Spring 2020 HABITATHABITAT TheThe HistoryHistory IssueIssue
INSIDE: The Bobolink Trail A River of History Thirty Years at Maine Audubon A As Maine recognizes 200 years of NOTE from the statehood, it seems like an opportune time to let history be our guide for EDITOR past, present, and future thoughts. In Advocacy this issue of Habitat, we’re looking TABLE OF CONTENTS at the course of the Presumpscot River, which has played a large part in Maine Audubon’s history. The river’s story, and human interaction with the river, is emblematic of many Maine rivers. We come, and we go. News and Notes 3 Feature: A River of History 8 We are sharing some personal history as well: two special people celebrated thirty years with Maine Audubon recently and it’s safe to say that they Species Spotlight: Two Centuries have seen it all! We’re also suspending the poem for this issue in order of Maine Wildlife 12 to share remembrances of two friends who passed away in 2019. (Please Events and Programs 14 continue to send poetry to [email protected] for future issues.) Naturalist HQ 18 You’ll notice the beautiful art on our cover; when we were thinking about the Presumpscot River and all the changes it has undergone, our thoughts Naturalist’s Almanac 19 turned to visual artist and map-maker Molly Holmberg Brown, who Personal History 20 specializes in making maps that are “expressive, alive, imperfect,” as she In Memoriam 23 puts it, to “better understand our place among many cultural narratives on a dynamic and changing planet.” Known as MollyMaps (mollymaps. com), she has created custom maps for several New England organizations and runs map-making workshops in schools and libraries around the state. Through wonderful serendipity, she was making maps of the Presumpscot Habitat and has generously shared a work-in-progress with us. Volume 36, Issue 1 The journal of Maine Audubon, ISSN 0739-2052, is published quarterly. The fluidity of her art conveys, to me, a fluidity of thought. The river [email protected] has changed, but more importantly, over the years, we’ve changed—in Melissa Kim, Editor the way we look at and value our natural resources, and the way we take Nick Lund, Assistant Editor Jenn Schmitt, Events Editor responsibility for the way our actions impact the future. Let the rivers Brandi Sladek, Designer & Layout Editor guide us as we look to the next 200 years for Maine’s wildlife and habitat.
Staff Directors Officers, Board of Trustees Andy Beahm, Executive Director David Littell, Chair Peter Baecher, Properties John Dolloff, Vice Chair Dori Barnes, Finance & HR Alyssa Hemingway, Treasurer Eliza Donoghue, Advocacy Richard McKittrick, Secretary Melissa Kim Melissa Kim, Communications Kate Lewis, Development Sally Stockwell, Conservation Eric Topper, Education
Maine Audubon Headquarters 20 Gilsland Farm Rd., Falmouth, ME 04105 (207) 781-2330, maineaudubon.org
Cover art: Molly Holmberg Brown A day in the life of . Advocacy. . NEWS and NOTES ELIZA DONOGHUE
The second session of the 129th Maine Legislature began in January and is scheduled to run until mid-April. For Eliza Donoghue, Director of Advocacy, what does a typical day look like during a legislative session? Here’s a sampling from the last session:
9:00 am: Arrive at the State House. Make my way through security, peruse the House and Senate calendars. See the bill that would restrict single-use plastic bags is likely to be debated on the House floor. 12:00 pm: Lunch at the Cross 9:30 am: Track down the bill’s sponsors. Pass along the fact Cafeteria. Limp iceberg lettuce— that more than 80% of seabirds have plastic in their stom- but at least it’s green? achs—much of it microplastics, which are broken-down 1:00 pm: Get to the pieces of items such as plastic bags—for them to incor- Environment and Natural porate into their floor speech. Resources Committee hearing 9:45 am: Catch a few legislators as they make their room in time to get a seat near way into the Chamber and encourage them to support an outlet—my laptop is running out the bill. of power. Draft a blog post about the morning’s big win while the Committee 10:15 am: Find a seat in the House gallery and wait for hears another bill. the floor debate. As I wait, prepare for that afternoon’s public hearing on a bill that would commit Maine to reducing our 2:00 pm: Listen to the greenhouse gas emission greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. Trade emails with staff reduction bill’s sponsor present the bill. Take notes scientists to be sure my testimony includes the most current data. on the Committee members’ questions.
11:15 am: Finally! Floor debate! Am pleased that many of the 2:45 pm: Present my prepared testimony, adding legislators whose towns have already passed plastic bag ordi- new comments on the areas of greatest interest to the nances join the debate in support of the bill. Committee.
11:30 am: Bill passes! Scribble thank you notes to the bill’s 4:45 pm: Public hearing over! It was a long one, but only because champions and hand them off to the Sergeant at Arms. so many people testified in support of the critical bill. 4:50 pm: Check for newly printed bills, email copies of bills of interest to discuss with Maine Audubon staff.
5:00 pm: Drive home! Delight in hearing that the morning’s success and the afternoon’s hearing have made the news headlines.
