Orono Land Trust Newsletter
Vol. 56 Winter 2001
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday, March 18
OLT Board Meeting. 7:30
p.m. Parks & Recreation Building
Friday,
April 5
Orono Land Trust 16th Annual Meeting
Charlie Todd, Inland Fish & Wildlife speaking on EAGLES! Bring the whole family. Desserts at 6:30 and the presentation at 7:00 P.M. followed by the annual meeting.
The Lands Committee reports great progress
toward OLT's vision for Northwest Orono
Six years ago, the Lands Committee engaged in a long range planning process, to identify where we should focus our interest in acquisitions of open space, easements, and development of trails. The Committee concluded that the area of town west of I 95 was most likely to be subject to development pressure in the next decades, and most deserving of attention because at that time there was no public protected property there, except portions of the University forest. The Board agreed that activity to protect public space and develop a trail system in this area would further the Trust's mission and benefit the town generally, providing the same recreational and natural amenities to future residents that we presently enjoy east of I95 with the Marsh Island Natural Area, Sklar Park and the Colburn Natural Area in Orono. West of I95 is home to the Caribou Bog, one of the most outstanding peatlands in Maine, ranked in a recent study as one of the top three peatlands in the state in terms of species richness, rarity of ecological features, and diversity of vegetation types, providing habitat for at least 136 different plant species, including five species considered rare or very uncommon, two species of endangered dragonfly, and an exceptional deer wintering area and habitat for important migratory birds.
In previous newsletters, we've reported three major undertakings which
were in response to this new focus: the Caribou Bog Conservation Project, the
Gould's Landing/DOT wetlands mitigation project, and the Orono Bog Boardwalk
project. This December, two additional projects were completed and a third
launched, which made for a very busy time for OLT volunteers and for substantial
steps forward in achieving our goals. Read all about these projects in the Lands
Committee Report prepared by Sharon Tisher.
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WINTER OUTING |
| All members are invited to ski or snowshoe the Veazie Railroad bed trail on Saturday, January 26. We'll meet at 10:00 A.M. Bring friends and family and pack a lunch or snack. OLT will provide hot drinks. Directions: Go west on Forest Ave. past Stillwater Ave and take a right on the dump road. Drive as far as you can bearing right (Taylor Road) and park BEFORE the gate. The ski to Bennoch Road and back is about 4 miles. Call Deta Pearce for details or questions at 866-2296. Please join us! | |
LANDS COMMITTEE REPORT by Sharon Tisher
Patricia and James Hinds Conservation Easement
We are delighted to report that Orono residents Jim and Patricia
Hinds have donated a conservation easement on approximately 48 acres of their
land off Forest Avenue and Taylor Road. Seventeen acres are immediately open to
public access; the remaining 31 acres are permanently restricted from any
development or logging activities, and will be opened to general public access
at such time as the Hinds no longer reside in the home that adjoins the easement
property. Although not open to general public access at this time, OLT members
may walk the trails on the 31 acres upon prior arrangement with the Easement
Steward, Jay Johnson. [See map page 3.]
Pat and Jim were motivated to donate this easement because of their concern
over the amount of logging activity in Orono and the region, and the growing
scarcity of mature forest. To quote Jim's words: "I have hiked and skied
over most of the larger tracts of land in Orono, including all of the University
of Maine land, most of the woods surrounding both the north and south units of
Caribou Bog...and I don't know of any forest in Orono that is as attractive
aesthetically as the 6.5 acre core of our land. It has tall straight white
pines, large oaks, and a variety of other tree species and shrubs, both conifers
and hardwoods, and many kinds of ferns and mosses. The views keep changing every
few feet that you walk because there is no uniformity of structure, but instead
a constantly changing, extremely complex mosaic of different trees and shrubs,
of different ages and form. Although this forest certainly is not virgin forest,
we estimate that it is at least 100 years old and has had no cutting done to it
that we can discern." Jim subsequently reported that core samples taken on
trees on this property indicate that the forest started about 125 years ago. Jim
and Pat , both botanists with a specialization in lichens, have documented
evidence of 25 species of mammals, two snakes, eight amphibians, 159 birds, over
250 species of vascular plants, and 69 species of lichens, of which five are
thought to be largely restricted to old-growth forests and are soon to be listed
as threatened by the U.S. Forest Service. "We want to make our
donation," Jim wrote, "to ensure that our land continues to be the
local biological diversity hotspot that it currently is … Development of this
land could severely impact this diversity, depriving future generations of a
chance to enjoy the plants and wildlife of this area."
