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MCHT Conserves 1,500 Acres along Bold Coast
Maine Coast Heritage Trust recently used an array of creative approaches to protect four key parcels that lie at the heart of the Bold Coast, including the largest property in single ownership that remained unprotected along this dramatic and diverse shoreline. Thanks to conservation-minded landowners and generous foundation support, MCHT secured more than 1,500 acres including grasslands, blueberry barrens and shorefrontage. The newly protected lands encompass most of the Bog Brook watershed and nearly two miles of coastline that lie between the State’s 12,000-acre Cutler Coast Public Reserved Land and MCHT’s existing preserve at Moose Cove.
The 900-acre Bog Brook Cove Farm property encompasses tremendous biological diversity. A long, cobble beach spans the Cove, framed by forested headlands and decorated by graceful, wave-sculpted volcanic formations. Just up from the Cove, 10-acre Norse Pond offers high-value habitat to wood ducks and American black ducks. The upland portions of the property hold a mix of wet meadows, grasslands, birch-aspen woods, and spruce-fir forest. Consulting ecologist Norm Famous described the grasslands here as “the second highest quality grassland barren of its type in the lower 48 states.” Around 90 acres of upland are in active blueberry production, helping support the local economy and providing habitat for marsh hawks, northern harriers and savannah sparrows.
For more than 20 years, local conservationists have hoped to secure the future of Bog Brook Cove Farm. “These lands have always ranked high in our local list of priorities, and have been recognized by State programs—like Land for Maine’s Future and the Natural Areas Program—for their exceptional conservation values,” notes Alan Brooks, Executive Director of Quoddy Regional Land Trust. To protect this valuable setting, MCHT worked with eight landowners and drew on a wide array of techniques to stretch conservation dollars.
In that process, the Trust received help from Greg and Catharine Moser—who acted as conservation buyers to purchase 82 acres on and around Stone Hill, the highest promontory in the area, saving it from fragmentation into house lots. This wildlife-rich property encompasses the upper reaches of Bog Brook, and supports rare communities of blue-joint grass meadows and yellow rails—a bird seldom seen in Maine. MCHT now holds an easement on the Mosers’ land that provides for public access to the hill (and allows for a future trail to the State’s Reserve Unit). In September, MCHT purchased a 500-acre parcel adjoining Stone Hill that will further protect sensitive habitat and buffer Bog Brook and Rice Brook, both of which contain healthy populations of native brook trout.
Trust staff then worked with landowners at Moose Cove on a creative land-for-structures swap to conserve additional undeveloped shoreline. “While largely undeveloped, Bog Brook Cove Farm does have some residential structures on it,” explains MCHT Project Manager Patrick Watson. “Knowing that landowners at nearby Moose Cove were planning to build a waterfront home abutting our preserve there, we asked if they would consider swapping their undeveloped 50 shorefront acres for the clustered compound of buildings already at Bog Brook Cove.” That way, the buildings at Bog Brook Cove Farm would remain in private ownership and on local tax rolls. In February, that swap was completed, preventing further development along 3,700 feet of Moose Cove (where MCHT had preserved 75 acres of raised coastal peat bog in 2005). The Trust retains a conservation easement on the Bog Brook Cove homestead area and a right of first refusal should the new owners ever want to sell it.
The four newly protected parcels help create a contiguous wildlife corridor of more than 8 miles and 13,500 acres, stretching from the Bureau of Parks and Lands’ Cutler Coast Unit to MCHT’s preserve at Moose Cove. By linking existing conserved lands, these four new acquisitions will greatly expand wildlife habitat—particularly for wide-ranging mammals such as black bear, bobcat and fisher.
Potential for future trail linkages enhances the high recreational value of the newly conserved lands. Washington County is one of three regions in Maine participating in a statewide initiative to foster nature-based tourism, drawing visitors for low-impact outdoor experiences. “The Bold Coast has a lot to offer those who enjoy hiking, wildlife-watching and spectacular scenery,” notes Judy East of the Washington County Council of Governments, who co-chairs the Vacationland Resources Committee that is promoting sustainable tourism in the area. “We’re delighted that Maine Coast Heritage Trust is making more natural destinations accessible to the public, protecting lands that can help support our regional economy.”
Fundraising efforts for this ambitious project are ongoing, and the Trust is relying on gifts both large and small. In addition to receiving support from foundations, MCHT has submitted a proposal to the Land for Maine’s Future Program and is reaching out to Trust members. To make a contribution or to learn more, please contact Warren Whitney, MCHT’s Associate Director of Development, at 207-729-7366 (or wwhitney@mcht.org).