3 ConservationNEWS and NOTES
INSECTS BY PLOVERS: THEY’RE BACK! THE NUMBERS Although March and April aren’t what most people would Recent studies from around the consider “beach weather” in Maine, many Piping Plovers world have been highlighting an have left their wintering grounds in the Bahamas and alarming trend—insects have declined southern U.S. and are back on beaches in New England. We dramatically over just a few decades. And typically start getting reports of the first plover sightings in there’s a new, related headline about dramatic Maine around the first day of spring. These early arrivals will bird declines with some of the highest declines have their pick of beaches, establish territories, find mates, among insectivores. Could these declines be happening and lay eggs in a month or so. Given 2019’s record high in New England as well? At Maine Audubon, we want to of 175 chicks raised in Maine, we can expect to see more find out! plovers returning here in 2020 and we may also see plovers on beaches where they may not have nested in years past. Working with the Maine Entomological Society and the Be ready and please keep your eyes (and ears) open for these Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, we endangered birds on the beach in early spring and remem- have begun a project to try to determine the status of ber it may be on a beach where you’ve seen them before, or Maine’s insect populations thanks to a grant from the a beach where you have never seen plovers nesting! Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. Throughout 2020, we will be partnering with entomologists and ecologists for a across the state and the region to identify datasets that Join us might offer a clue to insect population trends in Maine. plover party! Working with a biostatistician, we will evaluate the March 14, 4 – 7 pm, Saco datasets for usability in analyzing long-term trends, and FMI: maineaudubon.org/ploverparty determine if we need additional data. This additional data could be gathered by researchers, community scientists, students, or others depending on the needs identified.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED We need volunteers to help identify birds that were recorded with song meters last spring as part of our Forestry for Maine Birds Program. Do you “bird by ear” and have some time to listen to recordings from the comfort of your own home or at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth? We’re also looking for help with forest point counts this spring in a number of demonstration forests throughout the state. If you’re interested, please contact Tracy Hart at thart@ maineaudubon.org or call 207-781-2330 ext. 216. Your efforts will help us improve our recommendations for man- aging forests with “birds in mind.”
4 Education
“BRINGING NATURE CHECK IT OUT Nature HOME” TO GUILFORD Libraries provide more Expl rer Maine Audubon has received a gen- than just books these Backpack erous grant from the King Cummings days. At some, you Fund of the Maine Community can check out things Foundation to develop new local like telescopes and ukuleles. Now, at libraries in Bangor, habitat stewardship programs Brewer, and Millinocket, families can check out a Maine with Guilford and MSAD 4 Audubon Nature Explorer Backpack! The packs are full schools. We will be working of bird guides, binoculars, bird ID cards, books, coloring with teachers and commu- pencils, a custom-made user’s guide full of activities, and nity leaders to replicate more, thanks to a grant from the Stephen & Tabitha King work that is happening Foundation with additional support from L.L.Bean. These in Portland and else- backpacks, which will be updated seasonally, provide fam- where to restore wildlife ilies with tools and resources for exploring the habitat and habitat in parks and other wildlife around them. The project is being piloted in spe- public spaces. Thanks to another grant cific partner communities, and will hopefully from the Maine Community Founda- expand statewide via more libraries embarking tion, all freshmen at Piscataquis Com- on non-traditional and reciprocal loan munity High School, in Guilford, will programs. visit nearby Borestone Mountain Audu- bon Sanctuary as a fall orientation trip. Tell your local librarian to contact Molly Woodring AND SPEAKING OF PLANTS . . . ([email protected]) How can you get ready for the 5th annual Native for more information. Plant Sale and Festival, Saturday, June 13, at the Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth? We’ve got just the tool for you. In April, we’ll be unveiling an online Native Plant Finder so you can research what native plants are best for Maine’s wildlife. The Maine Audubon Native Plant Finder (maineaudubon.org/plants) will include searchable infor- mation on growing conditions, benefits to wildlife, illustra- tions, photos, and downloadable fact sheets for 70 native plants to start. Save your favorites and bring the list to the plant sale in June!
5 NEWS and NOTES
A NEW SEASON AT REARING SALMON SCARBOROUGH MARSH Maine Audubon is again par- Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center ticipating in Fish Friends, a is getting ready for a new season! Join program aimed at engaging us for an Earth Day Clean Up on Sun- classrooms (and, in our day, April 26, from 12:30 to 3:30 pm, then case, the general public) celebrate the center’s opening over Memorial Day in Atlantic Salmon Weekend. Special events all weekend culminate in the life cycle and con- Snowy Egret 5K on May 25. See you at the marsh! servation. Salmon eggs were delivered to Gilsland Farm WELCOME, HANNAH and Fields Pond in January, and will be released as fry into Hannah Young joined Maine Audubon in the Presumpscot and Penobscot watersheds in May. Come November as the conservation assistant. check out our salmon as they develop and grow, and stay Hannah’s interest in animals and conser- tuned for information about their release. vation started at a young age as she cut out every photo of wildlife she could and wallpapered her entire room. The Conservation Lobby Day conservation bug continued through March 26, 8:45–11:30 am her formative years, culminating in a Maine State House, Augusta Masters in Primate Conservation. She went on to manage a baboon rehabil- itation center in South Africa, where MEET US IN THE LOBBY she met her husband, and the two Join Maine Audubon as we come of them remained in South Africa together with partners in Maine’s until 2018. Hannah says, “My husband Environmental Priorities Coalition and and I welcomed a daughter in 2019 and activists from around the state to push I can’t wait to teach her all about the for key environmental legislation at the State House in incredible wild- Augusta. During Lobby Day, you will team up with other life and birds community members to speak up for the environment that also call and gain the skills to be a persuasive constituent. You’ll Maine home!” have the opportunity to learn more about the issues, learn how to lobby, hear from environmental champions, and meet face-to-face with your elected officials to advance the Environmental Priorities Coalition’s 2020 priorities. Register and learn more: protectmaine.org/epc
6 Mid-Coast Audubon CHAPTER SPOTLIGHT Building Understanding Along the Bobolink Trail
The sound of a breeding Bobolink gets described Mid-Coast Audubon has partnered with the Georges as “bubbly,” “cheerful,” or “tinkling,” and Emily River Land Trust (GRLT) to create an opportunity Dickinson called it “the rowdy of the meadow.” for the public to learn about Bobolinks and other That alone makes it a bird worth protecting! grassland birds in South Thomaston, where the GRLT has protected more than 500 acres of traditionally This impressive and well-dressed songbird travels to farmed hayfields and riverfront scenery. A project that and from southern South America every year to nest began in 2007, the Riverview Hayfields Preserve now and raise young in Maine’s fields and pastures along offers permanent protection to grassland birds and with other grassland nesting birds including Eastern other wildlife and habitat. Meadowlarks and Savannah Sparrows. These grassland species nest in late spring and fledge young in mid- At the preserve, the Bobolink Trail fosters under- July. But their preferred habitat, hayfields, are often standing of the Preserve’s natural and cultural heritage cut or mown at least once during nesting season and with an emphasis on its importance for grassland bird entire generations are put at risk. Combined with an species. Information kiosks were installed at the trail overall loss of hayfields, this has led to a sharp decline in December. Mid-Coast Audubon donated $2000 to in these birds’ populations. GRLT, helped to review interpretive panels, provided photos for the panels, and will co-sponsor bird walks on site. Visitors can take the trail about a quarter-mile toFor the more Georges information, River shore visit: where a small pavilion is ageorgesriver.org/riverview-hayfields-preserve perfect picnic spot. And if you go at the right time, you just might hear the bubbly, rowdy Bobolink.
