Aves Specta

A quick lunch-time trail hike turned into an exciting wildlife tracking adventure this afternoon for two members of the Education Staff! After turning onto the Pilger Trail from the Laudholm Connector, we noticed the very distinct tracks below. See if you can spot them!

Hoping simply to find out where the elongate porcupine tracks led, we followed the footprints slowly. These tracks were mixed in with a few others, including deer, raccoon, and perhaps a handful of other small mammals. Luckily, we took our eyes off of the ground just in time to catch a fantastic sight in a nearby apple tree: a small, white, prickly ball, edging itself toward the end of a branch. An albino porcupine!

Thrilled to see such an unexpected wild friend, we rushed back to the farmhouse to grab a camera and a couple pairs of binoculars. The porcupine stayed put, soaking in the warm rays of sunshine, moving only ever-so-slowly to reach up with a leg and scratch its belly! Content with a few good snapshots and binocular views, we continued along the Pilger Trail, still delighted with our find, until we met up with the Barrier Beach Trail to bring us back to the office.

But wait! Along the Barrier Beach, high up in a maple tree, was yet another bundle of quills and fur, this time all brown! Another porcupine friend, whom I had spotted just last weekend in the same tree, was resting peacefully on this beautiful winter day.

What a wonderful walk, with such adorable and unexpected friends!

This is the second time an all-white porcupine has been spotted on the trails at the Wells Reserve, and it is one of a handful of albino porcupines that have been seen in the Southern Maine region. Many of our visitors are familiar with Edna the albino porcupine, a lovable wildlife ambassador from the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, who has visited the Reserve on many occasions including summer camps and Winter Wildlife Day. We are glad to know Edna has a few wild friends in the area, and encourage you to get out and see what wildlife and tracks you can find! For a tracking experience with a professional Maine guide or an opportunity to see animal ambassadors from the Center for Wildlife, we invite you to join us for Winter Wildlife Day this month, on February 23 from 10am-2pm. Hope to see you there!

WELLS, Maine, February 3, 2012 — Diana Joyner, president of the Laudholm Trust, the fundraising partner of the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, is stepping down from her position in June, according to an announcement from Bruce Read, chair of the Trust board.

A board committee has begun the search process for a successor.

“Four years ago, Diana stepped off of our board and into the interim president position at a critical time in the history of the Trust,” notes Read. “The economy had softened and we needed someone with distinct leadership skills at the helm. Diana did such an outstanding job, we asked her to stay aboard for a few more years. Under her leadership, the organization has not only grown, it’s thrived.”

According to Read, Joyner was instrumental in leading the organization through the economic downturn without staff or program reductions by trimming operational and event expenses, increasing event profits, increasing site rentals for weddings and corporate events, and developing and implementing a three-year strategic plan.

“One of our goals was to increase the visibility of the Wells Reserve at Laudholm by rebranding the organization,” adds Read. “Diana led the charge on this. We’ve reintroduced the Wells Reserve at Laudholm through new logo designs, revamped publications, an all-new website, new historical building signage and trail signs, a new trailside education program, and increased visibility in the media.”

According to Read, Joyner also created new opportunities for community involvement. “Diana developed new partnerships with local school districts, helped create some events to attract young adults and families, and recruited almost fifty new business partners and sponsors for the Trust’s signature events at the Wells Reserve – the Laudholm Nature Crafts Festival, Punkinfiddle, and Wells Reserve EcoDay.”

Joyner’s impact on the historic Laudholm campus included co-managing a renovation of the Visitor Center and the installation of new exhibits there, as well as the construction of a new entryway information kiosk.

“I’ve especially enjoyed the opportunity to work with the Laudholm Trust board and staff, the team at the Wells Reserve, and our many generous donors and volunteers,” remarks Joyner. “Like all non-profit organizations, we faced many challenges during the economic downturn. But with the extensive support we’ve received at all levels, there have been many successes that place the organization in excellent condition, financially and programmatically.

“I’ve established many new relationships that will continue to enrich my life,” adds Joyner. “At this point, it’s time to pass the helm over to an individual who will broaden the impact of Laudholm Trust while I spend more time with my family. I fully intend to be a very active supporter in the years ahead.”

Read says that the board’s search committee is now accepting online applications. Interested individuals can learn more about the position and the application process by visiting the Wells Reserve at Laudholm website at www.wellsreserve.org. Joyner will be assisting throughout the transition.

