#conservationland — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #conservationland, aggregated by home.social.
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Less than 4 miles away from the planned #Datacenter in #SanfordME in nearby #Kennebunk
#KennebunkPlains #Wildlife Management Area
"#KennebunkLandTrust was a partner in the protection of this landscape scale 2,000-acre property. Now managed by #TheNatureConservancy, this preserve offers outstanding opportunities for recreation and observation. Former blueberry barrens, the land is managed for many unique and #RareSpecies of #birds, #reptiles and #plants. Maine’s largest flock of #endangered #GrasshopperSparrows lives here, as does the rare #BlackRacerSnake. The world’s largest population of #NorthernBlazingStar, a threatened flowering plant, blooms here in August and September."
Learn more:
https://kennebunklandtrust.org/preserves/kennebunk-wildlife-management-area/#MainePol #MEPol #Datacenters
#EndangeredSpecies #ConservationLand #NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests -
Less than 4 miles away from the planned #Datacenter in #SanfordME in nearby #Kennebunk
#KennebunkPlains #Wildlife Management Area
"#KennebunkLandTrust was a partner in the protection of this landscape scale 2,000-acre property. Now managed by #TheNatureConservancy, this preserve offers outstanding opportunities for recreation and observation. Former blueberry barrens, the land is managed for many unique and #RareSpecies of #birds, #reptiles and #plants. Maine’s largest flock of #endangered #GrasshopperSparrows lives here, as does the rare #BlackRacerSnake. The world’s largest population of #NorthernBlazingStar, a threatened flowering plant, blooms here in August and September."
Learn more:
https://kennebunklandtrust.org/preserves/kennebunk-wildlife-management-area/#MainePol #MEPol #Datacenters
#EndangeredSpecies #ConservationLand #NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests -
Less than 4 miles away from the planned #Datacenter in #SanfordME in nearby #Kennebunk
#KennebunkPlains #Wildlife Management Area
"#KennebunkLandTrust was a partner in the protection of this landscape scale 2,000-acre property. Now managed by #TheNatureConservancy, this preserve offers outstanding opportunities for recreation and observation. Former blueberry barrens, the land is managed for many unique and #RareSpecies of #birds, #reptiles and #plants. Maine’s largest flock of #endangered #GrasshopperSparrows lives here, as does the rare #BlackRacerSnake. The world’s largest population of #NorthernBlazingStar, a threatened flowering plant, blooms here in August and September."
Learn more:
https://kennebunklandtrust.org/preserves/kennebunk-wildlife-management-area/#MainePol #MEPol #Datacenters
#EndangeredSpecies #ConservationLand #NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests -
Less than 4 miles away from the planned #Datacenter in #SanfordME in nearby #Kennebunk
#KennebunkPlains #Wildlife Management Area
"#KennebunkLandTrust was a partner in the protection of this landscape scale 2,000-acre property. Now managed by #TheNatureConservancy, this preserve offers outstanding opportunities for recreation and observation. Former blueberry barrens, the land is managed for many unique and #RareSpecies of #birds, #reptiles and #plants. Maine’s largest flock of #endangered #GrasshopperSparrows lives here, as does the rare #BlackRacerSnake. The world’s largest population of #NorthernBlazingStar, a threatened flowering plant, blooms here in August and September."
Learn more:
https://kennebunklandtrust.org/preserves/kennebunk-wildlife-management-area/#MainePol #MEPol #Datacenters
#EndangeredSpecies #ConservationLand #NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests -
Less than 4 miles away from the planned #Datacenter in #SanfordME in nearby #Kennebunk
#KennebunkPlains #Wildlife Management Area
"#KennebunkLandTrust was a partner in the protection of this landscape scale 2,000-acre property. Now managed by #TheNatureConservancy, this preserve offers outstanding opportunities for recreation and observation. Former blueberry barrens, the land is managed for many unique and #RareSpecies of #birds, #reptiles and #plants. Maine’s largest flock of #endangered #GrasshopperSparrows lives here, as does the rare #BlackRacerSnake. The world’s largest population of #NorthernBlazingStar, a threatened flowering plant, blooms here in August and September."