For more information, visit: georgesriver.org/riverview-hayfields-preserve
Bobolink and Habitat Walk with Naturalist/Author Scott Weidensaul Monday, June 1, 10 am To register, call 594-5166. Free. Hosted by Georges River Land Trust and Mid-Coast Audubon.
7 a river of HISTORY by Thomas Urquhart
The place of “many falls” or “rough waters” was how the Abenaki knew the Presumpscot River when they lived along its banks. Both names are apt. For twenty-five miles, the river describes a gentle loop, at first south from Sebago Lake, then trending northeast to Falmouth, where, with a final jink eastward, it empties into Casco Bay. In that short length, it has dropped 270 feet, spread over a dozen falls. From time immemorial, abundant fish and waterfowl sustained the local tribes, while at the proper season, migrating fin and feather attracted others from the region. Now, though, in the twenty-first century, this river of “rough waters” has become a “slow-moving series of ponds,” neither river nor lake, but somewhere in between, according to Friends of the Presumpscot River. That description is a considerable improvement on one a half century earlier, when legendary state fisheries biologist, Stu DeRoche, called it a “dammed and dirty mess.1” The events that changed a living river into a flowing cesspool were set in motion just shy of 400 years ago, in 1623. English explorer Captain Christopher Leavitt arrived at Presumpscot Falls, the first “rough waters” to be encountered after the river’s estuary. Here he was welcomed by the “Queen” of the territory. He also met Skitterygusset, probably her son.2 He gave Leavitt a beaver skin; Leavitt returned the favor with some spirits. “And so, in great love we parted,” wrote the Englishman. Leavitt was impressed—as were other Europeans—by the Presumpscot as a nat- ural cornucopia. As well as hunting, the Abenaki cultivated corn fields along its
8 banks, the soil renewed by spring floods. Fish were so plen- not as yet been any damage to the Town”—and declined to tiful they provided fertilizer as well as food. As an officer in act.7 Refusing to let the matter drop, in 1739, the Abenaki His Majesty’s Navy, Leavitt saw something else: the tower- leader Chief Polin walked to Boston and complained to the ing white pines in the forest through which the river ran. Governor. The Governor sided with the Chief and ordered Britannia was beginning to rule the waves, and she needed Westbrook to install a fish ladder. Two years later, the Gen- the trunks of Pinus strobus—straight, tall, and strong—to eral Court decreed that all dams incorporate fishways, or be a river of equip her fleets with masts. fined “six pounds a day for every day the ‘way’ was closed to fish.” For the next century, the Presumpscot remained open Settlers soon moved up the river seeking to take advantage to fish passage all the way to Sebago.8 of its largesse. And as they did, inevitably, love between inhabitants and newcomers dwindled and died. In each Dams were not the only problem. Logging destabilized the of three wars—King Philip’s (1675-1678), King William’s river banks, and silt clogged the stream. Chief Polin saw that (1688-1697), and Queen Anne’s (1702-1713)—the English maintaining his people’s fisheries was only half the battle. were driven from the river, leaving homes and mills in Settlement was obstructing their trade and fragmenting smoking ruins. But they always came back. their hunting grounds. On a second mission to Boston, Polin warned the Governor that he would drive the English A fourth war, known as Dummer’s War (1722-25), left the out of his territory. A fifth conflict, King George’s War Presumpscot mostly unscathed, but it cast a long shadow (1744-1748) began. Mills over the river’s future. As he patrolled were burned and dams de- the region, the English commander, . . . in 1739, the Abenaki leader stroyed. Finally, in 1756, Colonel Thomas Westbrook, “developed Chief Polin walked to Boston Chief Polin was killed a keen sense of the Wabanaki seasonal and complained to the Governor. during a raid. At last, the cycles . . . [and] acquired a kind of local Presumpscot River could 3 The Governor sided with the ecological knowledge as well.” When be exploited to the full. the fighting stopped, Westbrook became Chief and ordered Westbrook the King’s Mast Agent. to install a fish ladder. As long as ships were be- ing built, lumber remained The “large and for a longtime a prosper- the industrial mainstay. As 4 ous business” of lumbering on the Presumpscot took off. many as sixteen shipyards crowded the Presumpscot estu- Sawmills proliferated along the river, and lumbering was so ary before the last ship slid off the slipway in 1852. Twenty successful and profitable that “the people . . . neglected the years later, the west shore was home to the Presumpscot Iron cultivation of the land,” which resulted in “frequent suffer- Company, which did “all the heavy forging for the machine 5 ing for the necessaries of life.” companies of this city” and as far away as Montreal. In 1734, in partnership with Samuel Waldo, Colonel West- Upstream, one of the original sawmills was converted to brook constructed the river’s first dam, at Presumpscot Falls. make gunpowder. Despite frequent fatal explosions, the mill It started “an enterprise on a larger scale than anything be- was a success, and during the Civil War, it was one of the fore attempted.” The impact on anadromous fish (fish that four top suppliers to the Union Army. head upriver, from the sea, to spawn)—salmon and shad, for starters—was immediate and disastrous. Marine clay—ground up and deposited by the retreating glaciers (and known as the Presumpscot Formation)— The Abenaki demanded that the dam include a fishway. made an excellent foundation for a brick-making industry, The town, Falmouth, saw nothing the matter—“[there] has
