The Little Whaleboat Island Project
The effort to protect three beloved islands in Casco Bay is now underway!
West of Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s Whaleboat Island Preserve in Casco Bay lies a trio of small islands and ledges named Little Whaleboat (West), Nate, and Tuck.
These islands are a sanctuary for wildlife and humans in an increasingly populated part of coastal Maine, where development has diminished available habitat for plants and animals and where public access to the coast is limited.
An excellent anchorage and several small beaches make the islands an ideal destination for people exploring Casco Bay and, thanks to generous landowners, visitors have been welcome. Increasing use and coming generational changes inspired the owners to contact Maine Coast Heritage Trust and enter into an agreement to permanently conserve the islands.
Our goal is to purchase the islands so that public access is forever guaranteed and so that the seal haul-out ledges, fringing salt marsh, and the wading, feeding and nesting areas for birds are protected.
Your donation to this project will:
- conserve three of the most beautiful, undeveloped islands in Casco Bay
- add a vital link in the chain of islands MCHT owns and manages in this region, including the Goslings, Whaleboat, Clapboard Island East, and Lanes islands
- secure an overnight camping site that is currently on the Maine Island Trail
- expand the impact of collaborative land protection in Casco Bay, where we work with Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, Freeport Conservation Trust, Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, and Royal River Conservation Trust.
Maine Coast Heritage Trust has until December 31, 2021 to raise the $1,305,000 needed to acquire and care for these islands as public preserves.
Take a tour of Little Whaleboat with the local land steward in the video below.
Want to help conserve these special islands? Make your gift to the Little Whaleboat Island Project today!
For more information, contact:
Keith Fletcher
Project Manager
Maine Coast Heritage Trust
207-729-7366
Project details
Location: Harpswell, Cumberland County
Project size: 3 islands, 22 acres
Total project cost: $1,305,000
Fundraising deadline: 12/31/2021
Fundraising covers land acquisition costs, MCHT’s pooled stewardship funds, and operational support.
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