###

About Laudholm Trust

Laudholm Trust, a member-supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is dedicated to advancing the coastal research, education, and stewardship programs of the Wells Reserve and to preserving its historic buildings by providing monetary and in-kind support for programs, operations, and capital improvements. The Trust strives to extend its unique legacy by galvanizing community support and inspiring actions that protect Maine's coastal environments. For more information visit www.wellsreserve.org.

Just added to the historic photo archive is this old photograph with the brief note "at Wells–Laudholm" written on the back. Any tractor experts care to speculate on the year and make of that antique? Thanks to Charles for passing along the 2x3" image from which this was cropped.

WELLS, Maine, January 26, 2012 — A 105-acre property that connects 540 acres of existing conservation land has been permanently protected by the Town of Wells in partnership with the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm.

The Tilton parcel, as it is known, contains 5,250 feet of frontage along the Merriland River, ecologically significant wetlands, and forested uplands. It protects habitat for a variety of wildlife, scenic views, and historic stone walls, and will provide for recreational and educational opportunities for the public.

The 105-acre Tilton parcel serves as a conservation bridge between two already conserved tracts of land: 410 acres of town-owned land called the Great Haith, and a 130-acre conservation easement held by the Great Works Regional Land Trust. With the protection of the Tilton Parcel, a 645-acre conservation node has been created in the center of this community.

Keith Fletcher, a member of the Wells Conservation Commission who was the Tilton Project Leader, says that "We are very lucky that the most important parcel in the Great Haith area was owned by a family with deep Wells roots. They love the land and wanted to see it conserved. They waited patiently for many years for the funding to fall into place for this purchase. I am very grateful to the Tilton family, and I am sure future generations of Wells residents will also be grateful that this land was placed into conservation."

The property was purchased from the Tilton Family, who had owned and managed the land for many years. The property includes extensive road frontage on both sides of Route 109, and along the Bragdon Road. Five acres around an existing house were excluded from the purchase.

The conservation purchase was funded by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, and the residents of Wells, who each year vote to place town funds in a “Land Bank” for conservation acquisitions.

“Once again the people of Wells have voted to invest in their future: clean trout streams, pure well water, healthy beaches downstream, beautiful woods, and water for recreation,” says Owen Grumbling, chair of the Wells Conservation Commission. “Investing in the Land Bank fund year by year allowed us to acquire this beautiful parcel without incurring debt.”

The Merriland River is the major freshwater source for one of the three estuaries encompassed by the Wells Reserve and Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. The river originates in sandy outwash plains in western region of the Town of Wells, meandering for six miles before meeting Branch Brook to form the Little River, the largely pristine estuary of the Reserve and the Refuge.

The Merriland River and its associated uplands are a high priority for conservation for the Town of Wells Conservation Commission and Wells Reserve.

“Protection of land along the rivers that flow into our estuaries and those properties that contribute to landscape-scale conservation in coastal York County communities are priorities for us,” says Paul Dest, director of the Wells Reserve. “The Tilton Parcel helps accomplish both of these objectives.”

In this week's York County Coast Star, Shelley Wigglesworth reports on the passing of Alexander Bacon Brook — "Sandy" — who owned and edited the paper from 1957 to 1977. The remembrances collected there reflect Brook's life as a newspaperman, but readers of the era also knew he loved York County's unspoiled environment. Here's a passage from an editorial he wrote in the paper — as Joyce Butler says in her history of Laudholm — "when preserving Laudholm Farm was still a dream"…

...untouched, unrelieved panorama of sea and sun and sky and trees and marsh grasses… observing a stationary bittern, or the ducks where the river widens, or a red-winged blackbird on the far bank… to dream alone and furtive there like an early settler… drinking the clean scents of sweet grass and saltwater, feeling the hot sun shine on, shine on, hearing the wind playing the marsh grasses like a million oboes and the swishing of the outgoing tide at the river lip.

Yes, this is why we are here, stewarding such timeless wonders to honor the vision of our predecessors and to inspire future generations.

