Archives for May 2019

Forest conservation contributes to Moosehead region’s progress

May 30, 2019 By FSM

As printed in the Portland Press Herald, Letters to the Editor
May 25, 2019

Last week volunteers helped clear the treadway for a new trail north of Greenville, a family-friendly hike to the shore of Prong Pond, with views along the way of Big Moose Mountain. It’s just one of many new and improved trails that the state of Maine and partners have completed in the area since 2012, when the Moosehead Lake region conservation easement was made permanent, growing public opportunities for hiking, biking, camping, boating and more.

Other changes are afoot. In 2013, the Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corp. was founded, a group dedicated to growing and attracting new residents, local jobs and businesses. The Moosehead Lake Region EDC has commissioned economic development and branding studies that are now being implemented. They installed new, consistent signage to direct visitors to landmarks and businesses, and negotiated the purchase of lakefront lands, downtown, for a combination of open space and development.

East of the lake, Appalachian Mountain Club has invested millions in beautiful, modern lodges and the largest network of cross-country skiing trails in the Northeast. Just a short drive south, in Monson, the Libra Foundation has virtually transformed the downtown, rehabbing old buildings into galleries and workshop space for artists. Funded residencies give writers, painters, sculptors and others the chance to fall in love with our state’s rugged, authentic highlands.

Conserved forests are an essential part of these initiatives. Forests give us so much: Good jobs. Great communities. A glimpse into the past. A place for fish and wildlife to thrive. The chance to explore. As a land trust for Maine’s North Woods, the Forest Society of Maine is committed to sustaining these values.

As Maine moves forward, let’s remember the Moosehead Lake region and its progress. At the edge of Maine’s largest lake, land conservation has laid the framework for a better future.

Karin Tilberg

Executive Director, Forest Society of Maine
Bangor

Vernal Pools – A Sign of Spring!

May 23, 2019 By FSM

-by Kristin Peet, FSM Forestland Conservation Specialist

Yellow-spotted salamander. Photo by Pamela Wells

One of my favorite spring activities is to head out after dark on a warm, rainy night in April, flashlight and camera in tow, to look for frogs and salamanders heading to vernal pools to breed. I consider it a success if I see a spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)–my all-time favorite!

Vernal pools are defined as “seasonal, semi-permanent or permanent bodies of water that are essential breeding habitat for certain amphibians and invertebrates and do not support fish” (Hunter, Calhoun, & McCollough, 1999). Vernal pools generally hold water for several months in the spring and early summer and are often dry by fall. They are essential habitats because several of Maine’s amphibian species breed in them almost exclusively, including the wood frog, spotted salamander, and blue-spotted salamander. Fairy shrimp are also considered an indicator species as they breed only in these vernal pools.

Forest managers and land stewards have the vital role of being the first in line to protect these sensitive habitats, which can be easily overlooked in other seasons. Maintaining canopy cover and shade is an important component of the habitat structure of vernal pools. You can find more information on how to manage vernal pools and other conservation resources at www.maineaudubon.org/resources.

This article was originally published in the Spring 2019 edition of Forest View, FSM’s biannual newsletter.

Prong Pond Trail: from Flagging to (Almost!) Finished

May 23, 2019 By Erica

By Erica Cassidy Dubois
May 22, 2019

Last Saturday my husband and I woke up early to load our packs and our trusty trail dog, Arwen, into our 4-runner and head north. Outside of Greenville we met up with other volunteers from Moosehead Trails and state Bureau of Parks & Lands staff to put near-finishing touches on the new Prong Pond Trail.

The trip was exciting for me because, as a forestland steward for the Forest Society of Maine, I walked the “draft” route to Prong Pond years ago, back when it was just an idea and a trail of pink flagging hung in the branches of trees. Last summer, a professional Maine Conservation Corps crew roughed out the corridor and on Saturday volunteers cleared back winter debris and helped smooth out the footbed. It’s amazing the difference that a couple of leaf blowers, loppers, grubbing tools, and a half-dozen volunteers can make in less than a day!

The trail, once completed, will be just under one mile in length and run from the Prong Pond Road to the pond’s northeast shore. It’s a moderate hike, by Maine standards—no climbing over granite boulders, required—but it has enough elevation gain to reward hikers with an unexpected but outstanding view of Burnt Jacket, Big Moose, and Little Moose Mountains. It passes through a pleasant and relatively open forest of mature hemlock, yellow birch, and beech. The beech—like most in Maine—are suffering from the incurable and fatal Beech Bark Disease. Still, when the sun strikes last-year’s leaves, the whole golden understory glows. Sprinkled with interesting, glacial erratic boulders, the path to Prong Pond is going to be an especially great place for families to let nature-loving kids run wild and explore.

Construction of the trail came about as part of a years-long process to build or improve several non-motorized trails on the 359,000-acre Moosehead Region Conservation Easement (MRCE). The Prong Pond Trail is located on Weyerhaeuser (private) land, which the MRCE permanently conserved in 2012. The corridor is overlaid with a trail and access easement that was transferred from Weyerhaeuser to the state’s Bureau of Parks and Lands. In short: it’s complicated. But here’s the important bit. Once all the ‘i’s are dotted and the ‘t’s crossed, Weyerhaeuser will transfer small parcels on either end of the trail corridor, to the state, to be managed as a trail head parking area and a shorefront campsite, respectively. That means that, by this time next year, we’ll be able to launch canoes and kayaks from the Prong Pond boat landing, paddle over to the campsite area, and hike up the trail to the viewpoint.

Pretty sweet.

A note on wildlife: deer browse—where trees and other vegetation have been chomped back by hungry ungulates—is heavy through the trail corridor as it is located quite near to a Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife designated Deer Wintering Area. To minimize stress and impact on wildlife, BPL will promote the Prong Pond Trail as a three-season hike, and not a snowshoeing destination. Thanks for respecting wildlife and the good work of our state wildlife managers and biologists!

Arwen, for her part, had a wonderful time sniffing deer trails, accepting kind words and pats from fellow volunteers, and at one point even helping to chew off a stubborn root I was attempting to clip out of the trail bed. (We’re lucky that Arwen, who has herding DNA, is more intent on keeping her pack of humans together than chasing after wildlife, otherwise Prong Pond might not be the best trail for her.) She spent the day running up and down a freshly-blazed trail, and slept a deep, satisfied sleep on the way home.

Erica Cassidy Dubois grew up in Dover-Foxcroft and works as forestland steward for the Forest Society of Maine.