Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT), a statewide land conservation organization, recently transferred six-acre Mahoney Island, off of Brooklin, to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It will now become part of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge. This marks the 11th land transfer that MCHT has made to the refuge over the past decade—a milestone in a longstanding partnership focused on protecting and restoring Maine’s seabird populations.
“Maine’s coastal seabird nesting islands are an international treasure” observes MCHT President Tim Glidden. “Our congressional delegations deserve great credit for continuing to carry that message to Washington and ensuring the necessary funds are available to help protect this critical habitat.” Species benefitting from these protection efforts here in Maine include nesting: roseate, arctic and common terns; Atlantic puffins, razorbills, murres and black guillemots; laughing, black-backed and herring gulls; Leach’s storm petrels, common eiders, and bald eagles. Thousands of shorebirds, songbirds and bats also use the islands to rest and feed during migration.
Coast-wide, 87 islands have been prioritized for voluntary conservation by the 15-year comprehensive conservation plan published in 2005 by the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge. MCHT and Service staff communicate with the private landowners of those islands to discuss management strategies, answer seabird nesting habitat questions, and offer conservation options when landowners are ready to consider them. “A continued strong market for development on islands along Maine’s coast places extreme pressure on nesting islands,” notes Ciona Ulbrich of MCHT. “Thanks to supportive landowners and our strong partnership with the refuge, as well as federal funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the refuge slowly continues to grow.”
The Land and Water Conservation Fund, now in its 50th year, provides money, derived from offshore-drilling leases, to federal, state and local governments to purchase land, water and wetlands. Lands purchased through the fund are used to provide recreational opportunities, protect clean water, preserve wildlife habitat, enhance scenic vistas, protect archaeological and historical sites and maintain the nature of wilderness areas.
Other islands that MCHT, landowners and the refuge have conserved in the last decade are Sally Island in the town of Gouldsboro, Jordans Delight in Harrington, North Twinnie Island in the town of Bar Harbor, Crow Island in the Muscle Ridge, Compass Island in eastern Penobscot Bay, Sheep Island in the town of Steuben, two parcels on Cross Island in Cutler, Spectacle Island in Eastport, and a parcel on Metinic Island in Knox County. Back in 2000, MCHT also worked to secure and then transfer Ringtown and Shoppee Islands to the refuge.
Through the years, MCHT and the Service have also worked together on management issues, seabird nesting research, and, in 2009, MCHT provided a loan that aided the refuge in the purchase of their new home and education center based in Rockland.
“MCHT has been a critical partner for us, able to act nimbly and with deep experience in landowner relationships, negotiations and transactions on behalf of these precious islands and the birds that call them home,” shares Refuge Manager Beth Goettel. “We look forward to continued success with MCHT in the years to come.”
The Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Complex is comprised of five individual refuges which span the coast of Maine and support an incredible diversity of habitats including coastal islands, forested headlands, estuaries and freshwater wetlands. All totaled, the refuge includes approximately 8,243 acres of diverse coastal Maine habitats, and at this point contains 60 offshore islands and four coastal parcels.
Maine Coast Heritage Trust is a statewide land conservation organization committed to protecting the character of Maine. Since 1970, Maine Coast Heritage Trust has helped conserve more than 141,000 acres in Maine, from the Isles of Shoals to Cobscook Bay, including more than 300 entire coastal islands. For more information, visit www.mcht.org.
