Orono Land Trust Newsletter
Fall 2001, Volume 55
JOIN US FOR THE 2001 FALL OUTING! Join us Saturday, October 20 on a fall canoe and kayak trip on Pushaw Lake, along a mile of undeveloped shoreline at the western edge of Caribou Bog. We will paddle to the emergent marshes at the outlet of Pushaw Stream, a resting and feeding place for migrating black ducks and wood ducks. We will explore the delta formed where the stream drains the bog as well as explore different plant and animal community types we pass along the way. Led by naturalist Ron Davis, Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Maine. Meet at 53 Orono Landing Road at 10 a.m. Bring wading boots, plenty of water, and lunch! In the event of bad weather or high wind, call Ron Davis (866-4785) or Cheryl Daigle (827-5372) before 8 a.m.
Celebrating our river and woods on Ayers Island with the Riverkeepers ...
The Penobscot Riverkeepers visited Ayers Island on May 16. Their purpose is to help educate students about the great resource the Penobscot River and its watershed represent in the history and day-to-day life of Maine. A demonstration of woodsmanship was given by Orono teacher Mike Beaudry with his Geography and Economics students from Orono High School learning to wield axes to create great square beams out of raw logs. Mike also had a display of antique and antique replica axes which showed the evolution of the particular axes used in Maine. Terri Hutchinson, Connie Carter, and Sally Jacobs helped with a pot luck supper for the Riverkeepers and the students.
After supper Sally spoke for a bit about land trusts in general and about what OLT does in particular, especially the Ayers Island trails. Matthew Heintz, The Northwoods Balladeer, played the guitar and sang wonderfully clever songs he had composed about the North Maine Woods. Several of the students attending the gathering then signed up for the OLT interest group at the Volunteer Organization Fair on May 17 at Orono High. Sally Jacobs and Wendall Tremblay met with students at the fair. Armed with the maps and brochures that Sherman Hasbrouck so kindly provides us, we explained about land trusts in general, OLT in particular and what student volunteers can accomplish with us. ~ Sally Jacobs
FALL TRAILS DAY October 13th
Join OLT for a morning of fun and good work at protected areas around Orono. Bring water and meet at 9 a.m. at the following locations:
Marsh Island. Meet at the parking lot at the end of Colburn Drive. Bring hammers and saws to build a new boardwalk. Call Peter Millard at 866-3503.
Tech Park. Bring rakes, wheel barrows and pitchforks to make a new entrance. Call Gail White at 866-0041.
Sklar Park. Meet at Mainwood Drive. Please bring chain saw or buck saw to remove a couple of trees. Call Jay Fortier at 866-0493.
UPCOMING OLT MEETINGS
& SPECIAL EVENTS
Board of Director Meetings
are typically held on the third Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the Tredwell Building on Bennoch Road. The next meetings will be: October 15 and November 19.Trail walk Forest Ave South, October 6, 9 a.m..
Led by Jay Fortier (866-0493). Meet at Forest Ave. Entrance.
Reading and social hour with writer Richard Nelson,
Saturday, October 13, 7 p.m. Details on page 2.
Fall Trails Day: Saturday, October 13, 9 a.m. See details above.
Fall Outing on Pushaw Lake: Saturday, October 20, 10 a.
m.Alaskan Writer and Conservationist to Speak in Orono
The Orono Land Trust is hosting a reading and social hour with writer and conservationist Richard Nelson from Sitka, Alaska, on Saturday, October 13, 7 p.m., at the Page Farm and Home Museum. Nelson is a nature writer and cultural anthropologist who is visiting the University of Maine for several days as the first Ecology and Environmental Studies Visiting Lecturer. A series of public talks are planned at the University as well as seminars and meetings with students.