9 though not necessarily for structures. The Formation’s gooey substrate makes the ground above prone to land- slides. In 1868, two hundred feet of bank below the Cumberland Mills sloughed into the river, blocking it so that the water rose fifteen feet and all the mills in the river were shut down. It was the largest landslide in mod- ern times. An ancient slide in Westbrook, believed nineteenth-century scientist Edward S. Morse, altered the Presumpscot’s course, which previously flowed into the Fore River.9 Coincidentally, perhaps, in 1830, the engi- neers of the Oxford and Cumberland Canal changed course here as well. Having followed the Presumpscot all the way from Sebago, at this point their excavations headed for the more navigable Fore.
For all that, Presumpscot Formation clay made excellent bricks. They were shipped as far away as New York and as near as the Smelt Hill power station, built in 1898 at
Presumpscot Falls, the site of Waldo and Service Wildlife and US Fish Photo: Westbrook’s original dam. The dam was reconstructed in 1889 to generate hydro-electricity for the District Water courtesyPhoto of Portland S.D. Warren Company. Just before the Civil War, Samuel The Smelt Hill Dam (above) was removed in 2002 (left). D. Warren had built a paper mill on the Presumpscot, and in 1867, it became the first to use softwood to make helicopters used the West Meadow in what is now Maine paper.10 With the new method came bleach and sulfuric Audubon’s Gilsland Farm as a landing pad. acid. Then newly developed processes added sulfites. All “As recently as 1976, eels crawled out of the water to die on these chemicals were dumped into the river. shore—seeking in vain to escape the oxygen-depleted water,” wrote Bob Cummings, the Portland Press Herald’s indomi- In 1901, the Presumpscot could be promoted as “the fairest table environmental reporter. With the coming of the Clean river in Maine”; an advertisement that year for Portland’s Water Act, S.D. Warren and the towns had to build waste- Riverton Park boasts of “a beautiful ten mile sail on the water treatment plants; Cummings found the river cleared 11 Presumpscot River.” But midway through the twentieth up “almost overnight.” century, this would have been a hard sell. Visitors’ first im- pression of Portland was the pervasive “bad egg” smell from Passage was still closed to migrating fish. Mid-century, some the paper mill. S.D. Warren and towns along the river were seventeen dams interrupted the Presumpscot’s flow, and discharging so much untreated wastewater that it was lik- none of them had fishways. For a twenty-five-mile river, that ened to a root beer float. At low tide, S.D. Warren sprayed amounts to about one dam per mile and a half. Reflecting lime on the estuary flats to keep the stench down; company the values of the time, they made the Presumpscot the “best
10 controlled” river in the country. The first concrete improve- Many organizations watch over ment came in 2002 with the removal of the Smelt Hill dam the Presumpscot River today; for at the Presumpscot Falls. more information or volunteer Over the next dozen years, negotiations with SAPPI, S.D. opportunities, explore these Warren’s successor, resulted in an agreement to remove the groups: Saccarappa Dam in Westbrook, which happened in 2019. With fish passage already installed in the lower Cumber- land Mills dam, about half of the river is now open to Casco Bay Estuary Partnership anadromous species like shad and blueback herring. Should cascobayestuary.org the fish flourish, the company has agreed to add fishways Friends of Casco Bay progressively to four further dams. cascobay.org In his “Introduction” to the Guide to the Presumpscot River, then-Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell concluded, Friends of the Presumpscot River “The Presumpscot has worked hard in the service of man- presumpscotriver.org kind for hundreds of years. It’s time we returned that favor.” Portland Trails The future looks bright. The river is located entirely in one county, Cumberland, and the four municipalities through trails.org which it runs know what a clean river can do for them. If Portland Water District restoration continues, the last 400 years may one day seem pwd.org like an unfortunate blip in the millennia that the Presump- scot River has flowed out of Sebago. Presumpscot Regional Land Trust 1 Stuart E. DeRoche, “Maine Rivers: The Presumpscot,” Maine Fish and Game, prlt.org Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game, Fall, 1972. 2 Lisa T. Brooks and Cassandra M. Brooks, “The Reciprocity Principle and Presumpscot River Watch Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Understanding the Significance of Indigenous prw-maine.org Protest on the Presumpscot River,” International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2010. 3 Ibid. Sebago Clean Waters 4 Charles S. Fobes, “The Story of the Presumpscot,” Maine Historical Society, sebagocleanwaters.org 1894. 5 Footnote, “Journals of the Rev. Thomas Smith,” January 3, 1737. 6 Fobes. 7 Quoted in Guide to the Presumpscot River, Ed. Amy MacDonald, Presumpscot River Watch, 1994. 8 Ibid. Thomas Urquhart is a former executive director 9 Edward S. Morse, “On the Landslides in the Vicinity of Portland, Maine,” of Maine Audubon and the author of the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, Volume 12. forthcoming book, UP FOR GRABS! Timber 10 S.D. Warren Company was bought out by Scott Paper Company in 1967, and then again by the South African paper company SAPPI in 1995. Pirates, Lumber Barons, and the Battles Over 11 Merck’s Report, May 1901 Maine’s Public Lands.
