It was wonderful to celebrate with many of you at Three Tides following our victory in our first case before the Maine Law Court! Informally, we've been told that cases two and three will be heard sometime in April. We cannot thank everyone enough for all the support over these past five years. We anticipate an even larger celebration this summer - a final farewell to the ill-conceived industrial fish factory and a turn toward restoration and enforcement.
As everyone is aware, the town of Belfast moved to take Judith Grace and Jeff Mabee’s land by eminent domain. Upstream filed suit, along with Grace/Mabee and the Friends of Harriet Hartley, in the fall of 2021. That case was stayed, pending the Maine Law Court’s decision on the ownership issue.
Our victory has put the eminent domain case back into motion. We are working quickly to get that case to trial. It is simply wrong for a city to take private land for a foreign corporation, and even crazier to ask the Attorney General to allow the violation of a conservation easement – and yet, that is exactly what the leaders of the City of Belfast are attempting to do. The precedent the city is trying to set with this arrogant move is something that should alarm all of us. No conserved land will be safe if this is allowed to move forward. In fact, no private land of any kind will be safe!
There’s still a lot of work to do, and things are moving quickly. We will be sending you specific details as we file them over the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, please enjoy this hard, hard-earned victory. And, if you can offer us some support, we would be very grateful! Upstream is moving swiftly and surely to put this all behind us. We need your support now more than ever to get us over the finish line. We’re so close!
Thank you,
Amy Grant
President
Upstream Watch