Summit Team Joins Royal River Conservation Trust at Memak Preserve for Continued Partnership in Yarmouth Region

6/29/2021

NORTH YARMOUTH, ME – Summit Natural Gas of Maine (Summit) team members once again joined their friends at the Royal River Conservation Trust (RRCT) for a pair of trail maintenance days celebrating the latest step in their partnership. The two organizations have collaborated before, but Summit recently became the RRCT’s first “Adopt-a-Trail” Program participant and worked with Trust staff to plan volunteer trail clean up days at the organization’s Memak Preserve. In addition to the work done by team members during their visits, Summit’s support of the trail will pay for maintenance throughout the year, as well as essential tools and supplies.

RRCT staff had several projects ready for the Summit Team, including brush clearing, light groundwork, and the assembly of a park bench. With the two trail days each occurring on a week day, Summit team members made use of the company’s annual 20-hour volunteer time-off program. Summit hopes to work with the RRCT to organize another volunteer day later in the year.

“This commitment from Summit helps us with both our conservation and recreational goals at the Memak Preserve,” said Chad Fierros, the RRCT’s Stewardship Director. “While the Preserve is a beloved recreational amenity for local communities, it is also a home and haven for wildlife. Summit’s adoption of a trail here at Memak is the first step in our original vision for the Program, which was to establish long-term support for the Preserve’s accessibility and environmental integrity.”

Located in North Yarmouth, the Memak Preserve is a 46-acre conservation area within the Royal River watershed. Visitors to the Memak Preserve will be met by a trail marker with Summit Natural Gas of Maine’s logo on it before venturing out on a pathway that meanders through mixed-hardwood forest that sequesters carbon while providing a habitat for animal, plant, and fungal life.