The Wrack

Last Thursday 44 participants from 12 towns in Maine and New Hampshire along with local businesses, regional and state planners, and non-profits attended the Coastal Training Program's Strengthening Town Centers and Transforming Commercial Corridors workshop with Randall Arendt.

May is expected to be baby month around here, so staff (along with a few volunteers and interns) got together yesterday to wish well the first-time parents-to-be. Among the gifts showered upon Annie Cox and Sarah and Jeremy Miller were these creative blankets crafted by office manager Joyce Shea. (That yummy-looking carrot cake was the work of Jane Smith, with husband Tin's teasing sentiment expressed in true-blue…

In the summer of 2009, Marissa Hammond came to us as a wide-eyed freshman with little experience in research science. She has blossomed into a NOAA scholarship award winner who has been accepted into a highly respected graduate program in fisheries management and policy.

When birder Brian Harris photographed a Barnacle Goose on the Moody marsh, he documented a new species for both the Rachel Carson refuge and the reserve. For the reserve, this would be species number 265.

As we gear up for a busy spring and summer, we are pleased to present a finished set of seven field guides to the Wells Reserve salt marsh and intertidal zones!

Goal

Determine the presence or absence of diadromous rainbow smelt and appropriate habitat within the restored area of Shoreys Brook

Project Period

March and April 2012

Here are a few images from the second Winter Wildlife Day, held during school vacation week with help from York County Audubon and the Center for Wildlife. Despite the lack of snow, folks had a good time. The rain showers seemed to arrive when everyone was inside for presentations and the sun came out when it was time for the trail walks.

The Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative, an ambitious interstate effort to protect drinking water supplies for more than 47,000 residents in Maine and New Hampshire, has been awarded the 2012 U.S. Water Prize by the Clean Water America Alliance.

When Punkinfiddle started out in 2003, we sponsored an art competition to find a logo that would tie pumpkins and fiddles together in a festive way. We had several worthy entries, but the standout was from Joseph Havens, a skilled graphic designer living in Kennebunk. Joe evoked our anticipated feel for the event before we had even nailed down the day's details!

Our friends at Dietz Associates digitized the art and featured it on our first poster. The logo jumped off the page, attracting lots of attention and helping to make our event wildly successful.

A quick lunch-time trail hike turned into an exciting wildlife tracking adventure.