Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary Conserving Bangor’s .

Celebrating our 10th Anniversary conserving Bangor’s Natural HeritageIf you’ve visited Walden-ParkePreserve in the past few months,you’ve noticed some big changes.Walden Parke, LLC, has moved intoPhase II of its development plan, andextended its road, Tamarack Trail, toits planned full length. Bangor LandTrust’s trailhead kiosk has been movedto the new end of Tamarack, and willbe placed in its new spot as thisnewsletter goes to press. Visitors toWalden-Parke Preserve may parkalong the edge of the cul-de-sac. We’llevaluate the need for additionalparking as needed.see what our friends have been up to.These beavers have been around foryears and constructed several damsand large lodges. Because the soundof running water stimulates beavers todam the flow, in 2007 they blocked theculvert that runs under the Blue Trail.We cleared the culvert and they reblocked it within a few days. Ournext move was to build a ―beaverdeceiver,‖ a fence that keeps themThe trailhead is now closer to theaway from the mouth of the culvert.Walden-Parke beaverworks, making it It includes two wood and screen watereasier to stroll down to the stream and conduits to allow water to flowBangor Land Trust re-routed the BlueTrail in two places, removing it fromfuture house lots and avoiding a wetarea. We are also digging someditches and bringing in gravel to dryout the mud holes. If you notice a treedown across the trail or other trailproblems, please call or e-mail and letus know.Bangor Land Trust Newsletter, Fall 2011through even if the beavers build theirdam all around our fence. The fencealone has protected flow through theculvert for 4 years – but we noticedrecently the beginnings of a damaround it. Beavers are resourceful,industrious, and determined. Take awalk into the preserve and keep an eyeon this unfolding drama!

Lucy QuimbyPresidentWilliam PhillipsVice PresidentJames HindsTreasurerPaul PasquineSecretaryBrian AhernKathy BillingsChris DaltonShirley EllisWilliam GlanzKarla GustafsonDave ThompsonBangor Land Trust* met for thefirst time on August 28, 2001, inShep Harris’s office at UBS. Allof us lived here because we lovedthis land. It was part of our livesas Mainers. Each of us hadexperienced the ache of taking toheart a bit of wild land and thenlosing it. We knew that legalownership was the only way toDave Thompson and Jim Hindslay out trail re-routepreserve undeveloped land, andthat we needed to buy it or beprepared to receive it as a gift from someone who shared ourvision. An e-mail from our archives said, ―It's time to getgoing on the Land Trust - it's part of moving . forward andgiving people something they can support.‖The 10 years that followed brought hard work, occasionalsetbacks, exciting successes, gratitude for generous gifts,and the pleasures of local and regional partnerships.Columbia Street Baptist Church gave us part ownership of10 acres on the Penjajawoc Marsh, Fritz and CarolineOldenburg gifted 13 acres of bobolink habitat near theMarsh, and (together with Dennis and Jane Shubert) created Photo by Ron Loganthe 205-acre Walden-Parke Preserve. Orono Land Trustinvited us to help create the Caribou Bog-Penjajawoc Lands, and together we won fundingfrom the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and Land for Maine’s Future fundsto purchase Northeast Penjajawoc Preserve and Central Penjajawoc Preserve. To date,Bangor Land Trust has conserved over 400 acres for wildlife habitat and public recreation –and we expect there will be moreon the way.Terry Delargy joined us at thebeginning of October as our newOffice Manager, bringing expertisein management, marketing andadvertising for both non-profit andcommercial business. She and herfamily have lived in Bangor forover 7 years. You will find Terry atour office on Mondays, Wednesdayafternoons, and Thursday and Friday mornings. If sheisn’t at the office, you just might see her enjoying BLT’strails with her husband Mick, son Ty, and Obi, their bigshaggy dog.In September, we bid a fond farewell to Deb DeForest,who found a position at the Mt. Desert Historical Societyand gave up her long commute to Bangor.2The land is a treasure, and will beeven more valuable to our childrenand grandchildren. Less tangiblebut equally important are the humanconnections – the deep satisfactionsof doing together what none of uscould do alone, of knowing howmany others are willing to give time,money, and other resources becausewe all share the love of the wildoutdoors, including bears, multiplebevies of lady’s slippers, fields ofbobolinks, abundant blackberries,ferns and lichens, and fresh snow onpine boughs.* Shep Harris, Laurie Brown, Rae Wren, LucyQuimby, Bob Milardo, Hope Brogunier, PeteDane, Dick Andren, and Geoff Gratwick.Bangor Land Trust Newsletter, Fall 2011

