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| Cutler, Machias Bay, Maine |
Maine’s Natural Resources Overwhelm the Senses
with Sights and Sounds and Tastes
By Genevieve Fraser
Towards the end of summer as the Natural Resources
Council of Maine joined with four other environmental organizations in an
effort to block a Canadian pipeline project that could make Portland, Maine,
the “tar sands capital” of the eastern United States, I was touring parts of
the state on my way to visit family members living DownEast.
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| Rogue Bluffs, Great Cove, Maine |
As I
traveled along back roads, I passed endless fields of wild blueberry (vaccinium angustifolium) which thrive in the glacial soils and
northern climate found in the fields and barrens of Downeast Maine
and Canada. These wild delights are one of only three
berries native to North America. The other two
are the cranberry and grape.
According to the company of the
same name, “Wild blueberries are rich in antioxidants and have grown naturally
for thousands of years. Unlike highbush
cultivated blueberries, Wild Blueberries are not planted. These lowbush
blueberries are primarily spread by rhizomes or underground runners, which give
rise to new roots and stems. All shoots arising from the same rhizome system
have similar characteristics and are referred to as a blueberry clone.”
“Wild
Blueberry fields and barrens actually produce many different lowbush blueberry
clones, which account for the variations in color and size that characterize
the Wild Blueberry crop,” the Wildblueberries.com website claims. Based on my experiences driving and later
wandering through fields and backwater dirt roads, I would agree. I even wrote a poem comparing my life in the
forested landscape of northwestern Massachusetts
with the coastal reaches on Maine.
Foreign
Forest by the Bay
Stepping
between the sharp
Rocks
jutting amid the sandy
Village
rooftops and church
Tower
visible over the ridge
Between
the hedges and fir
With
the sea gulls overhead
Rich
soils and heady dreams
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| Auger Hill Farm, 81 Pumpkin Ridge Road, Marshfield, Maine |
Pure
maple syrup and honey are also part of nature’s bounty in Maine with road-side stands displaying jars
of sweet stuff along with fruits and vegetables. And maple sugar shacks seem a natural part of
the landscape...as much so as the piers and wharfs and lobster shacks.
And though the angling season for Atlantic salmon in
Maine is CLOSED YEAR ROUND until further
notice, efforts are underway through the Downeast Salmon Federation (DSF) to “conserve
Atlantic salmon and its habitat, restore a viable sports fishery and protect
other important river, scenic, recreational and ecological resources in eastern
Maine,” the
Federation’s mission statement asserts.
I was vacationing not far from the the East Machias
Aquatic Research Center (EMARC), a project of the Downeast Salmon Federation. They are in the process of developing a
research and community outreach facility on the East Machias
River which will include
a fish hatchery, a flow-through fresh water experimental station, a state
certified water quality testing laboratory, a technical resource center, and a
small historic museum and education center.
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| East Machias River |
Since the 1970s, Maine’s
aquaculturists have been raising salmon.
Today, hatcheries throughout the state produce 3 - 1/2 million fish each
year for net-pen operations along the coast.
In addition, thousands of trout, salmon,
and bass are stocked annually across the state to support the tourist industry.
In addition
to aquatic resources, Maine
has 17 million acres of forest land, 10.4 million acres of unorganized territory,
48 parks and historic sites and more than 590,000 acres of public-reserved and
non-reserved land.
Throughout
its history, Maine
has enjoyed a strong and diverse forest products industry that, though facing challenges
from global competition, continues to thrive. Hunters,
naturalists and recreation enthusiasts have also been drawn to the country’s
forest habitats that provide food and shelter to moose, bear, deer, turkey,
waterfowl, and a wide variety of other game and non-game species.
Maine’s Department
of Conservation considers the state’s forest products manufacturing industry as
critical to the state’s economic health.
“It is also critical to the maintenance of undeveloped forestlands and
the many benefits it supplies, helps support a traditional way of life in many
of Maine’s
communities, and serves as an anchor for the state’s resource based
economy. Maintenance of a robust and
diverse forest products industry has important environmental and social
benefits, as well as economic importance to Maine.”
PHOTO CREDITS: Genevieve Fraser
