7^ COASTAL S If R NAHRAflVE REPORT JAl^UARY - DECEMBER 1966 COASTAL MINE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Newburyport, I-fes sachusett s NARRATIVE REPORT Jan. - Dec. 1966

REFUGE PERSONNEL

During this period of initial acquisition, the Coastal Maine National Wildlife Refuge was administered "by personnel of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. NARRATIVE REPORT

COASTAL MAINE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Jan. - Dec. 1966

General

On July 26, 1966 the MBCC authorized the acquisition of the three southern-most units of the Coastal Maine National Wildlife Refuge, specifically the Lower Wells Marsh, the Moody Beach Marsh, and the Brave Boat Harbor Marsh. The refuge was officially established on December 16, 1966 when the first land tract totaling l6 acres on the Lower Wells unit was acquired by the Government. The ultimate acreage to be acquired with duck stamp monies will form a National Wildlife Refuge of approximately 4,308 acres. Since no data was taken for this period, no weather information, wildlife population figures, or narrative report forms will be included in this report. However, an initial section on history, not ordinarily included in a narrative report, will be presented.

The Coastal Maine National Wildlife Refuge, lying along the south­ ern coast of Maine will consist of ten units. All are located be­ tween Kittery Point and Portland, Maine along the Atlantic coast east of U.S. Route 1. The southern-most unit is 35 miles north of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and the northern-most unit is 235 miles southwest of the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. The individual units are as follows:

1. Marsh - Approximately 500 acres bordering the Spurwink River in Cumberland County Maine ten miles southeast of Portland.

2. Goosefare Brook Marsh - Approximately 187 acres bordering Goosefare Brook just south of the town of Old Orchard Beach.

3. Biddeford Pool - Approximately hOO acres lying near the mouth of the at the end of Route 208.

k. Marsh - Approximately 267 acres bordering the Little River in Kennebunkport.

5. Goose Rocks Marsh - Approximately 425 acres bordering Goose Rocks Brook, Smith Brook, the and in Sampson Cove in Kennebunkport.

6. Marsh - Approximately 272 acres bordering the Mousam River in Kennebunk. 7. Upper Wells Marsh - Approximately 295 acres located at the junction of the Little and Merilland Rivers in the towns of Wells and Kermehunk. 8. Lower Wells Marsh - Approximately 1,203 acres between Eld- ridge Road and a point just north of Drakes Island Road in the town of Wells. 9. Moody Beach Marsh - Approximately 34-0 acres located at the mouth of the in the town of Wells.

10• Brave Boat Harbor Marsh - Approximately 419 acres located at Kittery Point in the towns of York and Kittery.

As of December 31, 1966, Options have been obtained on 28 tracts totaling 274.6 acres in the Brave Boat Harbor, Moody Beach and Lower Wells units.

The ten Coastal Maine units will consist of 96^ salt marsh and kfy brushland. No farm or pasture lands are scheduled for inclusion. The water in all units of the marsh is tidal. The main tidal range of the lower units is 8.7 feet and the spring range is 9.9 feet. The highest tide is estimated as 13*5 feet above, and the lowest tide, 3.5 feet below mean low water. All ten units are elevated above the level of the tidal streams which have cut rather deep channels through them. With few exceptions, vegetation is a combination of saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens), short, saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina altemiflora), and saltgrass (Distichlis spicata). In the highest marshes, saltmarsh golden rod (Solidago sempervirens), orache (Atriplex hastata), plantain (Plantago maritima), sea lavender (Limonium nashiij, and black grass (Juncus gerardi) are abundant. In a number of spots, three-square (Scirpus robustus) is common.

Scattered throughout most of the salt marsh are numerous patches of open water, sometimes referred to as pans or "rotten spots". Many of these are nearly devoid of vegetation; others support fair growths of widgeongrass (Ruppia maritima) or a particularly dwarfed form of S. altemiflora. Some were nearly dry and contained con- side rable glasswort (Sallcomia sp. ).

History This section of Maine has been uplifted, weathered, dissected and glaciated. The continental ice sheets scoured and shaped the re­ sistant bedrock and left residual deposits of till. The area cov­ ered by ice sheets extended well beyond the present shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean. Late glacial, blue clay blankets much of the coastal region.

2. Most of the coastal marshes of York County are helieved to have developed either "behind protecting barrier beaches or else at the mouths of rivers. The marshes are an example of formation as a result of invasion by the sea. In Pliocene times the marshes lay eight to ten feet higher than now, and then barrier beaches devel­ oped across their entrances. The basins which resulted, became fresh water ponds which gradual^ filled with vegetation, includ­ ing white pine. The barrier beaches were in time breached and tidal waters resulted in development of the salt marshes. The present marshes, therefore, overlie a fresh water peat.