On October 6, 2011, BLT’s Corporate Sponsors helped us celebrate 10 years of conservation progress. Judi Perkinshosted the event in her historic barn, the old Bangor Stage Coach rest stop on outer Ohio St. Sherry Huber, ExecutiveDirector of the Maine Tree Foundation, spoke to us about ―Keeping Maine's Forest: How to Make Sure the ForestResource Endures.‖ New developments in forest products are essential to Maine’s economic health, and access to theforest is an essential element of the Maine experience.Bangor Land Trust gave certificates of appreciation to our Corporate Sponsors with special thanks to each of them fortheir generous contributions to the success of our work and to the quality of life in our community.Keynote Speaker, Sherry Huber, addressesa barn-full of supporters at BLT’s 10thAnniversary dinner .The Perkins's historic barn was formerly the Bangor Stage Coach rest stop.Photo by Ron LoganGuest mingle in Judi Perkins's historic barn before enjoying a tasty barbeque.Bangor Land Trust Newsletter, Fall 20113

Bangor Land Trust’s 5th annual Pedal thePenobscot Road Ride was a great success.We created a Century Route in response to riderrequests, allowing 150 participants to ride theirchoice of 14, 28, 76, or 100 mile routes. Ridersbegan at the Bangor waterfront; most of the routefollowed the Penobscot River, upstream and thendownstream. As is our tradition, Pedal thePenobscot was a fully supported ride with reststops at Old Town Canoe, Health AccessNetwork in West Enfield, and the BradleyMunicipal Building. Members of the Universityof Maine baseball team cheered our riders on tothe finish line at the Sea Dog, where they enjoyeda complimentary barbeque. Linda Stearns wonthe kayak, and John Osborne won a Bangor LandTrust Guardian biking jersey.We thank all of our riders andour many volunteers andsponsors. Please considersupporting them with yourbusiness, and thank them fortheir generosity. Be sure tosave the date for next year’sride - Sunday, September 9th.4Bangor Land Trust Newsletter, Fall 2011

On November 1, 2011, Bangor LandTrust (BLT) signed an option to purchase a key 11-acre parcel adjacent tothe City’s ―sliding hill‖ in EssexWoods. This parcel contains woodedwetlands and associated upland habitatadjacent to the Essex Woods Wetland.Birders and other nature watchersfrequent the loop trail around thewetland, enjoying great views ofwaterfowl and wading birds such asherons, rails, egrets, mergansers, andvarious ducks. One State-threatenedspecies (Common Moorhen) neststhere and 14 State species of specialconcern use the wetland.The trail around this wetland formsone end of a new Bangor Trails Project trail from Cascade Park to EssexSt. In addition to protecting the wetland, this parcel will contain parkingoff Essex St. to provide convenientaccess to the popular wetland.Under the terms of the option agreement, BLT has until February 15,2012, to close on the purchase.Generous anonymous donors at theMaine Community Foundation havegifted 29,000 towards the amountneeded to purchase the property andprepare it for public use, leavingBangor Land Trust to raise anadditional 24,000.Nature Notes by Dick AndrenIn the morning when I leave the housea group of small winged West Pointcadets commands my attention withtheir call. And what a call! While weare familiar with ―jay,‖ ―jay,‖ ―jay,‖they are able to make a wide range ofvocalizations and are great mimicslike their other relatives in the crowfamily. What brings them to the oaktrees adjacent to the house? Inaddition to the acorns, I pouredsunflower seeds on the packed snowof the driveway during some brutalwinter weather several years ago . Theneighborhood jays watched me andwithin minutes several descended andgreedily loaded up on the seeds.Eventually more than twenty came.Now they have one or more sentinelson watch. When I leave the house toget the paper early in the morning,even before the snow flies, I amgreeted by a call which tells others,―He just left the house.‖ There is noway for me to leave without thatannouncement. They talk to me allthe way to the road (400 ft.) pleadingwith me for seeds. They fly aboutfrom branch to branch. ―This is onlyNovember,‖ I tell them. ―You aregoing to have to wait.‖jays cache seeds relentlessly. Animpressive study by Darley-Hill andJohnson on a flock of blue jays inVirginia illustrates this well. In oneseason the jays cached 133,000acorns, 54% of the entire crop in thestudy location. They ate 49,000 acornsor 20% of the crop. The jays are ableto distinguish viable seeds from dudsand only take the viable ones. Thecache sites were up to a mile and ahalf away. Organic debris covered thestored seeds facilitating theBlue Jays are part of a large Corvidae germination of seeds not recovered.family that includes crows, ravens and But these birds have remarkablemagpies. Large seeds like acorns ormemories and retrieved most of thebeechnuts are a diet staple and blueseeds for a later meal.Bangor Land Trust Newsletter, Fall 2011Photo by Ron LoganAs our open space becomes more andmore fragmented, these noisy, noseyneighbors are essential for seeddispersal. They help keep isolatednatural areas supplied with geneticallydiverse trees. They also are probablyresponsible for moving forest treesnorth and west as the glaciers retreatedthousands of years ago, and may havea role to play in redistributingvegetation as our climate changes.Hail to the cadets!5