Maine's Androscoggin Land Trust just achieved a goal some thought it wouldn't be able to achieve: It purchased the 95-acre Camp Gustin, located about 30 miles southwest of the state capital, for $415,000. The Trust, which solicited public donations to conserve the land, was able to complete the acquisition after it secured a loan from nonprofit The Conservation Fund and a grant from the state.
Camp Gustin was named after Charles Gustin, who donated the land to the Boy Scouts of America's Pine Tree Council in the 1940s after his sons attended a scouting camp on the coast. Gustin's descendants made a public plea last year to preserve the property, which the Pine Tree Council planned to sell to the highest bidder to contribute to its share of the Boy Scouts of America's $2.46 billion victim compensation fund tied to its now-infamous child sexual abuse cases.
