These are a few of the projects implemented by some of the partners of the Casco Bay Estuary Project.
To learn more about the Casco Bay Estuary Project Habitat Restoration Program and to explore partnership opportunities, visit:
www.cascobayestuary.or

Casco Bay Estuary Project

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University of Southern Maine: Digital Commons@USM

University of Southern Maine USM Digital Commons Publications Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP) 2003 Habitat Restoration Case Studies in Casco Bay Casco Bay Estuary Project Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/cbep-publications Recommended Citation Casco Bay Estuary Partnership. (2003). Habitat Restoration Case Studies in Casco Bay. Portland, ME: University of Southern Maine, Muskie School of Public Service, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership. This Fact Sheet is brought to you for free and open access by the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP) at USM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Publications by an authorized administrator of USM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact jessica.c.hovey@maine.edu. Outer Green Island:A Tern Habitat Restoration PartnershipOuter Green Island is a 5.45 acre island in Casco Bay, owned andmanaged by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Theisland provided nesting habitat for terns in the early 1900s, butunnaturally high populations of aggressive gulls pushed the terns out.Seabird biologists from Maine Department of Inland Fisheries andWildlife, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, National Audubon Society, andU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Gulf of Maine Program) recognized thatthe island, located far from the mainland and far from land-basedpredators (mink, raccoons and owls) had great potential for restoringnative terns. The Gulf of Maine Seabird Working Group, an international coalition working to protect and restoreseabirds to historic nesting sites, approved the plan in August 2001.Partners worked together to fund the project, hire an on-site steward for the nesting season and providesupplies to support the field camp. In late April 2002, before migratory terns arrived, biologists set off loud“firework” noises on the island to discourage black-backed gull and herring gull nesting. Lured by recorded terncalls and 100 life-size decoys, the first terns were spotted on Outer Green Island in early May. By June, ninenesting pairs of common terns had settled on the island. On July 5, 2002, for the first time in 88 years, a common tern chick hatched on Outer Green Island. Biologistsare hopeful that, in future years, the endangered roseate tern may also begin nesting on Outer Green Island.Sprague River Marsh:A Wetland Restoration PartnershipIn the upper section of the Sprague River Marsh in Phippsburg,Maine, a tidal constriction, man-made ditches, and cattails(indicative of freshwater runoff) have aggressively invaded a largestand of Scirpus (a rare native saltmarsh plant), threatening the saltecosystem. The Nature Conservancy (Maine Chapter), Bates College,and the Small Point Association are the primary landowners.Partners from Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service (Gulf of Maine Program and Partners for Fishand Wildlife Program), the Nature Conservancy (Maine Chapter),and Bates College have collaborated to develop and fund restoration and follow-up monitoring.  Preliminaryengineering work confirmed the need to remove 100 cubic yards of rock from under a bridge to eliminate thetidal constriction and the need to prevent excessive drainage.The partners coordinated with the Small Point Association to explain the purpose of the project tolandowners.  Also, educational programs conducted on the marsh explained the restoration work to local schoolchildren. In June 2001, the rocks were removed and the three ditches plugged, permitting more salt water toflow into the upper marsh.Ditch plugging is a relatively new saltmarsh restoration technique with promise for creating permanent highwater habitat on marshes, but for which longer-term ecological results are still pending.  Restoration biologistsexpect that over time, the higher salinities will cause the cattails to die back, permitting the rare, native Scirpusto thrive. In addition, pool habitat has been created on the marsh surface in order to attract a suite of nativespecies of aquatic plants, invertebrates, fish, shorebirds, wading birds, and waterfowl that depend on permanentwater on the high marsh.Habitat RestorationCase Studies in Casco BayThese are a few of the projects implemented by some of the partners of the Casco Bay Estuary Project.To learn more about the Casco Bay Estuary Project Habitat Restoration Program and to explore partnership opportunities,contact: Casco Bay Estuary Project •  207/780-4820 • E-mail : cbep@usm.maine.edu  •  www.cascobay.usm.maine.eduCasco Bay Estuary ProjectRoyal River:Andadromous Fish Stream RestorationThe Royal River is a quiet meandering river about 40 miles long. It rises out ofSabbath Day Lake in New Gloucester, Maine, winds its way through rural woodedareas and fertile farmlands, and eventually empties into the tidal waters of CascoBay in Yarmouth, Maine.The Friends of the Royal River, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService (USFWS) and the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), adoptedtwo fish ladders on the Royal River in Yarmouth in 1996. These fish ladders arecritical to the upstream and downstream passage of anadromous fish such asalewives, shad, smelt, blueback herring, sea-run brown trout, and possibly Atlanticsalmon. Annually, these fish migrate up the river from the ocean to spawn and infollowing years migrate down to the bay and ocean to develop into adults.Installed in the mid to late 1970s by DMR, these ladders fell into a state ofdisrepair by the early 1990s. In 1996, the Friends started maintaining these laddersby replacing broken baffles, removing debris, and closing and opening the gateson an annual basis. Some material has been supplied by Hancock Lumber, Yarmouth, Maine, and some through agrant from USFWS. Baffles are constructed by both volunteers and DMR staff.Through these efforts, it is hoped that these fish ladders remain as effective as possible to allow fish passageup and down the river.Long Creek and Red Brook:A Watershed AssessmentLong Creek and Red Brook are two low-gradient, sand-siltbottomed, freshwater streams that flow through SouthPortland, Scarborough, Westbrook, and a small portion ofPortland into Clark’s Pond, the Fore River, and eventually CascoBay.  The watersheds contain a variety of land uses, includingretail and other commercial development, a golf course,industrial facilities, a landfill, residential areas, and forestedand wetland areas.  Under a grant from the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency, the Maine Department of EnvironmentalProtection designed and conducted a study to assess the impactof urban development on the biological, chemical, and physicalintegrity of these two streams.Assessments included:• land-use analyses;• biological community (algae, macroinvertebrates, fish) sampling;• baseflow and stormflow water chemistry, temperature, and hydrology monitoring;• in-stream and riparian habitat characterization; and• fluvial geomorphology analyses (e.g., channel stability rating, channel shape).The study found that downstream of intense urban development, stream habitat and biological communitieswere degraded.  The study also detected substantial alterations in the hydrology, channel stability, and pollutantloads of these streams. This degradation was attributed to the transformation of forested wetlands to land useswith a high percentage of impervious surface such as parking lots, roads, rooftops, and driveways.Other landscape alterations found to impact these streams included degradation of riparian forests andstream channelization which resulted in the loss of shading (i.e., increased thermal loads) and inputs of organicmatter (e.g., large woody debris), and habitat simplification.The results of this study will be used to educate community residents and decision-makers about the impact ofhuman activities on Maine streams, and will also support watershed restoration planning and implementation.Case Studies continued

Habitat Restoration Case Studies in Casco Bay

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Habitat Restoration Case Studies in Casco Bay

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