Chapter 3 Existing Environment
Chapter 3 Dan Salas, Cardno JFNew Dan Salas, Cardno View of Carlton Pond Existing Environment • Introduction • Physical Landscape • Refuge and WPA Biological Resources • Cultural Landscape Setting and Land Use History • Socioeconomic Environment • Refuge and WPA Administration • Refuge and WPA Public Use • Archaeological and Historical Resources Introduction Introduction This chapter describes the current and historic physical, biological, and socioeconomic landscape of Carlton Pond WPA and the three units comprising Sunkhaze Meadows NWR (Sunkhaze Meadows, Benton, and Sandy Stream Units). Included are descriptions of the physical landscape, the regional context and its history, and the refuge environment, including its history, current administration, programs, and specific refuge resources. The 11,484-acre Sunkhaze Meadows Unit is located in the town of Milford, Penobscot County, approximately 14 miles northeast of Bangor, Maine. The refuge is about 3 miles east of the Penobscot River and roughly bounded on the west by Dudley Brook, on the south and east by County Road, and on the north and east by Stud Mill Road. Sunkhaze Stream bisects the refuge along a northeast to southwest orientation and, along with its six tributaries, creates a diversity of wetland communities. The bogs and stream wetlands, adjacent uplands and associated transition zones, provide important habitat for many wildlife species. The wetland complex consists primarily of wet meadows, shrub thickets, cedar swamps, extensive red and silver maple floodplain forests and open freshwater stream habitats, along with plant communities associated with peatlands, such as shrub heaths and cedar and spruce bogs. The 334-acre Benton Unit is in the town of Benton, Kennebec County, about 5 miles northeast of Waterville, Maine.
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