The Damariscotta River Association has a full plate, Executive Director Steven Hufnagel told the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen on March 19.

Between moving the campus, buying up land, expanding programs and accepting grants, it has been a busy 2014 so far.

“There's been a lot going on with the DRA recently,” he said.

That includes programs ranging from Native American cultures to expanding the campus to adding land and trails, Hufnagel said.

The DRA was recently granted $107,000 by the Maine Natural Conservation Program to purchase 97 acres of land. That land will link Dodge Point Preserve in and Sherman Marsh Wildlife Management Area, both in Newcastle; and it will also link the Damariscotta River to the Sheepscot.

In addition to the new land, there will likely be new digs. In the next three years, the hope is to move to the Round Top Farm campus, Hufnagel said. Then, with that space secured, work can begin in full to connect the two campuses, he said.

“One of our long-term goals is to connect the two together with a trail,” he said. “We've been chipping away at that goal over time.”

Hufnagel said not only is protecting the river a priority, but picking spots to protect as well.

“We're trying to become an accredited land trust, so when we look at a piece of land to protect we have to ask if it meets a certain criteria,” he said. “We have to be careful that any land we acquire offers maximum public value.

“My daughter asked me what it is I do, and I said 'I make land for people and wildlife.'”