Learn more:
https://kennebunklandtrust.org/preserves/kennebunk-wildlife-management-area/#MainePol #MEPol #Datacenters
#EndangeredSpecies #ConservationLand #NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests -
A couple of miles away from the planned #Datacenter in #SanfordME ...
#LowerMousam #Wetland #Easement
"In December of 2020, the City of Sanford connected a 390 acre solar project to the grid. This 50 MegaWatt system offsets an estimated ½ million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, was the largest solar project in Maine, and the largest solar project at an airport in the world. To satisfy the negatively affected natural communities and habitats, mitigation was required. This mitigation resulted in the purchasing of various parcels of land somewhat equivalent to those disturbed, transferred to the City, and a Conservation Easement attached. This Easement, The Lower Mousam Wetland Easement, was deeded to the Trust for perpetual oversight along with another 107.62 acre parcel, located between the Harry Howes Road and Route 11A in #SpringvaleME called #TheMurrayEasement.
"The use on the property has many restrictions, but limited recreational activities are allowed within the scope of the Easement. Access is via CMP power line corridor at Jagger Mill Road, and canoe via #MousamRiver at Emery Street. Footpath designing and building is not currently being planned in this relatively remote area."
FMI:
https://mousamwaylandtrust.org/2023/01/19/lower-mousam-wetland-easement/#MainePol #MEPol #Datacenters #ConservationLand #MousamRiver #NoisePollution #ProtectTheWetlands
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Within the #MassabesicExperimentalForest , the #CharlesESwettTrail is considered a #Birding hotspot!
"Gorgeous in every season, the Charles E. Swett Trail is well worth taking a few moments to walk. The trail is short, but bring a book or a lunch, and take your time watching the waters of Estes Lake. For a longer journey, considering linking this trail with the other trails in the Massabesic Experimental Forest (Ida Jim Road to Clayton Carl Trail, Atlantic White Cedar Loop, B.C. Jordan Trail, and Littlefield Trail)."
List of birds (76 species in all):
https://ebird.org/hotspot/L3812097/bird-listSource of description:
https://birdinghotspots.org/hotspot/L3822627#NoDatacenters #MainePol #MEPol
#Datacenters #ConservationLand
#MousamRiver #EstesLake
#NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests #BirdingHotspots -
#MaineByFoot - #MassabesicExperimentalForest
#AlfredMEPreserve Size: 3,700 acres
"This experimental forest, which is used by the U.S. Forest Service for forest ecology and management research, is better organized for walking than its northern partner, the Massabesic Experimental Forest in Lyman.
"Here there are a few well-blazed, easy-to-follow footpaths, as well as a 1-mile old forest road cutting through the land that is flat and easy. Additionally, there are several twisty trails that aren’t blazed but seem as if they would appeal to mountain bikers. These unmarked tracks are often identifiable by small boulders parked at their entrance where they split from the old forest road. I’ve marked the blazed and un-blazed trails with different colors in my map.
"An interesting spot in this area is the largest #AtlanticWhiteCedar #wetlands in #NewEngland, which you can visit by hiking the 1-mile #ClaytonCarlTrail to the #AtlanticWhiteCedarTrail. These paths are accessed from the main track, on the west side of the forest.
"Additionally, there is a very pretty short trail on the other side of #WhichersMillRoad. The easy and wide 0.5-mile #CharlesESwettTrail takes you to the shores of #EstesLake. The rocks here look like they would make good swimming perches."
Learn more:
https://mainebyfoot.com/massabesic-experimental-forest-alfred/#NoDatacenters #MainePol #MEPol
#Datacenters #ConservationLand
#MousamRiver #EstesLake
#NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests -
#MaineByFoot - #MassabesicExperimentalForest
#AlfredMEPreserve Size: 3,700 acres
"This experimental forest, which is used by the U.S. Forest Service for forest ecology and management research, is better organized for walking than its northern partner, the Massabesic Experimental Forest in Lyman.