Nelson spent many years studying relationships to the environment among Iñupiaq Eskimos and Athabaskan Indians in Alaska. Based on these experiences he wrote Hunters of the Northern Ice, Shadow of the Hunter, Hunters of the Northern Forest, Make Prayers to the Raven, and The Athabaskans. His book The Island Within--a personal journey into the natural world surrounding his home on the Alaska coast--won the John Burroughs Award for nature writing. Nelson also received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and the Lannan Literary Award for creative nonfiction writing.
His latest book, Heart and Blood: Living with Deer in America, which explores the complex and often controversial relationships between people and deer, received the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. Nelson was named the Alaska State Writer (this state's equivalent to the Poet Laureate) in 1999.
 |
“What makes a place special
is the way it buries itself inside the heart, not whether it’s flat or rugged, rich or austere, wet or arid, gentle or harsh, warm or cold, wild or tame. Every place, like every person, is elevated by the love and respect shown toward it, and by the way in which its bounty is received.” ~ Richard Nelson, from The Island Within
|
NEWS FROM THE TRAILS
4H Volunteers Help with OLT Trails
Thanks to Joe Alex and the volunteers from the Maine State 4-H Convention at UM for the trail work they contributed the morning of Saturday, June 23. Eight 4-H delegates arrived at the OLT entrance from Winterhaven Drive. Dave Clement had mowed the entrance path. He and five volunteers moved all the chips left over from last fall onto the entrance trail. Gail and three 4-H students trimmed back the bushes on the Randall Trail (Pineapple Trail). They managed to get it all done before the rain. OLT members provided snacks, wheelbarrows and tools. Now, if they had just managed to eliminate the skeeters back there...
Pushaw Lake Trails update
The June 23 walk at Pushaw was attended by Nancy Bauer and Sally Jacobs (Gail was hoping to attend but was drafted for trail duty in town at the last minute.) We followed the proposed trail from the Nadeau-Savoy parking lot. It will be wonderful to have access to lakeside observation decks when they and the trail are completed. It is beautiful even now, but do watch out for the poison ivy at the entrance from the road by the park. There is no poison ivy on the MDOT property, so the entrance from Essex Street avoids this problem. Jim Roby-Brantley reports that the project is working its way through the legal department now that the survey is complete. ~ Sally Jacobs
On Ayers Island
The morning of July 21st brought a group of volunteer
workers to Ayers Island to fix up the trails for the upcoming trail walk. It was
a very hot day, but everyone worked very hard cutting the little spikes left
over from winter work. The trails were made wider with the help of Bucky and
Woody and their mowers and Alan's chain saw. A big THANK YOU to Alan & Terri
Hutchinson, Bucky Owen, Woody Carville, Nancy Baurer, Beth White, Vitaly, Jay
Johnson, Brent, Paul, and Gail White, and all our volunteers who have assisted
with Ayers Island trail making.
The Ayers Island trail walk attracted about twenty
And …
Service Learning students, Vitaly & Ryan are busy working with Gail White marking the trails in the Colburn Area and the Reed/Walsh land. ~ Gail White The Orono Land Trust newsletter is published quarterly.Please check our website frequently for updates!
www.bairnet.org/organizations/olt
Newsletter Publisher
Newsletter EditorMargaret Campbell Cheryl Daigle
Website Editor Ginny Whitaker
Photo by Jim White.
Report from our Scholarship Winner ...
Danielle Oakes, our first recipient of the Orono Land Trust Scholarship for environmental projects, environmental studies, and wilderness adventure, immersed herself in one of Maine’s most beautiful and biologically diverse regions as part of her Master of Science program in Ecological Teaching and Learning at Lesley College in Cambridge, MA.
