Welcome,
to the Spring 2022 edition of Casco Bay Currents, the newsletter for Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP).
You are receiving this quarterly email newsletter because you signed up for our newsletters in the past. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click the link at the bottom of the newsletter.
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Portland Community Rowing Association members in Back Cove
@Jerry and Marcy Monkman/EcoPhotography
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Be A Fish Ambassador! And Other Cool Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteer with the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust (PRLT) to help conserve, steward, and provide public access to local lands and clean water for current and future generations to enjoy. Please check the PRLT website or contact Toby Jacobs, Stewardship and Outreach Manager at toby@prlt.org with any additional questions.
1. Water Quality Monitoring
Water quality monitoring volunteers attend a training led by the Maine DEP and then collect water samples and data every other Saturday morning from mid-May through mid-September. Sign up as a Water Quality Monitoring Volunteer here.
2. Fish Migration Ambassadors
Thousands of visitors come to see the fish migration at Mill Brook Preserve in Westbrook. As a result, PRLT has a fish migration ambassador program. Ambassadors will engage with visitors at two fish viewing pools. No prior skills are needed and PRLT will provide training. Volunteer shifts will be late May to mid-June and hours are flexible. Sign up as an Ambassador here.
3. Fish Count Volunteers
PRLT is working in collaboration with USM and the Department of Marine Resources to support ongoing research on the largest fish migration from Casco Bay. You can support these efforts by becoming a Fish Count volunteer. Volunteers count fish as they enter Highland Lake in Westbrook for 30 minute at a time mid-May to early June. They are looking for 2022 volunteers from now until the run starts in mid-May. Click here to sign up.
Photo: Jerry Monkman, ecophotography.com
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Grants & Other Resources
The Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund, administered by MDOT, provides direct funding to municipalities, tribes, and state agencies to adapt their critical infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to climate change resulting from extreme weather, sea level rise, inland and coastal flooding, severe heat, and other climate impacts. Applicants may request up to $10,000 to support scoping of eligible adaptation projects, $75,000 to support the design of eligible projects, and $4 million to support implementation and construction of eligible projects that have a complete design. The cost‐share or “matching” fund requirement for this program is only 5%. Applications are being accepted until 5/31/22. You can find more information here.
Maine DOT's Small Harbor Improvement Program (SHIP) promotes economic development, public access, improved commercial fishing opportunities and works to preserve, and create, infrastructure at facilities in tidewater and coastal municipalities. The SHIP program assists municipalities in improving or creating facilities, such as public wharves, piers, landings and boat ramps. There is a required 50% local share under this program. The SHIP program can provide up to $250,000 in assistance towards eligible projects. Maine DOT has instituted an ongoing application process for the SHIP program. Please contact Matt Burns at 207-624-3409 at any time to discuss your proposed project. Check here for more details.
Municipal Climate Adaptation Series: Maine DACF's Municipal Planning Assistance Program and nine of Maine’s Regional Planning Organizations, with funding from the Maine Coastal Program, have collaborated on a series of guidance documents. These documents explain how to identify threats to community resources, and how to respond to those threats by integrating climate adaptation measures into existing local policies, practices and ordinances. See the full set of guidance documents here.
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Intertidal Access Initiative
 The Casco Bay Regional Shellfish Working Group has released Preserving Access to the Intertidal, a guidance document that will serve as a "jumping off" point for community education and outreach on the issue of intertidal access. The guide is intended for use by municipal staff, marine resource committees, coastal landowners, shellfish harvesters, and other interested community members. It was created with a local scope, but many tools apply statewide.
The Working Group created this guidance document in response to requests from members at their fall 2021 meeting because the loss of intertidal access has arisen as the most pressing priority in the shellfish management world. While this topic was extensively considered 20-30 years ago, it has fallen off the radar in recent years. With climate change, increasing development, and changing land ownership, there is a newfound drive to protect and expand intertidal access. However, a lack of capacity or resources can hinder towns from taking action.
The Working Group consulted with state agencies, land trusts, realtors, and potential users like harvesters and marine resource committees to glean best practices for preserving access to the intertidal. Some tools you'll discover in the document include community outreach methods, language for regulatory documents, the ins and outs of land acquisition, and relevant funding opportunities. The Working Group hopes this document will inspire collaboration and spur momentum amongst coastal stakeholders.
