VIENNA — In 2013, a decade after Ellen and Robert Miller’s children donated Kennebec Land Trust’s Flying Pond Farm agricultural easement, Robin, Holly and Lynette Miller have conserved a second property in Vienna, the 60-acre Peter Miller Woodland. A property and new trail dedication, open to the public, will be held on Saturday, Oct. 19.

The dedication marks the beginning of KLT’s year long series, “A Year at the Peter Miller Woodland.” The programs in the series are open to the public and will be offered in several locations. The workshops are focused on purchasing and managing forestland for wildlife habitat, nature observation, recreation, sustainable firewood and timber production, and chain saw safety.

The Peter Miller Woodland is a beautiful, 60-acre upland and wetland forest with stone walls, woods roads and two small ponds. The mixed forest features white pine, eastern hemlock, red spruce, balsam fir, red maple, brown and white ash, and white and yellow birch. The gift from Robin, Holly and Lynette Miller honors the former owner, their brother, Peter Miller.

Ellen and Robert Miller moved from northern New Jersey to a 40-acre dairy farm on the northeast shore of Flying Pond in Vienna when Peter was five. Three years later, in 1969, Ellen and Robert purchased a second, 60-acre parcel on Anderson Road after the town took the cut-over woodlot for nonpayment of taxes.

For 30 years the Millers left the Anderson Road land to wildlife and the natural processes of forestland succession. Peter, content to rough it in all seasons, moved to the family woodland in 2001 and built a cabin from trees he harvested and milled himself. Peter lived simply, selectively harvesting timber and tending to a small garden. He excavated two small ponds and planned to build a larger home. In the early winter of 2009, Peter died of injuries sustained in a wood-cutting accident.

In donating this land, Robin, Holly and Lynette noted that “we are grateful that Peter’s land will be a site for education as well as recreation, and that many new friends will visit Vienna and come to know Peter’s name.”

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