"Here there are a few well-blazed, easy-to-follow footpaths, as well as a 1-mile old forest road cutting through the land that is flat and easy. Additionally, there are several twisty trails that aren’t blazed but seem as if they would appeal to mountain bikers. These unmarked tracks are often identifiable by small boulders parked at their entrance where they split from the old forest road. I’ve marked the blazed and un-blazed trails with different colors in my map.
"An interesting spot in this area is the largest #AtlanticWhiteCedar #wetlands in #NewEngland, which you can visit by hiking the 1-mile #ClaytonCarlTrail to the #AtlanticWhiteCedarTrail. These paths are accessed from the main track, on the west side of the forest.
"Additionally, there is a very pretty short trail on the other side of #WhichersMillRoad. The easy and wide 0.5-mile #CharlesESwettTrail takes you to the shores of #EstesLake. The rocks here look like they would make good swimming perches."
Learn more:
https://mainebyfoot.com/massabesic-experimental-forest-alfred/#NoDatacenters #MainePol #MEPol
#Datacenters #ConservationLand
#MousamRiver #EstesLake
#NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests -
#MaineByFoot - #MassabesicExperimentalForest
#AlfredMEPreserve Size: 3,700 acres
"This experimental forest, which is used by the U.S. Forest Service for forest ecology and management research, is better organized for walking than its northern partner, the Massabesic Experimental Forest in Lyman.
"Here there are a few well-blazed, easy-to-follow footpaths, as well as a 1-mile old forest road cutting through the land that is flat and easy. Additionally, there are several twisty trails that aren’t blazed but seem as if they would appeal to mountain bikers. These unmarked tracks are often identifiable by small boulders parked at their entrance where they split from the old forest road. I’ve marked the blazed and un-blazed trails with different colors in my map.
"An interesting spot in this area is the largest #AtlanticWhiteCedar #wetlands in #NewEngland, which you can visit by hiking the 1-mile #ClaytonCarlTrail to the #AtlanticWhiteCedarTrail. These paths are accessed from the main track, on the west side of the forest.
"Additionally, there is a very pretty short trail on the other side of #WhichersMillRoad. The easy and wide 0.5-mile #CharlesESwettTrail takes you to the shores of #EstesLake. The rocks here look like they would make good swimming perches."
Learn more:
https://mainebyfoot.com/massabesic-experimental-forest-alfred/#NoDatacenters #MainePol #MEPol
#Datacenters #ConservationLand
#MousamRiver #EstesLake
#NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests -
#MaineByFoot - #MassabesicExperimentalForest
#AlfredMEPreserve Size: 3,700 acres
"This experimental forest, which is used by the U.S. Forest Service for forest ecology and management research, is better organized for walking than its northern partner, the Massabesic Experimental Forest in Lyman.
"Here there are a few well-blazed, easy-to-follow footpaths, as well as a 1-mile old forest road cutting through the land that is flat and easy. Additionally, there are several twisty trails that aren’t blazed but seem as if they would appeal to mountain bikers. These unmarked tracks are often identifiable by small boulders parked at their entrance where they split from the old forest road. I’ve marked the blazed and un-blazed trails with different colors in my map.
"An interesting spot in this area is the largest #AtlanticWhiteCedar #wetlands in #NewEngland, which you can visit by hiking the 1-mile #ClaytonCarlTrail to the #AtlanticWhiteCedarTrail. These paths are accessed from the main track, on the west side of the forest.
"Additionally, there is a very pretty short trail on the other side of #WhichersMillRoad. The easy and wide 0.5-mile #CharlesESwettTrail takes you to the shores of #EstesLake. The rocks here look like they would make good swimming perches."
Learn more:
https://mainebyfoot.com/massabesic-experimental-forest-alfred/#NoDatacenters #MainePol #MEPol
#Datacenters #ConservationLand
#MousamRiver #EstesLake
#NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests -
#MaineByFoot - #MassabesicExperimentalForest
#AlfredMEPreserve Size: 3,700 acres
"This experimental forest, which is used by the U.S. Forest Service for forest ecology and management research, is better organized for walking than its northern partner, the Massabesic Experimental Forest in Lyman.
