The Wrack

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco?Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 3/30/2014.

Even though I work for the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, a coastal research and education center, Id never thought too deeply about flood insurance  that is, until a crack addict knocked on the door of my home one Saturday night this winter.

The National Association of Interpretion defines interpretation as "a mission-based communication process that forges emotional and intellectual connections between the interests of the audience and the meanings inherent in the resource." The year-round education programming at the Wells Reserve aims to build these meaningful connections.

Last month, the Reserve hosted 27 interpreters from across the country and around the world for a Certified Interpretive Trainer workshop facilitated by the National Association of Interpretation. Talented and creative professionals working at nature centers, aquariums, battlefields, state parks, and other interpretation centers in Hong Kong, France, Chile, California, Montana, Utah, and other locales joined together for a week of wonderfully intense learning.

Pick up three handy guides to the Maine coast and you'll always know where to access sandy beaches, nature areas, hiking paths, and boat launches as you travel the state's 5,300+ miles of shoreline. Each Maine Coastal Public Access Guide  there are separate editions for southern, midcoast, and downeast Maine  gives driving directions along with details on what to expect for parking, facilities, and amenities. Natural features and cultural highlights for more than 700 sites are described in the series, which was published in 2013 by the Maine Coastal Program, with significant involvement by the reserve.

Once invasive species get into an ecosystem, it's nearly impossible to get them out.

We have developed a disaster response plan for the Wells Reserve and surrounding watersheds that complements and coordinates with local and county efforts and that will serve as a model for other natural resource organizations and agencies.

The ultimate invasive species, the one that has penetrated to every corner of the map, left no waters or winds untouched, and helped all the others spread so quickly, is Homo sapiens.

Kids may have gotten a break from school this past week, but with two big snow storms, there was plenty of outdoor fun to keep them busy! Six campers from as far away as New Hampshire braved the snowy afternoons to spend Tuesday and Wednesday at the Reserve participating in our Winter Trekkers and Snow Survivors camps.

Each day was packed with activity, from wildlife tracking walks led by volunteer naturalists and a cottontail rabbit search led by Sue Bickford, to a day full of outdoor snow survival scavenger hunts and shelter building. Despite being on "vacation," campers were eager and excited to learn, and were a fantastic bunch to spend the wintery week with! Check out some of the photos of our adventures below, and head over to our Flickr page for even more.

This month customers of the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells Water District (KKWWD) got some news about the upgrades and repairs to the fish ladder on Branch Brook in the Winter 2014 Newsletter.?Chief Plant Operator Greg Pargellis provided a nice write-up on a really positive collaboration with the Wells Reserve to bring the fish ladder back on line.

This isn't the first time that the fish ladder has been in a KKWWD report. In the 1954 Trustees Report (see pg. 14), the Water District mentions plans to increase the height of the dam by 2 feet and to build a fish ladder which was ordered by the Maine Department of Fish and Game.

Often showy but frequently cryptic, butterflies are an attractive challenge. At least 45 species have been documented at the Wells Reserve.

As a warm-up to the 2014 #iheartestuaries campaign, I asked all of our staff to fill in the blank in this sentence: "I love estuaries because __________." Here are the responses…