Many thanks to Jim and Pat for their generosity in giving OLT its first
conservation easement, as well as to Chris Dorion and Kathy Carter, who donated
their time and substantial expertise in preparing our baseline data
documentation to complete this transaction. Also a special thanks to Jay
Johnson, Sharon Tisher, David Chase, Bob Miller and Jay Cope for their work on
the Hinds conservation easement.
Robert Taylor Property
Acquisition Project
"When it rains it pours" is an apt
description of the end of 2001 for OLT. Just as the Hinds Easement donation was
coming to a conclusion, Sally Jacobs learned that property contiguous to the
Hinds conservation easement, and a quite geographically unique parcel of the
Caribou Bog watershed, was for sale. The property, owned by Robert Taylor, is an
88 acre parcel including a hill which is one of the highest elevations in Orono,
overlooking Pushaw Lake with views to Hermon Mountain. [See map page 3.] It
includes 1987 feet of the abandoned Veazie Railroad bed, the last remaining
privately owned portion of that historic trail, and adjoins property the Town of
Orono recently acquired from Taylor for construction of a Town garage.
The wetlands and wildlife ecology of this property and the adjoining wetlands
extending to the beginnings of the Caribou Bog were studied in a wetlands
ecology graduate seminar last semester led by University of Maine Assistant
Professor Aram Calhoun. At the December 17, 2001 Board Meeting, Ecology and
Environmental Sciences grad students Megan Gahl and Catherine Schmitt, and
Wetlands Ecology grad student T.R. Morley, gave a Powerpoint presentation of
their wetlands mapping and evaluation of the property. As Professor Calhoun
summarized the class's findings, the protection of upland parcels adjoining
complex wetland systems such as the Caribou Bog is well established in the
scientific literature as important for the maintenance of ecosystems and
wildlife habitat.
The asking price of the property is $50,000. OLT has secured an option to
purchase the property, subject to a survey, title search, and independent
appraisal. We must decide whether or not to move ahead with the acquisition by
the option exercise date of April 15, 2002. At its December 17 Board meeting,
the Board unanimously authorized the initiation of a fundraising campaign to
secure pledges to purchase this property should all the background work be
favorably resolved. OLT members interested in making donations toward
acquisition of this property should contact Sharon Tisher at 581-3158.
Many thanks to Bob Taylor for his very helpful cooperation and informative tours of the parcel, and to Aram Calhoun and her class for laying an excellent foundation of understanding about this property and adjacent wetlands.
Caroline Morris Hunting Camp
Donation
Picture a sturdy, classic circa 1950's log cabin, with brick chimney and
fireplace, on two acres near the banks of a peaceful, meandering river, with
uninhabited islands across the way and nothing but forest for miles around. Hard
to realize that this lovely, peaceful place exists just 20 minutes from downtown
Orono and even harder to realize that it now belongs to the Orono Land Trust. On
Labor Day, Washington D.C.attorney Caroline Morris e-mailed several Maine
conservation organizations with an offer to donate the property.
OLT President Jay Johnson, first to respond. went out to inspect the property, on the Stillwater River off of Rt. 116, within a day. The property was subsequently appraised at $29,000, and Sharon Tisher oversaw the environmental due diligence for the donation. By year-end, the property was conveyed to us. Thanks to George Kurr and Dave Chase who donated their legal services, and to Cheryl Daigle who has agreed to be the property steward. Many thanks to Caroline Morris for an exquisite piece of property and the first "shelter" OLT has owned. Morris donated the property "no strings attached" and OLT is free to sell the property to raise funds for other efforts, should a sale be approved by the Board and the membership. The Board has not yet decided on its long term intentions for the property. Any members interested in seeing our new acquisition and/or in offering suggestions for future use or disposition should contact Jay Johnson at 866-2511 for directions.