"Here there are a few well-blazed, easy-to-follow footpaths, as well as a 1-mile old forest road cutting through the land that is flat and easy. Additionally, there are several twisty trails that aren’t blazed but seem as if they would appeal to mountain bikers. These unmarked tracks are often identifiable by small boulders parked at their entrance where they split from the old forest road. I’ve marked the blazed and un-blazed trails with different colors in my map.
"An interesting spot in this area is the largest #AtlanticWhiteCedar #wetlands in #NewEngland, which you can visit by hiking the 1-mile #ClaytonCarlTrail to the #AtlanticWhiteCedarTrail. These paths are accessed from the main track, on the west side of the forest.
"Additionally, there is a very pretty short trail on the other side of #WhichersMillRoad. The easy and wide 0.5-mile #CharlesESwettTrail takes you to the shores of #EstesLake. The rocks here look like they would make good swimming perches."
Learn more:
https://mainebyfoot.com/massabesic-experimental-forest-alfred/#NoDatacenters #MainePol #MEPol
#Datacenters #ConservationLand
#MousamRiver #EstesLake
#NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests -
[Thread] So these are some of the places near the planned #Datacenter in #SanfordME. Sure, there may not be a lot of *humans* living nearby, but there sure is a lot of #wildlife who call these places home...
Company Eyes Sanford Site for Data Center
February 20th 2026
"A Texas company is exploring the feasibility of developing a massive data center in south Sanford.
New England Energy owns 1,060 acres of woods and has been quietly inquiring about the suitability of the site for a 100 to 300 megawatt capacity data center. Existence of the potential project burst into the open during a Maine legislative committee last week, and more details are surfacing."
Read more:
https://sanfordspringvalenews.com/company-eyes-sanford-site-for-data-center/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/UExIR#MainePol #MEPol #Datacenters #MassabesicExperimentalForest #ConservationLand #MousamRiver #EstesLake #NoisePollution #ProtectTheForests
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More about #BaunegBeg ! The name comes from the #Wabanaki word #Bannebeaugue, which means “spread out” and “still water.”
"Bauneg Beg Conservation Area in North Berwick includes 89 acres of deciduous forest land surrounding the 866-foot, three-peaked Bauneg Beg Mountain. The land was acquired by Great Works Regional Land Trust in three parts over the course of seven months in 2000 and 2001.
The 0.65-mile trail winds through a deciduous forest, a pine grove and a section of large boulders described as "Devil's Den" before reaching the highest of the three peaks. Trail forks just before the summit with a choice of routes to the top. Easier trail veers to the right.
Rocky outcroppings offer views of nearby Mount Hope, parts of south Sanford and, according to Great Works Regional Land Trust, on a clear day, Mount Washington to the northwest and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast."
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/bauneg-beg-middle-mountain-trail
#SolarPunkSunday #ConservationLand #MaineTrails #MaineHikes #SpendTimeInNature #NorthBerwickME #ConservationLands #GreatWorksRegionalLandTrust
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More about #BaunegBeg ! The name comes from the #Wabanaki word #Bannebeaugue, which means “spread out” and “still water.”
"Bauneg Beg Conservation Area in North Berwick includes 89 acres of deciduous forest land surrounding the 866-foot, three-peaked Bauneg Beg Mountain. The land was acquired by Great Works Regional Land Trust in three parts over the course of seven months in 2000 and 2001.
The 0.65-mile trail winds through a deciduous forest, a pine grove and a section of large boulders described as "Devil's Den" before reaching the highest of the three peaks. Trail forks just before the summit with a choice of routes to the top. Easier trail veers to the right.
Rocky outcroppings offer views of nearby Mount Hope, parts of south Sanford and, according to Great Works Regional Land Trust, on a clear day, Mount Washington to the northwest and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast."
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/bauneg-beg-middle-mountain-trail
#SolarPunkSunday #ConservationLand #MaineTrails #MaineHikes #SpendTimeInNature #NorthBerwickME #ConservationLands #GreatWorksRegionalLandTrust
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More about #BaunegBeg ! The name comes from the #Wabanaki word #Bannebeaugue, which means “spread out” and “still water.”
