this last piece of the conserved lands puzzle. You can make a lasting impact—on wildlife, on water, and on the lands we all love.
Will you join this campaign?
Make a donation by clicking the button below, or call the Laudholm Trust at 207-646-4521 x144 to learn more about this crucial project.
