Maine Nature, Maine People F I R St Thoughts
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2010 Year in Review: fall 2010 | n ews lette R Maine Nature, Maine People f i R st thoughts North e r n For ests traded lands to protect an additional 10 miles along the st. John River — page 6 Collaborated to craft the Keeping Maine’s Forests vision — page 7 Completed invertebrate surveys on tributary streams at Big Reed forest Reserve Debsconeag lakes wilderness area receives two national awards from Coalition for Recreational trails Presque Isle helped to create ecological reserves on aMC’s Roach Ponds property — page 6 acquired a canoe portage along the Moose River Bow trip — page 6 helped protect 253 acres in Quebec’s green Mountains — page 7 Baxter “The people and the Earth are one.” State Park statePolicy My new friend Tendai (or Ten) is an economics major at Colby College. supported passage of “Don’t Move firewood” Hailing from Zimbabwe, he spent last summer working as an intern bill to protect Maine’s trees — page 6 Moosehead through The Nature Conservancy in Maine’s new Diversity Program. He Lake is analyzing the economic benefits of the Penobscot River Restoration facilitated revision of Maine’s regulatory guide- lines for north woods land-use planning — page 7 Project, calculating the value of the services that nature provides to us through the river, in terms of dollars and cents. supported launch of saltwater recreational fishing license program —page 8 I asked Ten what compelled him to apply his love of numbers to conser- Coordinated climate change vulnerability vation. He replied with a wide smile: “Vanhu ivhu, ivhu vanhu—the people assessment for Maine habitats and the Earth are one.” Participated in development of climate He explained that this native Shona proverb reflects the guiding environ- change adaptation recommendations mental ethic in his homeland—a recognition of the integral relationship for Maine’s legislature between people and nature. Ten feels that his internship is a way of Distributed $1.8 million in state restoration Bangor meeting his own innate responsibility to steward Earth’s natural resources, and conservation grants — page 5 regardless of what his career choice might be.That really rang a bell for me. After all, isn’t that the ideal that inspires us all to action south e r n aN d CoastalMai N e in the name of nature? Helped protect 83 acres of farmland and shoreline habitat along Merrymeeting Bay in Bowdoinham Whatever your life’s pursuit might be, I honor your support of The Augusta Nature Conservancy as an expression of your own sense of stewardship Preserved 96 acres with more than 2,800 feet for the natural world. Because you care, rivers are restored and forests of shoreline in topsham are conserved. Because of your support, plants, animals and natural 15 high school/college students employed resource-based economies have hope for a sustainable tomorrow. throughout southern Maine as part of new internship program — page 5 So here we offer Maine’s “year in review” as a celebration of all we have accomplished together in 2010—thanks to you. helped Maine IF&w conserve 100 additional acres of waterboro/shapleigh Barrens Vanhu ivhu, ivhu vanhu. Conducted controlled burns on 545 ecologically Portland significant acres throughout new england Completed census research of black racer snakes in Kennebunk Plains area Michael Tetreault, State Director Posted famous “turtle Crossing” signs near The Nature Conservancy in Maine Mount agamenticus Created and enhanced trails at wells Barren, P.S. Please visit nature.org/mainenews to see amazing videos of Ten Berry woods, great wass island, saco heath, and others, and to get deeper details about all of our work in 2010. waterboro Barren and the Basin Preserve 2 fall 2010 2 010 R o u n D u P & ta B l e o f C o n t e n t s Celebrate 2010 With Us Thanks to you, The Nature Conservancy is able to work throughout the state, throughout the year, Presque Isle protecting lands and waters for the sake of people, plants and animals. Baxter State Park Pe Nobscot R ive rWate rsh e d Moosehead Received FERC approval to remove dams and restore fish passage along the Penobscot River —page 5 Lake Continued in-depth research of ecosystem health along the Penobscot River — page 5 Collected inventory of fish-passage barriers in Penobscot River watershed — page 5 Supported creation of fishway on Blackman stream in Bradley — page 5 Supported removal of west winterport Dam — page 5 Bangor g u lf of mai N e Completed first season of groundfish “census” research around Penobscot Bay — page 9 Provided new , more selective nets to Port Clyde fishermen —page 8 Augusta hosted idea-sharing sessions between east and west coast fishermen —page 9 Completed marine ecological assessment for entire north atlantic seaboard — page 8 Portland fRONT CoVeR — Clockwise from top left: aerial, © B.Besaw; XC ski, © istockphoto.com/gelyngfjell; carrots, © B.Besaw/Maine farmland trust; eel research, © TNC; Moose, © TNC; Big Reed Pond, © Daniel grenier; River research, © B.Besaw; Monarch, © TNC; Kayaks, © D.Bates; fire keepers, © TNC; Blueberries, © istockphoto.com/andipantz; Black racer snake, © TNC; TNC next event, © TNC. BaCK CoVeR — Morse Mt. Preserve, © s .fitzpatrick/ TNC; Diversity interns, © D.Bates/ TNC; alex Mas on Mt. Katahdin, © s .fitzpatrick/TNC. eDITOR’s LETTER — Michael tetreault © s .fitzpatrick/TNC Maine legacy 3 o u R wat e R s Two Lives, One River how two local students came to really know the Penobscot BY Mist Y ann eDgeComb When biologists thrust a writhing silver fish into your water-filled “He knew everything about the river and how it worked,” says Rapp. rubber boot, it’s time to start running. But the river flows between the generations, and natural wisdom is This is an Atlantic salmon, a ghost of the river’s past, an endangered being rediscovered as Rapp visits remote tribal trust lands for the survivor that fought its way home across hundreds of miles of open first time and sees her grandfather’s lessons come to life. ocean; and it’s your job to ensure its safe transport to a fish hatchery “I was just raised to appreciate nature and everything in it—to for breeding. realize that there’s a balance between taking care of ourselves and The life of the river is literally in your hands. the places we live,” she says. “They’re feisty fish. It’s flapping all around, and you’re trying not Both Rapp and Relford were familiar with the Penobscot River to drop it,” Margo Relford says, laughing as she recalls one of the Restoration Project, a cooperative effort to restore native fish to the high points of her summer as a Nature Conservancy diversity river, but seeing the details made the importance of conservation intern on the Penobscot River. come alive in a new way. Holding a prehistoric shortnose sturgeon or boating alongside a mill’s discharge pipe—both women say they’ll Relford and her fellow intern Ana Rapp spent three months working carry these experiences throughout their lives. on all aspects of river conservation—from the fish trap at Veazie, where they tagged salmon, to the far reaches of the basin, where “It was shocking to see. You’ve got the picturesque scenes all around they documented impediments to fish passage. It was a fantastic you, but you can actually see the pollution bubbling up,” says summer job for University of Maine students preparing for a future Relford, who came to the Conservancy after considering a career in conservation, but the experience touched something deeper making paper. A previous summer internship at a riverside mill in these women, who both grew up on the river’s banks. showed her that she wasn’t meant to spend her life at a desk, talking Rapp, whose mother is a member of the Penobscot Indian Nation, about nature as an abstraction and looking at the river through glass. recalls summer days spent paddling the river in her grandfather’s As a little girl, Relford would go out and lose herself in the woods canoe, listening to stories of how he caught fish and picked fiddle- behind her Brewer home, lying on the ground with the sounds and heads as a boy—a life that his descendants can barely imagine. smells of the forest filling her mind. “When you’re out in nature, j F M a M jaNuary»as administrator of the Maine natural Resources Conservation Program, the March»Maine launches a Conservancy- May»Conservancy celebrates the first migration Conservancy distributes $1.8 million in grants to coordinated initiative to integrate climate- season in a century on Blackman stream (a support 11 public and nonprofit groups’ fresh- change impacts into wildlife management Penobscot River tributary) after supporting part- water restoration and conservation projects. plans for all ecosystem types. ners in completing a new fishway in fall 2009. A Month-by-Month February»the Conservancy acquires two aPril»with partners, the Conservancy places parcels in the Kennebec estuary, preserving more an easement on 83 acres of active farmland along Calendar of Freshwater than 100 acres and some 2,800 feet of combined Merrymeeting Bay in Bowdoinham, conserving shoreline habitat on the androscoggin and prime shoreline habitat and some of Maine’s Conservation Cathance Rivers. best farming soil. on th e we b» get to know diversity interns ana Rapp and tendai Mutunhire through video interviews at nature.org/mainenews. everything has its own rhythm and everything operates by its own rules,” she says. “It helps you understand your place in the world.” Rapp’s and Relford’s internships were both made possible through The Nature Conservancy in Maine’s new diversity program.