MAI.NE PEAT RESOURCE MATRIX prepared for the LAND AND WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL by the Maine Geological Survey DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION January 1984 MAINE PEAT RESOURCE MATRIX prepared for the LAND AND WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL by the Maine Geological Survey DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION Walter A. Anderson, State Geologist January 1984 MAINE PEAT RESOURCE MATRIX Introduction Peat is the residuum formed by the partial decay and disintegration of plant material. The plant remains typically accumulate in moist environments, such as swamps, marshes, or heaths, where decomposition is inhibited. Peat has been used for hundreds of years as a domestic fuel and is currently being burned to generate electricity in several countries including Ireland and the Soviet Union.· It is also used in agriculture and horticulture. Estimates of the area in Maine containing peat range from 500,000 to 770,000 acres, or approximately 2.5 to 3.5 percent of the State's total land area. However, recent studies (references 4-8) indicate that fewer than 100,000 acres of these peatlands actually contain commercial quality peat (peat that contains less than 25% ash and is at least 5 feet thick). Although interest in harvesting peat for a variety of uses has risen periodically since Maine was first settled, for the most part, peatlands have been regarded as virtually useless. In recent years, however, appreciation of the economic potential, as well as the ecological and cultural significance, of Maine's peatlands has grown substantially. Large-scale mining of a few of the State's peat deposits is now a distinct possibility. At the same time, the importance of peatlands as rare-plant localities, wildlife habitats, recreation areas, and scientific research sites that perhaps should be protected has also been recognized. To date, a good deal of research on various aspects of Maine's peat deposits has been carried out. Between 1979 and 1983, the Maine Geological Survey conducted the Maine Peat Resource Evaluation Program with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy through the State Energy Office. Under the Program, peat deposits with fuel potential were identified, mapped, and sampled; results will be published by the Survey in five atlases. During the same period, studies were also made of hydrological, geochemical, and botanical characteristics of selected peat deposits. The Survey will publish the results of these investigations in a volume of technical papers. In the past few years, the State Planning Office, under the Critical Areas Program, has evaluated rare plants that occur in Maine's peat deposits, as well as rare peatland types. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has conducted research on the wildlife of the State's peat deposits. The Land Use Regulation Commission funded an environmental evaluation, based on several criteria contained in the Maine Peat Resource Matrix, of selected peat deposits. Development of the Matrix In 1981, the Land and Water Resources Council established the Peatland Preservation Study Subcommittee whose task was to identify peat deposits that should be preserved because they contain rare plant or animal species or display other significant characteristics. The Subcommittee developed 1 criteria for evaluating individual peat deposits but did not apply them. Instead, the Subcommittee recommended to the Land and Water Resources Council that the Commissioner of the Department of Conservation form a committee of individuals with expertise in various aspects of peat to determine which of Maine's economically significant peat deposits should be protected. The attached "Maine Peat Resource Matrix" is the result of the evaluation conducted by the Department of Conservation. It was developed with input from individuals and organizations concerned with various peat issues. A list of reviewers is found on the final pages. The matrix categories were derived from the general peatland preservation criteria recommended by the Peatland Preservation Study Subcommittee. Information on the individual peat deposits listed in the matrix was compiled from the available literature. These sources are listed under the heading "References". However, because of the lack of data in categories other than "Estimated short tons of commercial quality peat" and "Acreage of commercial quality peat" for over 80 percent of the peat deposits listed in the matrix, the deposits have not been ranked as to their worthiness for protection. Matrix Categories The matrix categories are based on the preservation criteria developed by the Peatland Preservation Study Subcommittee. New categories can also be added as other resource values, such as diversity of ecological communities and component species, importance as wildlife habitat, hydrological and geochemical characteristics, and pristine nature, are studied and results are published. Peat deposit name and location. The 222 deposits included in the matrix were found to be economically significant under the Maine Peat Resource Evaluation Program. The deposit names and locations are those used in publications documenting the results of the Program (references 4-8). The deposits are arranged in decreasing order of estimated resources given in short tons (air dried weight) of commercial quality peat (peat with an ash content of less than 25% and a minimum thickness of 5 feet). Estimated short tons of commercial quality peat. The amount of air dried (30% moisture) commercial quality peat contained in the individual deposits was calculated under the Maine Peat Resource Evaluation Program (references 4-8). To determine the economic resource in each deposit, a conversion factor of 200 short tons per acre foot was applied to the volume of peat measured that met commercial quality standards. The deposits listed in the matrix contain a total estimated resource of 136,736,200 short tons of commercial quality peat. Acreage of commercial quality peat. The area within each peat deposit underlain by commercial quality peat was mapped under the Maine Peat Resource Evaluation Program (references 4-8). The total area of an individual deposit may actually exceed that listed in the matrix if the 2 areal extent of non-commercial quality peat is included. The commercial quality peat contained in the deposits listed in the matrix occupies a total of 72,957 acres. Rare peatland type. Classification of peatland type is based on a combination of geomorphological and biological features. A peatland type is considered rare if it is a type of which (a) there are relatively few examples in all of northeastern North America (including Maine), or (b) there are few examples in Maine, although the type may be common elsewhere in northeastern North America. Those types in category (a) would be of international or national significance, while those in (b) would have New England or Statewide significance. The determination of rarity of peatland type is based on data contained in 6 references (22, 28, 30-33). Because information is available for only 31 of the 222 deposits, the designations in this category may change ~s new or existing classification schemes are applied not only to the set of documented economically significant peat deposits, but also to the set of all peatlands in the State. Outstanding example of peatland type. Outstanding examples of different peatlands are those which display geomorphological and biological characteristics that are exemplary of their classification type. Information on 33 matrix deposits .is contained in 5 references (22, 28, 30-33). As with rarity of peatland type, the designation in this category may also change as new or existing classification schemes are applied to the matrix. Rare species present. Some peat deposits, regardless of type, provide habitat for rare plant or wildlife species. These deposits may be of international or national significance if they provide habitat for one or more species which are nationally or internationally rare or endangered, or of New England or Statewide significance if a component species is rare or endangered in Maine but not elsewhere in North America. Over half the references cited in the matrix document rare plant localities (references 1, 2, 9-22, 24-26), while virtually no information is available on rare wildlife species (references 3, 23, 29). Most of the studies documented in these references evaluated a limited number of deposits and spent a limited amount of time on each individual deposit. Further research will no doubt reveal new rare species and additional rare species localities, and may in fact show that some "rare" species are far more common than previously indicated. Significant cultural value. A peatland may have significant cultural value whether or not it has rare or outstanding features. This could include use for research or education by scientists or teachers, or for recreation such as fishing, hunting, and snowmobiling. A deposit may be associated with an important archaeological site or with historically significant events or structures. As indicated in the matrix, the cultural value of very few of the economically significant peat deposits has been systematically evaluated (references 22, 23, 28, 30). 3 Quality of information. The quality of the information contained in the references cited in the matrix varies somewhat, primarily because of differences in resources and time available to individual investigators. Most of the information compiled was considered "good", and none of it "poor". In a few instances, the data were considered