11 1820
Last known Great Auk killed on an island off Iceland in 1844
European Green Crabs arrived in the mid-1800s on ship ballasts and are a threat to native Maine shellfish
Labrador Duck last seen in 1878
Last Sea Mink killed on an island near Jonesport in 1880
Wild Turkey: Tens of thousands once again roam Maine after being nearly wiped out in the 1800s
Last Caribou in Maine killed in 1898
Gray Wolf locally extinct in Maine by the late-1800s
Bald Eagle: 21 pair in 1967, 734 pair in 2019
Suburban sprawl helped Virginia Opossum expand into Maine starting in the 1970s.
Least Tern: 55 pair in 1977, 189 pair in 2018
Maine’s first breeding pair of Turkey Vultures were recorded in Camden, 1982
Common Loon: Between 1983 and 2019, populations in Southern Maine doubled from approximately 1,500 to 3,000, thanks in part to the Maine Loon Project.
12 2020 Ups and TWO Downs of Maine’s CENTURIES ICONIC WILDLIFE
of Maine’s White-tailed MAINE Deer population fluctuates greatly depending on severity of winter, predators, and habitat changes. Maine’s WILDLIFE herd hit a high of about 330,000 in the 1990s, and Wildlife we are saving. is now estimated at about 275,000. Wildlife that has moved to Maine. Maine’s Moose population dropped Wildlife we have lost. from 76,000 in 2013 to between 60,000 and 70,000 in 2018, due primarily to winter ticks.
Hundreds of pairs of Atlantic Puffins nested on eight Maine islands before 1860. Hunting nearly wiped them all out by 1900. National Audubon Society’s Project Puffin began in 1973 and now Invasive Eurasian Milfoil 250 puffin pairs nest on was first found in a Maine four Maine islands and pond in 2003 another 1,000 pairs nest on Machias Seal Island. Major influx of Red-bellied Woodpeckers began in the winter of 2004 Maine landed 14.2 million pounds of Lobster in Piping Plover: 1880, and 119.6 million 28 pair in 2008, 89 pair in 2019 pounds in 2018.
13 14 &Events aquatic environments. “sentinel species” for evaluating thehealthof our explore theconcept will of Common Loons as a Mark Pokras, DVM, and Brooke MacDonald, MS, Thursday, April 2,6:30–8pm,GFAC A OneHealthApproach to LoonConservation if spaceisavailable. Advanced registration isencouraged!Drop-inswelcome nature through stories, songs, art,and play. Young children and their grown-ups explore 9:30–10:30 amand 10:45–11:45 am,GFAC Wednesdays, March 25–May 27(no class 4/22), ProgramsFamily FunatGilslandFarm(Ages 2–5) Nibezun. provide activities and with artwork. Incollaboration Pollard-Ranco and Passamaquoddy Maple will vide Native stories, music, and dance, and Anna John Bear Mitchell and pro- Hawk Henrieswill Saturday, March 21,10am–3 pm, GFAC Walking onWabanaki Land wake upand migrate to their breeding pools. their destination safely on “Big Night,” when they Learn howto help salamanders and frogs reach Thursday, March 5, 3–8pm,GFAC Big Night(Pre) Celebration Thursdays, 7 am, GFAC Weekly Bird Walks Falmouth, Maine GILSLAND FARM AUDUBON CENTER (207) 781-2330ext.273. [email protected] or call adventure. Scholarships available at Learn about wildlife through play and outdoor Register forsingle days orthewholeweek! K–5:April20–24,9am–3 pm, GFAC Preschool April VacationCamp communities. to enhance habitat for birds in gardens, yards, and this series of talks will exploretheuse of native plants In partnership with FalmouthCommunityServices, GFAC Every other Thursday, April 16–May 28, 6:30pm, “Bringing NatureHome”inMaineShortCourse workshop on forging deeper connections with birds. Lead with Nature founder Dan Gardoqui leads a field Saturday, April 11,7–11am,GFAC Learning BirdLanguage:Step into a Bird’s World landscape and horticulture professionals. Conference on various conservation themes for Friday, April10,9am–4 pm, GFAC Native PlantsSymposium 21+, Sponsored by AllagashBrewingandChickadee Wine 21+, Sponsored Wednesday, April 22,7pm,GFAC Earth Day FilmFestival with Maine Outdoor Film Festival : April20–24,9am–1 pm, GFAC (GFAC)
Full event listings, prices, and registration at maineaudubon.org/events
Live Animal Show: Scavengers SPEAKER SERIES at Friday, April 24, 10:30–11:30 am, GFAC Our friends from Center for Wildlife provide an up close GILSLAND FARM look at several of their animal ambassadors.