"Bauneg Beg Conservation Area in North Berwick includes 89 acres of deciduous forest land surrounding the 866-foot, three-peaked Bauneg Beg Mountain. The land was acquired by Great Works Regional Land Trust in three parts over the course of seven months in 2000 and 2001.
The 0.65-mile trail winds through a deciduous forest, a pine grove and a section of large boulders described as "Devil's Den" before reaching the highest of the three peaks. Trail forks just before the summit with a choice of routes to the top. Easier trail veers to the right.
Rocky outcroppings offer views of nearby Mount Hope, parts of south Sanford and, according to Great Works Regional Land Trust, on a clear day, Mount Washington to the northwest and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast."
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/bauneg-beg-middle-mountain-trail
#SolarPunkSunday #ConservationLand #MaineTrails #MaineHikes #SpendTimeInNature #NorthBerwickME #ConservationLands #GreatWorksRegionalLandTrust
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More about #BaunegBeg ! The name comes from the #Wabanaki word #Bannebeaugue, which means “spread out” and “still water.”
"Bauneg Beg Conservation Area in North Berwick includes 89 acres of deciduous forest land surrounding the 866-foot, three-peaked Bauneg Beg Mountain. The land was acquired by Great Works Regional Land Trust in three parts over the course of seven months in 2000 and 2001.
The 0.65-mile trail winds through a deciduous forest, a pine grove and a section of large boulders described as "Devil's Den" before reaching the highest of the three peaks. Trail forks just before the summit with a choice of routes to the top. Easier trail veers to the right.
Rocky outcroppings offer views of nearby Mount Hope, parts of south Sanford and, according to Great Works Regional Land Trust, on a clear day, Mount Washington to the northwest and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast."
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/bauneg-beg-middle-mountain-trail
#SolarPunkSunday #ConservationLand #MaineTrails #MaineHikes #SpendTimeInNature #NorthBerwickME #ConservationLands #GreatWorksRegionalLandTrust
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More about #BaunegBeg ! The name comes from the #Wabanaki word #Bannebeaugue, which means “spread out” and “still water.”
"Bauneg Beg Conservation Area in North Berwick includes 89 acres of deciduous forest land surrounding the 866-foot, three-peaked Bauneg Beg Mountain. The land was acquired by Great Works Regional Land Trust in three parts over the course of seven months in 2000 and 2001.
The 0.65-mile trail winds through a deciduous forest, a pine grove and a section of large boulders described as "Devil's Den" before reaching the highest of the three peaks. Trail forks just before the summit with a choice of routes to the top. Easier trail veers to the right.
Rocky outcroppings offer views of nearby Mount Hope, parts of south Sanford and, according to Great Works Regional Land Trust, on a clear day, Mount Washington to the northwest and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast."
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/bauneg-beg-middle-mountain-trail
#SolarPunkSunday #ConservationLand #MaineTrails #MaineHikes #SpendTimeInNature #NorthBerwickME #ConservationLands #GreatWorksRegionalLandTrust
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#MDOT Plans New #SearsIsland Road and Rail Access Corridor Through Current #ConservationLand
Published by
#allianceforsearsislandon May 23, 2024
"Can we hold the Maine Department of Transportation accountable for bull-dozing their way toward developing Sears Island and industrializing #PenobscotBay, along the way breaking promises, rewriting environmental protection law, changing the Sears Island conservation easement, withholding from the public important development costs and impacts and avoiding open, honest, transparent public involvement?
"We might be tempted to begin our list of facts illustrating MDOT’s abuse of authority and public trust with the illegal filling of Sears Island #wetlands and construction of the causeway, apparently in violation of its permit, in the 1980’s. But let’s keep to the more recent offshore wind record of broken promises and undisclosed development activity.
"During the Governor’s announcement in February, [#GovJanetMills] claimed, without supporting data, that Sears Island development 'will cost less' and 'is expected to result in less environmental harm' than would development of a state-owned but privately operated offshore wind facility at Mack Point.