Our program calendar covering February through May is now available to download. Highlights include:

• Day camps for February and April school vacations
• Winter Wildlife Day
• Monthly Lunch 'n' Learns
• Docent Training
• Two Night Hikes
• Wells Reserve EcoDay

Download the 2012 winter-spring calendar (700kb)

The White House has released a draft implementation plan for National Ocean Policy, demonstrating ongoing progress on a massive task. The draft implementation plan is guided by four themes:

1. Adopt ecosystem-based management
2. Obtain, use, and share the best science and data
3. Promote efficiency and collaboration
4. Strengthen regional efforts

The plan lays out a series of more than 50 actions — with accompanying outcomes and milestones — guided by these National Priority Objectives:

• Ecosystem-Based Management: Adopt ecosystem-based management as a foundational principle for the comprehensive management of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.
• Inform Decisions and Improve Understanding: Increase knowledge to continually inform and improve management and policy decisions and the capacity to respond to change and challenges. Better educate the public through formal and informal programs about the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.
• Observations, Mapping, and Infrastructure: Strengthen and integrate Federal and non-Federal ocean observing systems, sensors, data collection platforms, data management, and mapping capabilities into a national system, and integrate that system into international observation efforts.
• Coordinate and Support: Better coordinate and support Federal, State, Tribal, local, and regional management of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes. Improve coordination and integration across the Federal Government and, as appropriate, engage with the international community.
• Regional Ecosystem Protection and Restoration: Establish and implement an integrated ecosystem protection and restoration strategy that is science-based and aligns conservation and restoration goals at the Federal, State, Tribal, local, and regional levels.
• Resiliency and Adaptation to Climate Change and Ocean Acidification: Strengthen resiliency of coastal communities and marine and Great Lakes environments and their abilities to adapt to climate change impacts and ocean acidification.
• Water Quality and Sustainable Practices on Land: Enhance water quality in the ocean, along our coasts, and in the Great Lakes by promoting and implementing sustainable practices on land.
• Changing Conditions in the Arctic: Address environmental stewardship needs in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent coastal areas in the face of climate-induced and other environmental changes.
• Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning: Implement comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem-based coastal and marine spatial planning and management in the United States.

The Wells Reserve is already deeply involved in 8 of the 9 priorities and will surely continue its role in pursuing actions that improve ocean health.

Comments on the implementation plan are due toward the end of February. The government is looking for general input as well as responses to these questions:

• Does the draft implementation plan reflect actions you see are needed to address the nine priorities for the ocean, coasts, and the Great Lakes?
• What is the most effective way to measure outcomes and to detect whether a particular action in the implementation plan has achieved its intended outcome? Would a report card format be useful?

 

Paul Dobbins, President of Ocean Approved, shared his vast knowledge of kelp farming with a group of over 35 people yesterday during a Lunch 'n' Learn in Mather Auditorium. He came fully equipped not only with a very informative lecture, but also a huge bowl of delicious homemade kelp cole slaw for everyone to sample!

Among the many intriguing pieces of information that were shared:

• Of the 7,700 million metric tons of food on earth, only 1.5 percent is seafood. This is despite the fact that 70 percent of the earth is covered with water. There is a huge opportunity to grow more of our food at sea through kelp farming. Ocean Approved does not use any chemicals or toxins through its process of growing kelp.
• Ocean Approved, based in Maine, is the only commercial kelp farm in the United States. Its kelp is 100 percent natural and highly nutritious.
• Kelp, referred to as a "sea vegetable," grows from spores. The spores are tiny--950 million kelp spores would fit on a postage stamp.
• When kelp begins its life in this spore stage, it behaves much like an animal, moving around on its own power!
• The ideal temperature for farming kelp in the ocean is 52 degrees. The perfect depth is 7 feet. Maine's cold waters are an ideal kelp farming environment.
• When water temperatures hit 62 degrees, kelp stops growing and goes into its reproductive phase.
• As kelp grows, it absorbs excess nutrients from the water and provides shade and shelter for marine organisms (such as lobsters and winter pollock), while also producing oxygen through photosynthesis.
• Three months after putting "baby kelp" into Casco Bay, Paul and his team harvest Sugar Kelp that has grown to lengths of 8 feet. During the fastest growing month of February, it grows 2.5-3 inches per day.
• Mature kelp puts out UV inhibitors in the summer months, which protects younger kelp underneath from the sun.
• Kelp is a bioaccumulator of heavy metals. In England, kelp farms have been shut down due to high arsenic levels. Ocean Approved kelp from Casco Bay, however, does not have any detectable traces of heavy metals.
• One of the challenges of kelp farming in Maine is finding an area that is ideal for kelp farming, but isn't already being used for lobstering.

Thank you to Paul for such an informative and engaging program!

Stream-Smart Road Crossing Workshops

These workshops will cover road-stream crossing projects from site assessment to permitting and installation. The emphasis will be on maintaining and restoring the habitat and economic values of the stream.