What Will You Do Today That Tomorrow Will Thank You For? Saturday, April 25, 10 am–2 pm, GFAC White Feathers: The Nesting Games, demos, and activities to show how individuals Lives of Tree Swallows can take action to reduce waste and support the earth’s Lecture and book signing by author future. Bernd Heinrich Thursday, March 12, 7 pm, GFAC Gentle Yoga and Yoga Nidra with Deb Cook Mondays, April 27, May 4, 11, 18, 5:15–6:30 pm, GFAC All levels welcome. Please bring your own mat and props. The History and Future of Maine’s Ash Trees with Suzanne Falmouth Earth Day Committee Energy Fair Greenlaw, citizen of the Houlton Band Saturday, May 9, 10 am–2 pm, GFAC of Maliseet Indians and a Ph.D. student at UMaine/Orono. Maine Audubon Birdathon Thursday, April 9, 7 pm, GFAC Saturday, May 16 Form a team to see how many birds you can identify in 12 or 24 hours. The Penobscot Nation’s 10,000 Years of Sustainable Natural Van Trip: Little Big Day Resources Management with Tuesday, May 19, 8 am–12 pm, GFAC John Banks, Director of Natural Resources for the Penobscot Nation. Birding by Ear Thursday, May 7, 7 pm, GFAC Wednesday, May 20, 7–8:30 pm, GFAC Tips and tricks for deciphering the many vocalizations of with Maine birds. The State of Maine Wildlife Judy Camuso, Commissioner of Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Thursday, May 21, 7 pm, GFAC
15 16 &Events Doug Hitchcox. Led byMaine Audubon Staff Naturalist Birding Basics Drop-ins arewelcomeonlyifspaceisavailable. Advanced registration isencouraged! nature through stories, songs, art,and play. Young children and their grown-ups explore 9:30–10:30 am,FPAC Thursdays, March 26–May 2 (noclassApril23), Family FunSeries Wednesday, March 18, 7pm,FPAC Trapping Guide Behavior Using TrailCamerastoStudyWildlife Learn to bird. Binocularsandguidesareavailable. Saturdays, March 14and April 11,9–11am,FPAC Young Birders Club (Ages 10–16) pools. wake upand start migrating to their breeding their destination safely on “Big Night” when they Learn howto help salamanders and frogs reach Monday, March 9,7pmFPAC Big Night(Pre) Celebration Holden, Maine AUDUBON CENTER FIELDS POND Thursday, April 23, 7 pm,FPAC Part 2:FindingBirds Thursday, April 9,7pm,FPAC Part 1:IdentifyingBirds Programs with Janet Pesaturo, author of Camera Full event listings, prices, andregistration at (Ages 2–5, siblingsunderfree)
(FPAC) George L. Jacobson, Carbon Credits,Climate,and Conservation [email protected]. explorations, and crafts. Scholarships available at Scientific explorations, active games, outdoor Register for single daysorthewholeweek. April 20–24,9am–3 pm, FPAC April VacationCamp Friday, April17,7pm,FPAC Kaitlyn Wilson Thrush: Stalking NorthAmerica’sRarestand Most Secretive must register to place it.Family-friendly; by April1. Build a box from a pre-cut kit,and learn whereand how Saturday, April 11,12:30–2pm,FPAC Bluebird Nest BoxBuildingWorkshop at the Nature Store, 10am–2 pm. Join us for this annual birding blitz! Also:binocularsale Saturday, May 9, 8am–10 am, FPAC World MigratoryBird Day Friday, May 8, 7pm,FPAC with Doug Hitchcox, Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Designing BuildingswithBirds in Mind approach for K-12 students. Learn about AQUATIC WILDand its hands-on Friday, May 8, 8:30am–1 pm, FPAC Teacher Workshop:Aquatic Wild Tuesday, May 5, 7pm,FPAC Woodcock Watch! Wednesday, April 29,7pm,FPAC Ecology, and Climate Changeat the Universityof Maine Catharus bicknelli maineaudubon.org/events
Professor Emeritus of Biology, (Grades 2-5) with UMaine M.S. student
with
How to Be a Naturalist in the Digital Age Forestry for Maine Birds Presentation for Wednesday, May 13, 7 pm, FPAC Mahoosuc Land Trust by Maine Audubon Director of Biologist Nathaniel Wheelwright will talk about how Conservation Sally Stockwell and New England Forestry anyone can be a naturalist with mindfulness and curiosity. Foundation’s Christine Parrish Wednesday, March 25, 5:30–7 pm, Valentine Farm, Bethel “Bringing Nature Home” in Maine with Must RSVP to attend; 824-3806 or [email protected]. Eric Topper, Maine Audubon’s Director of Education May 21, 7 pm, FPAC Western Maine Chapter Learn about the plants, practices, and perks involved in What’s Happening to Our Birds? with Maine Audubon restoring native food webs in our yards and communities. Director of Conservation Sally Stockwell Wednesday, April 8, 7 pm, UMaine Farmington Annual Native Plant Sale at Fields Pond Saturday, May 30, 10 am–2 pm Penobscot Valley Chapter Decades of Change with Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox Thursday, April 16, 7 pm, FPAC AROUND THE STATE FMI on Chapter Events: maineaudubon.org/about/chapters 2020 Maine Land Conservation Conference April 24–25, Mt. Ararat Middle School Orion Performing Penobscot Valley Chapter Arts Center, Topsham Talk and Book Signing with John Holyoke, author of Presentations on Forestry for Maine Birds and managing Evergreens: A Collection of Maine Outdoor Stories. forests with wildlife, habitat, and climate change in mind. Thursday, March 5, 7 pm, Mason’s Brewing, Brewer FMI: mltn.org
Western Maine Chapter Western Maine Chapter Maine’s Wild Mushrooms with mycologist Greg Marley Nightjars in Maine with Logan Parker of the Maine Wednesday, March 11, 7 pm, Room C23, Roberts Nightjar Monitoring Project Learning Center, UMaine Farmington Wednesday, May 13, 7 pm, UMaine Farmington
Mid-Coast Chapter Warbler Walks Camera Trapping and Wildlife Tracking with nature Evergreen Cemetery, Portland guide Janet Pesaturo, author of Camera Trapping Guide Monday through Thursday, May 4–7, May 11–14, 7–9 am Thursday, March 19, 7 pm, Camden Public Library Capisic Pond, Portland Signed books will be available ($20 cash). Friday, May 8 and May 15, 7–9 am