"The 'cost less' assertion raised major questions not yet answered in part because, a few months earlier, at the last OSWPAG meeting, we were told, 'The total project cost for construction is very similar for both MP ($460 Million Total Project Cost) and SI ($470 Million Total Project Cost).'
"Sears Island’s current #undeveloped, natural condition, provides important ecological services to the region and state, especially for fisheries, #CarbonSequestration and publicly accessible recreation. #MackPoint does not provide these ecological services. According to a reliable source, every acre of intact Sears Island forest locks up between 80 and 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – #CO2 that cannot harm our #climate.
"Developing Sears Island proposes removing all vegetation and life from more than 100 acres on Sears Island, nearly one-third of which is existing or historical #wetland, and then harvesting 1.4 million cubic yards of soil to create an impermeable, nearly level work area. Doing so constitutes radical, permanent, irreparable ecological damage, forever eliminating current upland and associated marine #environmental benefits. This exactly flips an appropriate climate-change response and dramatically undermines any claim that developing Sears Island instead of Mack Point represents the least environmentally damaging choice.
Broken Promises
"In 2007, the state promised to choose #MackPoint as the preferred location for future marine transportation development. The Sears Island agreement, signed by 38 stakeholders including the Maine Department of Transportation, and adopted as state policy by then-Governor Baldacci and the State of Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Transportation, says: 'Mack Point shall be given preference as an alternative to port development on Sears Island.'
"The Sears Island agreement also committed the State of Maine from ever harvesting soil from the island. Ever. Not one cubic yard of soil would be harvested and certainly not 1.4 million cubic yards of soil!
Sadly, the Governor’s announcement and subsequent actions taken by MDOT toward developing Sears Island render the promises made in 2007 by our government worthless.
Broken Laws
"But highly questionable governmental actions in pursuit of developing Sears Island continue. In March this year the Governor brought forward the sand dune bill that allows violation of sand #dune system protections on Sears Island and creates a dangerous threat in the future for any environmental law that may interfere with MDOT development aspirations. Though initially failing to pass in the House, the bill eventually became law after strong political pressure.
New Sears Island Road and Rail Corridor
"And now we come to the MDOT application for a federal grant specifically to develop Sears Island. Nestled within several documents associated with the grant application is page 2 of a two-drawing file titled, Sears Island Wind Port Concept Drawing 2024-04-29, copy attached or available at https://www.maine.gov/mdot/grants/infra/.
"The illustration depicts a new 'heavy load' access road and rail corridor as part of Sears Island development plans for the first time, at least in public.
"As proposed, the new approximately 2,300-foot-long rail and road access corridor passes through a thickly wooded portion of the island, crossing at least two perennial streams and disturbing additional wetlands along the way. Assuming a 100-foot width, the corridor would destroy more than 5.25 acres of intact natural landscape, in addition to the more than 100-acre upland ecological destruction at the facility site proper.
"Adding insult to injury, the proposed new road and rail corridor requires changing the conservation easement boundary in the vicinity.
"#FriendsOfSearsIsland Vice President Rolf Olsen received confirmation of the new road and rail access plan from Kay Rand in response to his query. Rand also substantiated that the new access corridor would cross a portion of the conservation parcel and necessitate a change in that parcel’s boundary.
"According to budget information included with the grant application, clearing, grubbing, excavation and borrow, grading, drainage, erosion control, paving and other work related to this access corridor will add $8 million to the cost of developing Sears Island. Mack Point already provides both a heavy load road and rail.
"The new Sears Island rail and road access corridor presents yet another failure by MDOT to incorporate an honest understanding of climate change into decision-making. As MDOT fiddles for federal grant money to pursue a mega facility on Sears Island, the Earth tilts toward catastrophic climate change.
"I will venture the opinion that, had the #MillsAdministration and MDOT focused offshore wind port research on Mack Point as promised in March 2020 (see attached press release), as promised in the Sears Island Planning Initiative, and as the historical record certainly suggests is the rational approach, including deeply exploring development possibilities there with #SpragueEnergy, they might already have secured permits and seen construction begun.