1000 acre Caribou Bog tract
donated to University
We are thrilled to report that the goals of the Caribou Bog Conservation Project
have been mightily advanced by the announcement, on
December 21, 2001, that the University of Maine has closed on a
donation/purchase transaction whereby the owners of the 2000 acre bog parcel,
Les Birmingham and Barbara Jo Braley of Freeport, have donated 1000 acres of the
bog to the University. The University has acquired an additional 150 acre
woodlot from the Birminghams. Our heartiest congratulations to Dean Bruce
Wiersma and Woodlands Manager Chuck Simpson for having the vision to pursue this
transaction, and to the Birminghams for their generous concern for the
protection of this precious and fragile ecosystem.
FALL OUTING 2001 … We enjoyed a pleasant tour of Pushaw Lake shoreline to the emergent marshes that drain Caribou Bog, led by Professor Ron Davis of the University of Maine. Nick Houtman and Sally Jacob in kayaks accompanied canoeists Ron Davis and Cheryl Daigle, Nancy Bauer and friend, and behind the camera, photographer Stephanie Jacobs Lull and Jay Johnson.
NEWS FROM THE TRAILS
Fall Trails Day turned out to be quite warm and nice. Thanks so much to the people who lent a hand and accomplished so much. Melissa Burch, Mitchell Bruce and Sally Jacobs moved chips to the new trail on the Bruce property and filled in some deep gullies. The walking is much easier there now. Over at the Tech Park, Gail White, Ryan Hanscom, Sue Owen, Sally Jacobs and Minka dog made a new trail entrance behind MBNA while Bucky Owen mowed the trails. Our guest speaker, Richard Nelson and Ian Ramsey worked very hard removing rocks from the trail between MBNAand I-95. Good Work everyone!
On another note, service learning students Ryan Hanscom and Vitalie Tkachuk worked several weekends all summer assisting Gail White in re-marking the Colburn Area all the way to the Tech Park. Now people can follow white markers (no you won't be on the Appalachian Trail) around the trail system. You will notice blue markers at most intersections notifying you as to what place a trail will lead you. We hope you will find the new system helpful. ~ Gail White
The Marsh Island trails day was successful with perfect weather and a hard-working crew of Peter Millard, Peter Brickley, Trisha and Harvey Kail, Kris and Steve Sader. Bob Lombardo, Peter Kleban, and Gina Purtell rebuilt the bridge at the end of Colburn Drive. Other volunteers pried rocks from the trail, hauled wood chips, and sawed branches to open up the trails for skiing this winter. On an earlier date, Knud Hermansen worked on the bridge over Vinal Stream. The Marsh Island trails are now well connected to the University ski trails via Trail 11 (which crosses Rte. 2 just north of Colburn Drive). Join us this winter for some great cross country skiing! ~Peter Millard
Nancy Bauer, Dan Vasconcelos, Kate Neal and Maggie-dog joined Sam-dog and me for
a very productive and fun day at Ayers Island. We worked on the southeast
segment, from the railroad trestle to the point, rerouting, widening and
cleaning it up. Kate and Dan did a great side-job on the old boathouse location,
clearing the tree which the beaver had felled and exposing the rails and winch.
They also cleaned up other obscuring bushes and you can really see the setting
now. Nancy *crawled* much of the way along the trail clearing every small stump;
where she's been it's like carpet now, no stumbling here! Many thanks for a
great day! ~ Jay Johnson
The 15th running of the Caribou Bog Race and Tour will take place on Sunday, Feb. 17 (raindate March 3). The Race/Tour starts at Essex Woods (bottom of the sliding hill off Essex St, Bangor) and ends at the HE Sargent School (Bennoch Rd. in Stillwater). OLT members have been instrumental in creating and maintaining the scenic (and not too challenging) course and organizing this event, which is a fundraiser for Shaw House in Bangor. Members who like to take the slow 'scenic route' are encouraged to participate (this is not just for the Chris Dorions of the world). Tourers can start anytime after 10 a.m. and we will have a mass start for tourers at 10:30. Racers start at 11 a.m. Buses back to the start from HE Sargent School. Registration $15 per person ($30 max. for families). Entry forms on website at www.pvskiclub.org, or contact Peter Millard at pmillard@adelphia.net. Please join us!