Down East Chapter Sanctuary Tour: Mast Landing Audubon Sanctuary What’s in Your Woods? with Bud Utecht of Game Saturday, May 2, 7 am–12 pm, Freeport Camera Artistry Bird walk 7–9 am; Stewardship projects 9 am–noon Tuesday, March 24, 7 pm, Moore Community Center Ellsworth Sanctuary Tour: Hamilton Audubon Sanctuary Friday, May 22, 7–9 am, West Bath Bird Walk
17 Doug Hitchcox, Staff Naturalist NATURALIST HQ Elder Trees at Big Reed Forest
Maine’s landscape has changed in many ways since it became a state: forests have been cut and grown back, rivers have been dammed, cities expanded and yet, there are living things that have borne witness to all of those changes: trees. While the overall amount of forest in Maine has changed little over the centuries of European habitation—an estimated 18.2 million acres of the state was forested in 1600 compared to 17.7 million acres today—the age of the trees has changed, thanks in large part to timber production in the 19th and 20th centuries. Researchers esti- mate that 60% of trees in Maine’s pre-1600 forest were more than 150 years old; fewer than 1 percent are that old now. Maine does have a few trees that have been alive since—or before—statehood. Until recently, the most famous old tree in Maine was Herbie, a massive American Elm in downtown Yarmouth. When the tree was finally cut down in 2010 after enduring at least 15 bouts with Dutch Elm Disease, a tree ring analysis showed that it had been alive since 1793. The vast majority of Maine’s old trees reside in stands of “old-growth” forest scat- tered around the state. There are about ninety such old-growth stands, which in its purist definition means a forest never logged, and none are bigger than the 5,000-acre Big Reed Forest Reserve, protected by The Nature Conservancy, north of Baxter State Park. It is the largest contiguous old growth forest in the northeast. Big Reed’s remote location helped keep loggers away, and the result is a forest full of big, old trees. The Reserve is famous for its diversity—more than 26 species of trees are found there—as well as for what it lacks: aspens, Black Cherry, and other early successional species common in Maine’s younger forests. Big Reed also differs from younger forests in that the ground is covered with downed trees, centuries worth of blowdowns now providing homes for animals and nutrients for the soil. Most of these blowdowns are absent in timbered forests. While the majority of trees in Maine are between 10 and 75 years old, trees in Big Reed are much older. Counting the rings obtained from tree cores, researchers have found spruce more than 350 years old, White Cedar more than 325 years old, and Sugar Maple 315 years old. Specimens from other species, including Yellow Birch, Beech, and Ironwood, were growing here before Maine became a state. With continued stewardship, they’ll be around for centuries to come. 18 Photo: Jerry Monkman/EcoPhotography tennial E icenThe Naturalist’s dition ALMANACB
1820–1870 1871–1920 1921–1970 1971–2020
Maine officially President Woodrow Claiming that it The Portland Society becomes the Wilson establishes Sieur possesses the of Natural History is 23rd U.S. de Monts National “qualities of optimism, formally incorporated state on Monument on July 8, cheeriness, friendliness, into the Maine March 15, 1916, later to become resourcefulness, and Audubon Society in 1820. Acadia National Park. industry,” the chickadee 1972. is selected as Maine’s The Portland Society Legendary state bird in 1927. Two of Maine of Natural History, sportswoman Fly Rod Audubon’s longest- later to become Crosby shoots In 1931, former running community Maine Audubon, the state’s last Governor Percival Baxter science initiatives, is founded in legally-hunted gives the first gift of land the Maine Piping 1843. Its first caribou in of what will become Plover and Least office is in Aroostook Baxter State Park. Tern Project, and the the grand County, in Loon Count, begin Merchants 1898. Just 21 pairs of Bald in 1977 and 1984, Exchange Eagles are living in Maine respectively. building on in 1967, a number that State Street. will rise to more than 730 after decades of successful conservation.
19 PERSONAL HISTORY 30 Years with Maine Audubon
How did you I started volunteering with Maine Audubon around 35 get involved with years ago. My friend saw an article in the paper about Maine Audubon? volunteering and we signed up to work with Carroll Tiernan in the store at Scarborough Marsh. It was so natural to volunteer there. My mother was a second grade teacher and every year she went to the marsh with her students. I used to go with her and help chaperone the trips when I was in high school.
What different Volunteer; Store Manager at Scarborough Marsh; Manager, positions have School Science and Natural History Project; Teacher you held at Programs Coordinator; Director of the Scarborough Marsh Maine Audubon? Audubon Center; Environmental Educator; Out in the Field Coordinator.
Do you have a My most profound memory is when a mute boy spoke for special memory the first time on one of our Nature Explorations. He was a from your third-grade boy who had not spoken in two years outside years at Maine of his family. He was with one of our guides and the guide Audubon? asked him what a group of birds were and he said “Canada Geese.” The teacher was ecstatic. The guide was so moved he left his job and joined the Peace Corps to teach children.