Workshop presenters will include professionals from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Maine Forest Service, Project Share,U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Maine Coastal Program, NOAA and the Army Corp of Engineers. Participants in this work shop will receive recertification credit for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Voluntary Contractor Certification Program. This workshop should be helpful to all professionals who are responsible for road-stream crossings including, contractors, road commissioners, public works departments, conservation commissions, engineers, planners, landtrusts, watershed groups and private landowners.

Online Registration at lynx.maineaudubon.org/stream-smart

Workshops are offered in four different locations in Maine—content is the same for all workshops.

For more information contact Becca Wilson at bwilson@maineaudubon.orgor 207-781-2330 x222.

For years now, we've been handing out Seafood Watch pocket guides so people can make more careful decisions about what fish and shellfish to buy or avoid. The Monterey Bay Aquarium publishes regional guides, so the information is tailored to residents of the northeast, for example.

Now the aquarium has made ocean-friendly seafood recommendations even more convenient for smartphone users with its Seafood Watch app for iPhone or Android. At our house, the printed "pocket guide" often lived under a magnet on the refrigerator or got pierced by a thumbtack on the bulletin board, rarely making the trip to market. Now we will have the critical data in hand, as our mobile devices don't get left behind.

Thanks Mission-Aransas NERR and Groovy Green Livin for bringing the Seafood Watch apps to our attention via Twitter.

I noted 132 species during 2011, but only 92 of the ones on our "99 common birds" checklist. These are the ones I missed:

1. Lesser Yellowlegs
2. Spotted Sandpiper
3. American Woodcock
4. Eastern Wood-Pewee
5. Great Crested Flycatcher
6. Red-breasted Nuthatch
7. Rose-breasted Grosbeak

It's just silly to miss woodcock, but most of the others are understandable. In fact, a look through my personal records going back more than a decade reveals not a single Red-breasted Nuthatch on Wells Reserve property. I'm sure they're around — back when my office was down at the Alheim house I noted them a few times in the pines along Laudholm Farm Road — but I have only crossed paths with white-breasteds since moving up to the farm.

I've just five grosbeak records in 11 years, too, calling that species into question as "common." Maybe it's time to review that list of 99.

Photo by Wolfgang Wander

I noted 132 species during 2011, but only 92 of the ones on our "99 common birds" checklist. These are the ones I missed:

1. Lesser Yellowlegs
2. Spotted Sandpiper
3. American Woodcock
4. Eastern Wood-Pewee
5. Great Crested Flycatcher
6. Red-breasted Nuthatch
7. Rose-breasted Grosbeak

It's just silly to miss woodcock, but most of the others are understandable. In fact, a look through my personal records going back more than a decade reveals not a single Red-breasted Nuthatch on Wells Reserve property. I'm sure they're around — back when my office was down at the Alheim house I noted them a few times in the pines along Laudholm Farm Road — but I have only crossed paths with white-breasteds since moving up to the farm.

I've just five grosbeak records in 11 years, too, calling that species into question as "common." Maybe it's time to review that list of 99.

Photo by Wolfgang Wander

Building Capacity and Collaborating to Protect Source Water

The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership convened the Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative to improve watershed planning and management — and to protect water supply sources — in the Salmon Falls River watershed. The Salmon Falls River flows from an ecologically diverse land area shared by the states of Maine and New Hampshire, and drains into the Great Bay estuary, a coastal ecosystem of national importance. Approximately 28,000 people rely on public water systems in the Salmon Falls watershed to provide clean drinking water. Many other households rely on private groundwater wells within this region to provide clean drinking water. While the watershed is a critical drinking water source it is also threatened by future increases in polluted runoff resulting from population growth and the associated conversion of forested land to developed areas. The U.S Forest Service 2009 report Private Forests, Public Benefits identified the rivers in the Piscataqua Region as the most threatened in the nation with regard to a potential decline in water quality due to conversion of private forested lands to housing.

The collaborative coordinates long-term source water protection efforts among planning commissions, land trusts, watershed associations, water systems, and town, state, and federal agencies in New Hampshire and Maine. The collaborative's goal is to protect and sustain high quality drinking water in the Salmon Falls River watershed.

