The Wrack

Aboard the EPA Ocean Survey Vessel BOLD to do ichthyoplankton monitoring at sea to supplement the nearly weekly ichthyoplankton tows at Wells Harbor.

The Wells Reserve has studied fish habitat, identified pollution sources, educated residents about riverine and estuarine ecology, and helped protect land in the York River watershed.

On the heels of the?environmental?communication course with Eric?Eckl?at the Great Bay Reserve on August 3rd, the?CTP?hosted Eric and local environmental leaders and community members for a sunset boat cruise upon our research?vessel on the Salmon Falls River.

I had the chance to go to the annual Low Impact Development Field Trip this past Tuesday to do some research on how to make a difference in my neighborhood. The purpose of the trip was to showcase best management practices around the Acton Wakefield Watershed and Portsmouth, NH.

This is my final week in Maine as a research and coastal training program intern for the summer. I have mainly been studying the detrimental effects of nitrogen runoff. The three-year project that I helped start looks at Branch Brook and the Merriland River in the Little River Watershed. We selected 20 sites to analyze nitrogen runoff and how it affects the fish, the macroinvertebrates, the river habitat, and the water quality itself.

Fifteen middle and high school teachers, hailing from Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Florida, and Kentucky, attended the Teachers on the Estuary (TOTE) workshop July 11-14 at the Wells Reserve. Due to a generous B-WET (Bay-Watershed Education and Training) grant, the workshop was offered free of charge, including hotel accommodations, most meals, and a variety of educational materials and equipment?to use back in the classroom. In addition, each teacher will receive a $100 stipend and $200 to put towards a stewardship project with their students in the fall.

Just one of many projects underway in the research department at the Wells Reserve this summer is the environmental monitoring of the Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers in support of an ongoing initiative, the Mousam & Kennebunk Rivers Alliance (MKRA).

The new issue of Watermark is in the mail to Laudholm Trust members and it's now available online, too. This issue contains information and images about&

I participated in a watershed hike this past Tuesday in the York and Kittery Water Districts. Not only did we see the beauty of the trails around Mount Agamenticus, but concepts about the larger context of the watersheds were discussed. Water district staff and operators attended along with watershed groups, land trusts, and other municipal staff involved with source water protection. After a quick introduciton and history talk on top of Mt. Agamenticus, the group embarked on a 1.5 mile hike through the York and Kittery Watersheds.

At this nationally recognized historic site that serves as a center for our activities, we are a great example of change and adaptation. We reveal so well that as our society changes? our economies, our values? so do the places we inhabit. Thus these 19^th century buildings designed for farming have been adapted to serve our 21^st century mission of coastal science, education, and stewardship.

I have always felt our Reserve, located on the south coast of Maine, is a great example of the meeting of the past and the present? of natural ecosystems and cultural landscapes. They exist side-by-side, but are also interwoven. This place also illustrates for us that landscapes continually change; they are never stagnant. Natural systems and human actions change what we see around us? whether it is our contemporary efforts to keep our fields from reverting to forests through mowing or burning, or the natural forces of rivers and coastal currents that alter the shape and contours of our beaches. Change happens.