“This summer I spent three weeks on Cobscook Bay at the Friedman Field Station studying the connection between ecology, community, and education. I read several amazing books about ecology and ecological education. I participated in several activities surrounding each topic. For example, I went tidepooling, and learned about bogs and edible plants. I spoke with local people native and non-native about culture and their sense of place. I also explored ways to approach these topics in my classrooms. The journey continues throughout this year and next.” ~ Danielle Oakes
NATURE CLIPS by Jerry Longcore
Cool water …
For those mature OLT members who may remember the Sons of the Pioneers, they undoubtedly will remember the lyrics of one of the hit songs; “All day I face the burning waste without a drop of water, cool, clear water…”. The drought this year reminds us all that fresh water is precious. The earth has lots of water, but 97% is salt water, and of the 3% that is freshwater 2% is ice! And water is the essence for life; without it cells, organs, and organisms die. Think of the myriad ways we use and abuse water---washing (most everything we own), cooking and canning, flushing, brushing those pearly whites, shipping, generating power, but mostly we use fresh water (about 80% of the use) to produce our food. And it takes a lot—about 1,000 gallons to produce just one 8oz. steak! Many of our prime waterways and wetlands have been on the receiving end of the belief that the solution to pollution is dilution with fresh water. To ensure that no one has to “face the burning waste without a drop of water” each member of the community needs to become informed on how to conserve water in their realm of influence. Just do it! (Facts from National Geographic Special Edition, Water 1993, Vol. 184, No 5A).
OLT Draws a Crowd at Orono Festival
The Land Trust table at the Orono Festival was a busy spot on Saturday, September 8. Many people stopped by to look at the trail maps, locate their homes and other places on our large aerial photo, and inquire about membership. Several people participated in our annual quiz and correctly identified 4 species of "Plants from Away " which included Queen Anne's Lace, Purple Loostrife, Japanese Knotwood and Common Buckthorn. Our winner from a drawing of correct answers was Jane Cooper of Orono. She received one of our lovely Orono Land Trust mugs designed by Sandy Houtman. Thanks to Jerry Longcore for preparing the quiz. Assisting at the table was David Koffman, Gail White and Wendall Tremblay and Deta Pearce.
Note from the Editor
On occasion, we will include poetry, short prose, photography, and/or artwork created by our members in the newsletter. If you would like to submit your work, please email Cheryl Daigle at cdaigle1@acadia.net.
Stewardship
Help is Always Needed !!!For more information, contact ...
Stewardship Wendall Tremblay
Leader: 866-4531
wendalltre@aol.com
Trails Gail White
Leader: 866- 0041 jwhite@
saturn.caps.maine.edu
Trail Building Chris Dorion 866-7806
& GPS Guru: Cdorion@agate.net; cdorion@infi.net
Welcome
to Pushaw Bog Trail Steward Johanna Evans
ORONO LAND TRUST MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Please mail this form with your check made out to “Orono Land Trust" to Orono Land Trust, Treasurer, 152 Bennoch Road, Orono, ME 04473. OLT is a publicly supported charitable organization 501(c)3.
Name________________________________________Address___________________________________________
Telephone_______________________________E-Mail_________________________________________
____$15 Annual Family Membership ___$100 Business/Sponsor Membership
____$35 Steward Membership ___$1000 Life Membership
____$50 Donor Membership
I'd like to make an ADDITIONAL $_____donation to help preserve green space in Orono.
I want to help the Land Trust activities in the areas of:
___ Lands ___ Website ___ Membership ___ Public Relations
___ Newsletter ___ Program Activities ___ Stewardship/Trails ___ Other
OLT posts its newsletter and members of committees on its web page. Does OLT have your permission to list your email address _____ and/or phone number _____ on the OLT web page?
152 Bennoch Road
Orono, Maine 04473
www.bairnet.org/organizations/olt
.
The Land Trust’s Goals
The Orono Land Trust exists to protect and preserve a portion of our natural environment for the benefit of all residents of Orono, Maine.
In doing so, we do not seek to halt development. We do want to balance development with the conservation of open spaces
We feel that if such a balance is not achieved, much will be irretrievably lost to us and to future generations.
We seek to maintain Orono’s valuable trail system and open space for the citizens of Orono and to enhance people's awareness of their values by conducting educational programs for all ages.
printed on recycled paper