Linda
Flipping flapjacks with Linda leading a canoe tour Woodard Thomas Urquhart 20 at the marsh In 2019 Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center Director Linda Woodard and Conservation Director Sally Stockwell celebrated PERSONAL HISTORY 30 years with the organization. We asked them to reflect on those years.
Do you miss I miss the days before email and I miss the Loon Festival! anything from I don’t miss sharing one office and one computer with five 1989? different people.
How has the More development, more roads, more cars, more land trusts, landscape more lands in conservation, tremendous landowner turnover of Maine and different landowner goals in the Unorganized Territories, changed in potato fields now broccoli fields, more community gardens and the past 30 farmers markets, fewer farms, younger forests across much of years? northern Maine, more invasive species, more Bald Eagles and Piping Plovers, more community-based conservation. I could go on and on.
Tell us It was June 19, 1989. I had just moved across the country about your with my husband and not-quite one-year-old daughter for this first day at job-share and had not even unpacked before heading in to the work? office on that fateful Monday. I started working in a scrubby corner of the Farmhouse and was given lots of information about loons to review as my primary responsibility was to oversee the annual loon count and Loon Festival. It was exciting but daunting as well. Four months later, the person who hired me to job-share left Maine Audubon! Continued on next page Sally
Teaching foresters and Sally testifying in Augusta Stockwell landowners FFMB skills 21 Personal History continued— ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN MEMORIAM Thirty years equals many accomplishments on behalf of Maine’s wildlife and habitat; this is just a small sampling.
LindaScarborough Marsh: Grew the center and programs SallyBrook Trout: Enlisted 423 volunteers to survey 464 remote offered to engage 8,000 people and 1,500 schoolchildren ponds and 208 coastal streams for previously unknown popu- every year. lations; added 30 ponds to Heritage Waters List; and adopted new rules to reduce use of live fish as bait. Literacy: Worked with partners to create and pass Maine’s Environmental Literacy Plan, one of the first of its kind, to Loons: With community members and lake associations, develop an environmentally literate population. grew the loon population in the southern half of Maine from a low of about 1,800 in 1983 to today’s estimate of 3,219. Education: Worked with Maine, New England, and North American environmental education associations to Coastal Birds: Collaborated with multiple partners to re- advance environmental education throughout the region. cover seriously endangered populations of Piping Plovers and Least Terns on Maine beaches, growing the plover population from 17 pair in 1981 to 89 pair and 175 fledglings in 2019. Forests: Created, mapped, and promoted five Maine Wild- land Conservation Areas across the Northern Forest, many of which have since been conserved in small or large part. Trained landowners, foresters, and road professionals to man- age forests and roads to benefit birds, fish, and other wildlife. Vernal Pools: Created several training manuals and community scientist programs to identify, survey, map, and conserve vernal pools and their inhabitants.
Fixing up the Center Wetlands: Created a strong state wetlands protection law and an in-lieu-fee wetland mitigation program.
Pond Surveying Siting: Advocated for siting development and energy projects in ways that avoid or minimize harm to wildlife and habitat (think Beginning with Habitat, Penjajawoc Marsh, Redington Mt, and Moosehead Lake). Funding: Led efforts to establish the Chickadee Checkoff, Loon License Plate, and Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. Read more at maineaudubon.org/personalhistory
22 IN MEMORIAM
HORACE HILDRETH JR. CARL STRAUB (1931–2019) (1936–2019) Carl Straub was a member of the Maine Audubon Board Horace Hildreth, Jr, was a member of the Maine Audubon of Trustees from 1977 to Board of Trustees from 1968 to 1980, was President of 1987, and was President of the Board from 1976 to 1978, and served as a member of the Board from 1984 to 1986. Straub had a 40-year career at the Advisory Board for the rest of his life. He chaired and Bates College, where his roles served on many different board committees including Social included Professor, Dean of Justice, Development, and Nominating. His exceptional Faculty, and Vice President leadership, as chair of the Building Committee, led to for Academic Affairs. He the establishment of Maine Audubon’s first headquarters was also the inaugural Clark building at Gilsland Farm, which was completed in 1976. A. Griffith Professor of A former state senator and a great champion of Environmental Studies. His environmental, research, and sustainable development thoughtfulness is reflected in a statement he made when causes, Hildreth was involved with many of Maine’s he was elected to the Maine nonprofits. Among his many accomplishments, he helped to Audubon board, saying, in establish the Land Use Regulation Commission (now called part, “I have been concerned the Land Use Planning Commission), the authority for land with the fate of wildlife in use in the unorganized areas—10.4 million acres including a growing America and the Photos: Courtesy of the Hildreth family portions of northern and downeast Maine and several potential uses of ecological coastal islands. variables for nurturing the kind of human creativity and Hoddy, as he was known to friends and family, inspired re-creation appropriate, even many of us at Maine Audubon. Sally Stockwell, Director necessary, for our modernity.” of Conservation, speaks for us all in saying “Hoddy loved life, loved Maine, actively promoted conservation of Maine wildlife and wildlands over five decades, and never stopped speaking up as a champion of Maine’s natural heritage— even if it wasn’t popular. I will miss his wonderful belly laugh, his impatience over too much paperwork and too many details, and his steadfast call for those of us in the conservation community to all work together!”
Horace Hildreth, Photo: Phyllis Graber Jensen/ far right. Bates College 23 LIVE WATCH MARCH 19 FEEDER FILL as we as the 100%
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