NEW UNIVERSITY TRAIL MAP
A new map illustrating the numbered, maintained trail system of the University Forest and on Marsh Island. is being published by the University of Maine Recreation Programs. The map was designed by Mike Hermann, a cartographer in the Canadian-American Center on campus. Mapping contributions from OLT members Sherman Hasbrook, Chris Dorian and Steve Sader are included. The map will be available from Recreation Sports on the UM campus at no charge.
Poetry Corner
February Moon
The light of the full moon
Floats through the trees
And lies in fragments on the snow,
Enough for us to follow the ski trail,
A silken ribbon winding through the woods.
Wonder silences us.
Nothing stirs, no wind, no creature.
The pines, bearing clumps of snow, rise high.
We slip through patches of dark and light,
Feeling our way.
Occasionally a dip surprises us,
But the track is smooth;
Despite an ancient fear of night, we trust it.
Exhilarated by daring to break the mold,
We stop to sip apricot brandy and laugh.
An open space bathes us in light,
Then we plunge into the darkness
Of a hemlock grove.
Winter Grace
We inhale the glamour of the snowy woods,
When winter with a generous hand
Has draped the trees in layers of white,
Elegant traceries of dark and light.
The luminous ground spreads a canvas
For animals to limn nocturnal mysteries --
The stitchery of mouse tracks,
Deer tracks punched in deep,
Pointed squirrel tracks aiming for a tree,
And strange three-part tracks -- hare?
How spare the palette: black, white, gray.
How simple the path: parallel ski lines stretch away.
How rare and fleeting the pattern:
Freezing rain, snow, windlessness conspired
To frost the pines with stiff meringue.
A few flakes drift down in the stillness.
The air on my face is cold and pure.
Poems by Christina Diebold
NATURE CLIPS by Jerry Longcore
| For most of us, our view of raptors is imbued with fascination as we observe speed and striking power of a peregrine falcon, aerial grace of a soaring red-tailed hawk on a rising thermal, or a silhouetted form of a great horned owl —an exclamation mark terminating a deer mouse track in snow. | |
| Even CEOs have tried to transfer the essence, style, and power of birds of prey when naming cars—Jeep Eagle and Ford Falcon! Those raptors that remain through the Maine winter begin their spring rituals in late February and March. Great horned owls, which inhabit every state, often stay on the same territory year around, and males have already advertised their availability by hooting on their territory during the previous fall. In mid-February, a month or so before the female begins laying 1-4 eggs, the male initiates hooting |  |
| just after sunset and is joined by the female in a duet that may last more than an hour. If you can detect a “duetting” pair you can often find the nest site, which is usually nearby in old nests of other raptors--often that of a red-tailed hawk--or in a tree cavity or snag. The dull white eggs hatch about a month later and the young spend the next two months being fed by the pair. Under these nests and at roosting sites regurgitated pellets of undigested fur, feathers, skulls and bones accumulate. Across its range, great horned owl pellets contain remains of mostly (90%) small mammals. When I rehabilitated a great horned owl (dubbed “Henry”) many years ago I fed the bird chicken necks and livers, which were gulped down with alacrity. When I released the healed bird it left with a few powerful wing strokes and silently glided into the mature oak stand with never a backward glance — but I remember. | |
THANK
YOU to Sally and Dick Jacobs for
being the perfect hosts to writer Richard Nelson during his 5 day stay in Orono.
Richard gave lectures on his experiences with Native Alaskans and their
relationship to the natural world, read from his writings on deer and his own
personal explorations of cherished islands near his home of Sitka, Alaska, and
met with students and faculty. He left with a great appreciation for the natural
areas he explored during his free time and the friendly welcome he received
here. His visit was co-sponsored by OLT, with funding from various programs at
the University of Maine, the Maine Humanities Council, and the Cultural Affairs
Council. Thanks also to those who contributed refreshments for his readings at
the Page Farm Museum, to Cheryl Daigle for coordinating his visit, and to UM
graduate students Anne Small, Jamie Hannon, and Joshua Anchors for helping to
make his visit a success.
UPCOMING OLT MEETINGS
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 January 21, February 18 and March 18.
Please check our website frequently for updates!
www.bairnet.org/organizations/olt
The Orono Land Trust newsletter is published quarterly.
Please check our website frequently for updates!
www.bairnet.org/organizations/olt
| Newsletter Publisher | Newsletter Editor | Website Editor |
| Margaret Campbell | Cheryl Daigle | Ginny Whitaker |
