The Nature Conservancy Protects 12,710 Acres near Bangor
Source: The Nature Conservancy
July 06, 2007
Easement will Buffer Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
BANGOR, MAINE — July 5, 2007 — The Nature Conservancy has acquired a forever wild easement that joins two conservation areas to create a 32,000-acre block of protected forests and wetlands just 15 minutes from Bangor. The 12,710-acre corridor of conservation land connects Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Milford to the Maine Department of Conservation’s Bradley Unit. The property is owned by GMO LLC. The Sunkhaze-Bradley Corridor, will be managed as a natural area and will be accessible for recreational use.
“Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was founded in the late 1980’s when the Conservancy assisted the US Fish and Wildlife Service in acquiring over 10,000 acres of wetlands to protect them from peat mining,” says Tom Comish, Refuge Manager for Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. “This easement provides further protection for the refuge and additional recreational opportunities in the area. We’re pleased to have The Nature Conservancy as our new neighbor.”
Several tributaries of the Penobscot River, including Baker, Little Birch, Birch, and Titcomb Streams as well as Johnson Brook flow from the land protected by this easement toward Sunkhaze Meadows. These streams and the habitats around them are also expected to benefit from the Penobscot River Restoration Project, which will improve access to the Penobscot and its tributaries for eleven species of migratory fish.
The Sunkhaze-Bradley Corridor easement is part of the Lower Penobscot Forest Project, a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Forest Society of Maine (FSM) and the Maine Department of Conservation that will protect over 42,000 acres within the largest unfragmented forest block in central Maine. A 2005 study by the US Forest Service ranked these forests as the nation’s most threatened by housing development. In addition to the Sunkhaze-Bradley Corridor and other reserve lands, the Lower Penobscot Forest project will protect about 27,000 acres of working forests.
“Natural areas and working forests complement each other and create larger blocks of conserved land for wildlife,” says Barbara Vickery, the Conservancy in Maine’s Director of Conservation Programs. “Large, connected blocks of forest can also help species and ecosystems adapt to climate change by leaving room for plants and animals to shift their ranges in response to changing conditions.”
The cost of this easement was $3.1 million which is being raised from private donations by The Nature Conservancy, and will be used to match state and federal contributions to the acquisition of working forest easements and land to be held by the Bureau of Parks and Lands in Amherst and Great Pond. A total, of $5.5 million has been requested from the federal Forest Legacy Program for the Lower Penobscot Forest Project. These funds will go toward the working forest easements at Amherst and Great Pond. The Forest Legacy program has awarded $2.2 million for the project and the House of Representatives has allocated the additional $3.3 million in the FY08 budget; the Senate is expected to vote soon. In addition, the project has been awarded $1.5 million by the Land for Maine’s Future Program.