Project Details                                                                 view map here

The Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative hosted  the one-day Working Beyond Borders to Protect Drinking Water in the Salmon Falls Watershed workshop on October 27, 2010. The workshop built a sense of shared purpose among participants in the Salmon Falls Watershed. Organizations included more than 80 participants from Maine and New Hampshire state agencies, water systems, local governments (select boards, planning boards, conservation commissions, and town staff), watershed groups, lake associations, land trusts, regional planning commissions, and other conservation organizations. The workshop led to an action plan that reflects the priorities and ideas generated from the workshop and complements existing water protection work being done by water districts, municipalities, and many different organizations in the watershed. As part of the overall project, several low-cost, high-priority actions will be implemented.

Project Partners

In addition to PREP and the Wells Reserve, the following groups are currently active participants in the Collaborative’s Steering Committee:

• Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• New Hampshire DES Drinking Water Source Protection Program
• New Hampshire DES Watershed Assistance Section
• Maine Rural Water Association
• Granite State Rural Water Association
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• City of Berwick Water District
• South Berwick Water District
• Maine Non-point Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO)
• Strafford Regional Planning Commission
• U.S. Forest Service
• Salter-Mitchell
• Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance
• USDA Farm Service Agency

For more information contact the project management team:

• Christine Feurt, Ph.D., 207-646-1555 ext 111
• Annie Cox, 207-646-1555 ext 157

Building Capacity and Collaborating to Protect Source Water

The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership convened the Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative to improve watershed planning and management — and to protect water supply sources — in the Salmon Falls River watershed. The Salmon Falls River flows from an ecologically diverse land area shared by the states of Maine and New Hampshire, and drains into the Great Bay estuary, a coastal ecosystem of national importance. Approximately 28,000 people rely on public water systems in the Salmon Falls watershed to provide clean drinking water. Many other households rely on private groundwater wells within this region to provide clean drinking water. While the watershed is a critical drinking water source it is also threatened by future increases in polluted runoff resulting from population growth and the associated conversion of forested land to developed areas. The U.S Forest Service 2009 report Private Forests, Public Benefits identified the rivers in the Piscataqua Region as the most threatened in the nation with regard to a potential decline in water quality due to conversion of private forested lands to housing.

The collaborative coordinates long-term source water protection efforts among planning commissions, land trusts, watershed associations, water systems, and town, state, and federal agencies in New Hampshire and Maine. The collaborative's goal is to protect and sustain high quality drinking water in the Salmon Falls River watershed.

Project Details                                                                 view map here

The Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative hosted  the one-day Working Beyond Borders to Protect Drinking Water in the Salmon Falls Watershed workshop on October 27, 2010. The workshop built a sense of shared purpose among participants in the Salmon Falls Watershed. Organizations included more than 80 participants from Maine and New Hampshire state agencies, water systems, local governments (select boards, planning boards, conservation commissions, and town staff), watershed groups, lake associations, land trusts, regional planning commissions, and other conservation organizations. The workshop led to an action plan that reflects the priorities and ideas generated from the workshop and complements existing water protection work being done by water districts, municipalities, and many different organizations in the watershed. As part of the overall project, several low-cost, high-priority actions will be implemented.

Project Partners

In addition to PREP and the Wells Reserve, the following groups are currently active participants in the Collaborative’s Steering Committee:

• Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• New Hampshire DES Drinking Water Source Protection Program
• New Hampshire DES Watershed Assistance Section
• Maine Rural Water Association
• Granite State Rural Water Association
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• City of Berwick Water District
• South Berwick Water District
• Maine Non-point Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO)
• Strafford Regional Planning Commission
• U.S. Forest Service
• Salter-Mitchell
• Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance
• USDA Farm Service Agency

For more information contact the project management team:

• Christine Feurt, Ph.D., 207-646-1555 ext 111
• Annie Cox, 207-646-1555 ext 157

We have just finalized a schedule for our February and April School Vacation camps! This year we will be offering two full-day Just for Kids camps (for ages 6-9) and two full-day Junior Researchers camps (for ages 9-12) during winter and spring school vacation weeks. I am so excited for these camps, which will get campers outside during two awesome seasons here at the Reserve!

Just for Kids Camps (Ages 6-9, 9am-3pm)

Thursday, February 23      Winter Wildlife Detectives

Friday, February 24           Winter Feathered Friends

Monday, April 16                Vernal Pool Party

Tuesday, April 17               Endangered Neighbors Art Day

Junior Researcher Camps (Ages 9-12, 9am-3pm)

Tuesday, February 21        Winter Trekkers

Wednesday, February 22   Snow Survivors

Wednesday, April 18          Migration Exploration

Thursday, April 19              Beach Keepers

Full descriptions of each camp can be found on our calendar, and the registration form and scholarship applications can be found in the links below. Each day of camp is $40 for members and $50 for non-members, although we are offering $10 off your total cost for every 2 camps you sign up for! The registration deadline for February camps is February 16, and the deadline for April camps is April 12.