Among the first inhabitants of the coastal Maine region were the Sokoki or Saco Indians who, though of fearsome appearance, were a sedentary and gifted agrarian people. Charaplain found them culti­ vating maize, beans, pumpkins and tobacco. In the early l600's the Indians accepted with hospitality the first settlers, who took up lands under the proprietorship of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. These pioneers were without a government and occupied themselves prin­ cipally in "fishing and cheating the Indians in the purchase of their furs1'. The only highway between the early settlements was the seashore and along the beaches journeys were made as far as Massachusetts. In 1658 Massachusetts took control of the settlements which were growing at a steady pace. As the number of pioneers increased, cheating of the Indians gave way to outrages against them and the Indians' friendship toward their new neighbors turned to abject hatred. Animosity precipitated a long series of Indian ravages beginning with the famous King Philip's War. Though some com­ mercial gains were made during this period, the settler frequently found himself impoverished. At these times of duress the pioneer made his home on the coastal marshes, constantly returning to the sea for necessities denied him by the hostile woodlands. After repeated defeat, most of the Indians fled to Canada and New York leaving the colonist free to embark on a period of "increas­ ing refinement and wealth" during which the fish, fur and lumber industries flourished. Footpaths through the woods became streets and Falmouth (now Portland) became a thriving seaport. The era of growth was checked temporarily by the Revolution and the war of 1812.

As the danger from Indian attack lessened, the pioneers had moved inland leaving the marshes to the wildlife again. The coastal marshes were a rich source of both salt hay and upland or "English" hay. For many years Maine not only provided hay for the draft animals of her own extensive logging industry, but exported hay to far flung markets. 3. During the mid-l800's the wildlife of the marshes supported a large population of market hunters. From 184-2 to Id^k one hunter shot 999 greater yellowlegs at Scarborough. In October 1884; two hunters fired four shots into a large flock of yellowlegs they sold their "bag for over $58,001 Golden plovers, the common plover of the marshes in the l850?s sold for 25^ per dozen in Portland and the Boston hotels paid York and Cumberland county gunners $1.00 per bird for Eskimo Curlew.

The closing years of the 19th century found the southern coastal Maine area experiencing a recreational hoom enervated by a network of railways and trolley lines. On Brave Boat Harbor Marsh we have a reminder of this activity in a remnant of the Portsmouth, Dover and York Street Railway which during the period from I893 to 1923 ran between the Portsmouth toll bridge and York Beach. And on the marshes the sound of shotgun and haying scythe was giving way to the grind of steel and the squeal of children bound for a holiday in one of the many resort areas on the sea. As the mobility of our population has expanded over the years, the recreational use of the southern coast of Maine has mounted at a rapid pace. Canadian and American families flock to the sandy shores south of Portland in increasing numbers every year. Field trips on the Coastal Maine marshes attract birders from New Jersey to Canada and the waterfowl hunters who each fall gun the coastal marshes account for one-half of all the Duck Stamps purchased in Maine.

Unfortunately special interests are beginning to take their toll of the precious wetlands. The towns of Wells, Kennehunk, and Kennebunkport are earnestly trying to save their marshes through zoning. The tragic inefficacies of these efforts is apparent on the Wells marshes where engineers are deepening the mouth of Web­ hannet River in order to provide additional mooring space and dredged fill is "being deposited on the marsh for a 25-acre com­ mercial area. Similar dredging plans are underway for Biddeford Pool which rivals in value the salt marshes as a resting and feeding area.

In several instances sanitation plants have been situated so that their overflow pollutes the neighboring marsh areas. Such a situ­ ation exists on the Spurwink River Marsh, an area of particular importance to wintering flocks of Black ducks due to impending construction on Portland's Back Bay. Biddeford Pool, the Ogun- quit flats and Moody Marsh, formerly prime clamming areas are now closed as the result of pollution.

4. The heaclies east of the Coastal Maine marshes now support an exten­ sive strip of hotels and cottages. And as destruction of other coastal hahitats in the east progresses, the value of the York and Cumberland County marshes to resting and feeding waterfowl and shorebirds becomes more precious and their preservation more Imperative.

Wildlife

While no wildlife data figures were taken by refuge personnel dur­ ing this initial period, state of Maine personnel have taken winter waterfowl surveys along the forty-five mile stretch of coastline in which the ten Coastal Maine units are located. The state winter waterfowl inventory figures for the years 1965 and 1966 are pre­ sented here for initial information. Year: Black Duck: Goldeneye: Bufflehead: Scoter

1965 1,530 1,539 164 l4o 1966 1,207 4-83 45 304 Year: Eider: Old Squaw: Misc Total 1965 5,934 138 259 9,704- I966 721 45 229 3,034

Period ending December 31, I966

Date Refuge Manager

Date / W 7 Regional Refuge Supervisor

te R^gionaixi)ir^ctoi\

5-