UPDATE: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold another open house for people to tour the buildings of the Timber Point estate on Saturday, October 25, 2014 from 9 a.m. to noon. This is in addition to the open house on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Open houses on both days will be at the end of Granite Point Road in Biddeford, Maine.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released for public review an environmental assessment, or EA, for future use of the buildings at Timber Point on Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Biddeford, Maine.
In the EA, the Service evaluates the physical, biological and human impacts of four management alternatives. It also identifies a preferred alternative (alternative B) calling for a management approach that would include both wildlife conservation and interpretation of the cultural history of Timber Point. The buildings and structures on the site are part of a 1930s-era summer estate designed by architect Charles Ewing.
The EA will be available for public review and comment for 30 days through October 31, 2014. The document can be viewed online at: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/rachel_carson/what_we_do/conservation/TimberPointEA.html. The EA will also be available at the refuge headquarters and the City of Biddeford library, which is located at 270 Main Street in Biddeford.
Public meetings are scheduled from 2-4p.m. and from 6-8p.m. on October 21 at the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust at 57 Gravely Brook Road in Kennebunkport. The meetings are an opportunity to meet Service staff, learn about the EA and to provide verbal and written comments on the EA.
There will be public open houses for people to tour the buildings, including the interior, on October 7 from 2-6p.m., and on October 21 from 3:30-5:30p.m.
Comments may be submitted at the public meetings or at any time during the comment period.
Email: rachelcarson@fws.gov
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/RachelCarsonNWR/
Mail: Rachel Carson NWR, 321 Port Road, Wells, ME 04090
The Service conducted a public building tour on July 9, 2013 and an open house on July 11, 2013. Participants in those events submitted approximately 70 comments. In addition, the Service received comments on the refuge’s Facebook page, website and through email correspondence. Information from the comments informed the proposed management alternatives in the EA.
In December 2011, the Service acquired the 157-acre Timber Point, which became part of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge’s Little River Division. It is one of the last large, undeveloped properties on the southern Maine coast. There are several buildings and structures on the property that were part of the summer estate, including a main house, garage/woodshop complex, truck garage, boat house, changing shed, remnants of a greenhouse, and other structures. These buildings are possibly eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1966 in cooperation with the State of Maine to protect valuable salt marshes and estuaries for migratory birds. Located along 50 miles of coastline in York and Cumberland counties, the refuge consists of eleven divisions between Kittery and Cape Elizabeth. The proximity of the refuge to the coast and its location between the eastern deciduous forest and the boreal forest creates a composition of plants and animals not found elsewhere in Maine. Major habitat types present on the refuge include forested upland, barrier beach/dune, coastal meadows, tidal salt marsh salt marsh
Salt marshes are found in tidal areas near the coast, where freshwater mixes with saltwater.
Learn more about salt marsh , and the distinctive rocky coast.