-Josee Stetich, Coastal Resilience Fellow
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The State of the Bay:
A Casco Bay Matters Event
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Friends of Casco Bay invites you to join them on Wednesday, May 18, from noon to 1 p.m. for The State of the Bay: 50 years of the Clean Water Act and 30+ Years of Advocacy, A Casco Bay Matters Event.
Staff Scientist Mike Doan and Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca will host guest speaker and CBEP Director, Curtis Bohlen, who will highlight findings of CBEP's State of Casco Bay report. All three will discuss current challenges the Bay is facing and share how the Clean Water Act can help us all address these threats and identify other protections our coastal waters need.
Read more and find a link to register here, and bring your questions about the health of Casco Bay, the Clean Water Act, and other issues facing our coastal waters.
Photo: Friends of Casco Bay. Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca and Friends' Staff Scientist Mike Doan inspect one of their Continuous Monitoring Stations. Scientists and partner organizations, including the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, use the data collected at these stations to better understand conditions in Casco Bay.
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2022 Habitat Protection Grant Awards
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Photo: Eckert Parcel, Maquoit Bay, Brunswick. Photo: BTLT
Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP) has announced its spring 2022 Habitat Protection Fund awards. With the Habitat Protection Fund, CBEP supports the permanent protection of aquatic habitats in the Casco Bay watershed through cost-sharing grants to support transaction and acquisition costs.
Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust (BTLT) was awarded $7,000 for acquisition of the 25-acre Eckert parcel on Maquoit Bay in Brunswick. The parcel is in close proximity to existing conservation land, is within the Maquoit-Middle Bay Beginning With Habitat Focus Area, and includes low-lying wetlands suitable for formation of salt marsh in response to sea level rise.
Loon Echo Land Trust (LELT) received a $5,000 grant from the Fund in support of protection of a parcel of more than 400 acres, and including over 50 acres of mapped wetlands in the Sebago Lake watershed. LELT and CBEP are collaborating in the Sebago Clean Waters initiative.
CBEP awarded Presumpscot Regional Land Trust (PRLT) $7,500 for costs associated with developing the 650-acre East Windham Conservation Project in partnership with the Town of Windham. Acquisition of these parcels would result in over 1,600 acres of contiguous conserved land, including nearby preserves in Falmouth.
Royal River Conservation Trust (RRCT) was awarded $7,000 for the Thayer Brook Preserve in Gray, an acquisition of 147 acres of conservation land abutting Libby Hill Forest.
Western Foothills Land Trust (WFLT) was awarded $7,500 for pre-project costs associated with protection of over 600 acres, including more than 160 acres of mapped wetlands, in the Sebago Lake watershed. WFLT and CBEP are collaborating in the Sebago Clean Waters initiative.
Congratulations to all organizations!
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WHAT: Learn the core uses and functions of citizen science field apps
WHO: Conservation commission members, planning board members, "Friends of" groups, land trusts, and more. A family-friendly workshop! Free. Pizza and refreshments provided if you register.
WHEN: Tuesday, June 7, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Bug Light Park, South Portland
FMI and to register: Register on the CCSWCD website here
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CBEP and Partner Events
- May 18, Noon to 1 PM: The State of the Bay: 50 Years of the Clean Water Act and 30+ Years of Advocacy, Friends of Casco Bay. For more information and to register, go to the FOCB website.
- May 21: World Fish Migration Day at Royal River Park. 10 a.m. - 1 PM. Walking tours, food truck, live music, and more! FMI, check the Facebook event page.
- June 7, 5:30 - 7:30 PM: Conservation Citizen Science workshop, Bug Light Park. Hosted by Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District. Register here.
- June 8, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM: CBEP Management Committee meeting. More information here.
- June 10: 2022 Beaches Conference, Berwick Academy, South Berwick. Register here.
- June 17, 8:30 AM - 4 PM. Communities Leading on Climate: A Day of Inspiration, Collaboration, & Action. Augusta Civic Center. Organized by Maine Climate Council.
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Copyright © 2022, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
University of Southern Maine Muskie School of Public Service
Wishcamper Center #229, 34 Bedford Street
Portland, ME 04104
Phone: (207) 780-4820
Fax: (207) 228-8460
cbep@maine.edu
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