Belfast Bay Watershed Coalition 2017 Annual Report Published January 2018 www.belfastbaywatershed.org Membership • 217 members (defined by making a contribution in the current year) • 725 names on email list who receive quarterly newsletter and monthly reminders • 187 people volunteered in our efforts (members and non-members) Educational Programs • Evening programs, attendance 21 to 60. Topics: Birds of Belfast; Sedges of Maine; Water Quality in the Penobscot; Plastics, Ocean Acidification, Warming, and Marine Debris in the Gulf of Maine; Endocrine Disruptors in the Watershed; Cyanobacteria and ALS; Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument; Brown Tail Moth in our Area; Maine Bogs and Fens; Weaving Cordage as Community-Builder. • Sponsored and organized Penobscot Bay Stewards volunteer training program in collaboration with Searsport Shores Ocean Campground. 20 trainees currently volunteering 30 hours per year for conservation. Now over 100 trained stewards give their efforts to conservation. • “Natural Literacy” education at Nickerson School, Capt. Albert Stevens, Ames, Drinkwater, East Belfast, and Waldo County Technical School. Taught Watershed course at Nickerson Elementary School: 5 days in class, one-day field trip hike and water quality, trash pick-up. • Taught Nature Journaling at Capt. Albert Stevens, 6 days. • Taught trail work (clipping, mapping, painting blazes) at Capt. Albert Stevens, 2 days. • Salmon-in-Schools program in 11 schools. Continued purchase of one new set-up per year. • Salmon Release Day curriculum activities, Salmon-in- Schools Program, multiple days. • Conducted 9 bird walks/paddles for Bird Week in May. • Organized and staffed two Earth Days, for Drinkwater School and for East Belfast School. • Organized and donated funds to Earth Days Waldo County 3-day program. • Organized and led book discussion group on Climate of Hope. • Co-sponsored 3 Permablitzes and a Solstice Celebration at Head of Tide Preserve. • Co-sponsored Insect Safari at Head-of-Tide Preserve. • Led monthly Belfast Harbor Bird Watch from Footbridge. • Bird Walks: Sears Island; Ducktrap River Trail, South Branch of Marsh River, Swanville Farm, In-Town nature Trail, Head of Tide, St. Clair Preserve, Meadow Brook Preserve, Little River Trail. Woodcock watch. Christmas Bird Count. • Collaborated with Habitat Belfast, the Restorative Justice Project, and Reentry Center in Community Conservation Corps. Workshops • Primitive Skills Day (weaving with foraged materials; fire-making with bow drill). • Map and Compass skills. Scholarships • Waldo County YMCA nature camp. • 4-H Camp at Tanglewood - 3 scholarships for day camp. • Boy Scouts of America Troop 27 - 3 scholarships for day camp. Exploratory outings • Monthly explorations (10), attendance 4 to 30. Hiking, XC ski/snowshoeing, kayaking, canoeing, birding. Places: Geology of the Rail Trail, Meadow Brook/Hurds Pond Preserve in Swanville, Head of Tide Preserve, Hills to Sea Trail, Sears Island, Little River Trail, Frye Mountain, In-Town Nature Trail, and XC skiing/potluck social on a farm in Swanville. Paddle trips on South Branch of Marsh River, Passagassawakeag River. • Naturalist walks (5), attendance 6 to 28. Birding, Butterfly/insect identification, Ferns, Mosses and Lichens, Geology. Reading the Landscape, general natural history. Trail work • Continued rerouting, maintaining, mapping, and marking the Hills to Sea Trail, a long-distance hiking trail through Waldo County. Led 4 public hikes on it. • Trail maintenance on Davis Bog Trail, Morrill. • Bog bridge construction and maintenance of Little River Community Trail. • Trail work and bog bridges on Coastal Mountains Land Trust preserves we enjoy using: Head-of-Tide, Stover, Meadow Brook/Hurds Pond, McLellan-Poor, St. Clair (Knights Pond), Long Cove Headwaters, Mainstream Preserve. Many, many hours and people! Community Projects • Supported Pen Bay Steward effort to ban plastic bags at large stores. Effective Jan. 1, 2018. • Co-sponsored Head of Tide Permaculture Project: bio-blitz, nature activities, community gatherings, work parties, naturalist walks, summer and winter solstice celebrations. • Marine debris clean-up by boat in North Penobscot Bay, 2 days. • Showed films, or co-sponsored: Climate of Hope, Inhabit, Ocean Frontiers III, Sacred Cod. • Collaborated with Capt. Albert Stevens School, Troy Howard Middle School, Drinkwater School, East Belfast School, Appleton School, Lincolnville School, Habitat Belfast, Friends of Belfast Parks, Belfast Garden Club, Belfast Transition, YMCA, Mid-Coast Audubon, Sheepscot Wellspring Land Alliance, Coastal Mountains Land Trust, Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport Shores Campground, Downeast Outing Club, Homeschool Coop, Habitat Belfast. • Participation in Waldo County Trails Coalition. • Community-building: Head-of-Tide Permaculture Project, Pen Bay Stewards get-togethers, annual January potluck social with outdoor fun, monthly outings. • Research • Natural Resource Committee: ongoing diadromous fish restoration efforts: water quality training and monitoring, data loggers put into Belfast Bay, Wescot Stream, and Passagassawakeag River; local education about barriers to fish migration in the mid-coast. • Natural Resource Committee continued long-range study of winter bird life in the bay and a breeding bird survey on land, completed in fall, 2017. • Triennial professional water quality monitoring of Wescot Stream and Passagassawakeag River. • Installed and monitored storm surge sensors in Belfast and Searsport harbors. Publications • Newsletters (4) online; 75 printed copies of each for outreach. • Belfast In-Town Nature Trail map and guide brochure. • Belfast’s Important Birding Locations, map and seasonal guide by Seth Benz. • Plants of the Little River Community Trail, color brochure by Don Phillips. • Little River Community Trail List of Bird Species and Abundances, brochure by Ron Harrell. • Website maintained by Paul Eagle and Alice Seeger : www.BelfastBayWatershed.org BBWC 2017 Board of Directors: President: Tom King David Bond Vice President: Karin Wittmann Ernie Cooper Secretary: Cloe Chunn Barney Lutsk Treasurer: Gene Randall Skip Pendleton Marianne Randall John Tipping .