You may also preserve the land or building you value by donating it the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust. Outright donations ensure the land’s permanent protection while offering potentially substantial tax benefits to the donor. As with easements, the donated land must provide a genuine public benefit. Donated lands with recreational potential or fragile habitat are especially desirable to the Trust. Two examples of land donated to the Trust are:

• a 43 acre wooded parcel on Birch Island with over a thousand feet of shoreline to be kept forever wild as a nature sanctuary.
• a 4 acre gravel beach and salt marsh in South Harpswell used for swimming, picnicking and walking by the public.

Building donations are usually made for the purpose of putting an easement in place before reselling the building to private owners. The Kellogg-Dunning House was passed through the Trust before its resale, with a preservation easement, to its present owners.