I look forward to seeing returning camp families as well as a bunch of new faces!

Registration Form

Just for Kids Scholarship Application

Junior Researchers Scholarship Application

We have just finalized a schedule for our February and April School Vacation camps! This year we will be offering two full-day Just for Kids camps (for ages 6-9) and two full-day Junior Researchers camps (for ages 9-12) during winter and spring school vacation weeks. I am so excited for these camps, which will get campers outside during two awesome seasons here at the Reserve!

Just for Kids Camps (Ages 6-9, 9am-3pm)

Thursday, February 23      Winter Wildlife Detectives

Friday, February 24           Winter Feathered Friends

Monday, April 16                Vernal Pool Party

Tuesday, April 17               Endangered Neighbors Art Day

Junior Researcher Camps (Ages 9-12, 9am-3pm)

Tuesday, February 21        Winter Trekkers

Wednesday, February 22   Snow Survivors

Wednesday, April 18          Migration Exploration

Thursday, April 19              Beach Keepers

Full descriptions of each camp can be found on our calendar, and the registration form and scholarship applications can be found in the links below. Each day of camp is $40 for members and $50 for non-members, although we are offering $10 off your total cost for every 2 camps you sign up for! The registration deadline for February camps is February 16, and the deadline for April camps is April 12.

I look forward to seeing returning camp families as well as a bunch of new faces!

Registration Form

Just for Kids Scholarship Application

Junior Researchers Scholarship Application

Restore Americas Estuaries, the "cohesive force and guiding beacon for coastal and estuarine habitat restoration across the country," will hold its sixth national conference next October in Tampa, Florida, with the theme "Restoring Ecosystems, Strengthening Communities." The deadline for proposals is February 1.

From the conference website:

We are particularly interested in proposals for sessions, presentations, and posters dealing with the interface of the environment and the economy, but all proposals relevant to coastal habitat restoration will not only be considered, but are highly encouraged.

Restore Americas Estuaries, the "cohesive force and guiding beacon for coastal and estuarine habitat restoration across the country," will hold its sixth national conference next October in Tampa, Florida, with the theme "Restoring Ecosystems, Strengthening Communities." The deadline for proposals is February 1.

From the conference website:

We are particularly interested in proposals for sessions, presentations, and posters dealing with the interface of the environment and the economy, but all proposals relevant to coastal habitat restoration will not only be considered, but are highly encouraged.

Contents of the Fall 2011 issue of Watermark include…

• Restoring Habitat for Migratory Fish in Shoreys Brook
• Up Front — Entry Drive Enhanced with New Trees, New Interpretive Signs Focus on Habitat, "Changing Landscapes" Exhibits Open, KEEP Assessments Complete, Forest Ecology Management Plan, Scholarships for Wild Friends in Wild Places, Reserve Director Earns National Honor, AmeriCorps Team Pitches In, Facility Improvements, TOTE Succeeds in Second Season
• President's Notebook
• Forest Notebook – The Straight Story
• New Signs for Historic Site
• York River "Wild and Scenic" Update
• Team Completes Assessment of Maine Wetlands
• Merriland River Grant Moves Parcel Toward Protection
• Lists of Supporters
• Outstanding Service Award for Endangered Species Protection
• Events Coming in December and next year

Download the Fall 2011 Watermark (5 MB)

Contents of the Fall 2011 issue of Watermark include…

• Restoring Habitat for Migratory Fish in Shoreys Brook
• Up Front — Entry Drive Enhanced with New Trees, New Interpretive Signs Focus on Habitat, "Changing Landscapes" Exhibits Open, KEEP Assessments Complete, Forest Ecology Management Plan, Scholarships for Wild Friends in Wild Places, Reserve Director Earns National Honor, AmeriCorps Team Pitches In, Facility Improvements, TOTE Succeeds in Second Season
• President's Notebook
• Forest Notebook – The Straight Story
• New Signs for Historic Site
• York River "Wild and Scenic" Update
• Team Completes Assessment of Maine Wetlands
• Merriland River Grant Moves Parcel Toward Protection
• Lists of Supporters
• Outstanding Service Award for Endangered Species Protection
• Events Coming in December and next year

Download the Fall 2011 Watermark (5 MB)