#Accountability Now"End the insulting double-speak. With honor and integrity, not intrigue and obfuscation, open-up and bring the full spectrum of facts to this decision. Accountability now!"
Steve Miller
#WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #AllianceForSearsIsland #ProtectWahsumkik #MackPoint #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #GovernorJanetMills #WabanakiAlliance #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #PenobscotNation #Passamaquoddy #ProtectTheForest #CorporateColonialism #Wassumkeag -
#MDOT Plans New #SearsIsland Road and Rail Access Corridor Through Current #ConservationLand
Published by
#allianceforsearsislandon May 23, 2024
"Can we hold the Maine Department of Transportation accountable for bull-dozing their way toward developing Sears Island and industrializing #PenobscotBay, along the way breaking promises, rewriting environmental protection law, changing the Sears Island conservation easement, withholding from the public important development costs and impacts and avoiding open, honest, transparent public involvement?
"We might be tempted to begin our list of facts illustrating MDOT’s abuse of authority and public trust with the illegal filling of Sears Island #wetlands and construction of the causeway, apparently in violation of its permit, in the 1980’s. But let’s keep to the more recent offshore wind record of broken promises and undisclosed development activity.
"During the Governor’s announcement in February, [#GovJanetMills] claimed, without supporting data, that Sears Island development 'will cost less' and 'is expected to result in less environmental harm' than would development of a state-owned but privately operated offshore wind facility at Mack Point.
"The 'cost less' assertion raised major questions not yet answered in part because, a few months earlier, at the last OSWPAG meeting, we were told, 'The total project cost for construction is very similar for both MP ($460 Million Total Project Cost) and SI ($470 Million Total Project Cost).'
"Sears Island’s current #undeveloped, natural condition, provides important ecological services to the region and state, especially for fisheries, #CarbonSequestration and publicly accessible recreation. #MackPoint does not provide these ecological services. According to a reliable source, every acre of intact Sears Island forest locks up between 80 and 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – #CO2 that cannot harm our #climate.
"Developing Sears Island proposes removing all vegetation and life from more than 100 acres on Sears Island, nearly one-third of which is existing or historical #wetland, and then harvesting 1.4 million cubic yards of soil to create an impermeable, nearly level work area. Doing so constitutes radical, permanent, irreparable ecological damage, forever eliminating current upland and associated marine #environmental benefits. This exactly flips an appropriate climate-change response and dramatically undermines any claim that developing Sears Island instead of Mack Point represents the least environmentally damaging choice.
Broken Promises
"In 2007, the state promised to choose #MackPoint as the preferred location for future marine transportation development. The Sears Island agreement, signed by 38 stakeholders including the Maine Department of Transportation, and adopted as state policy by then-Governor Baldacci and the State of Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Transportation, says: 'Mack Point shall be given preference as an alternative to port development on Sears Island.'
"The Sears Island agreement also committed the State of Maine from ever harvesting soil from the island. Ever. Not one cubic yard of soil would be harvested and certainly not 1.4 million cubic yards of soil!
Sadly, the Governor’s announcement and subsequent actions taken by MDOT toward developing Sears Island render the promises made in 2007 by our government worthless.
Broken Laws
"But highly questionable governmental actions in pursuit of developing Sears Island continue. In March this year the Governor brought forward the sand dune bill that allows violation of sand #dune system protections on Sears Island and creates a dangerous threat in the future for any environmental law that may interfere with MDOT development aspirations. Though initially failing to pass in the House, the bill eventually became law after strong political pressure.
New Sears Island Road and Rail Corridor
"And now we come to the MDOT application for a federal grant specifically to develop Sears Island. Nestled within several documents associated with the grant application is page 2 of a two-drawing file titled, Sears Island Wind Port Concept Drawing 2024-04-29, copy attached or available at https://www.maine.gov/mdot/grants/infra/.
"The illustration depicts a new 'heavy load' access road and rail corridor as part of Sears Island development plans for the first time, at least in public.
"As proposed, the new approximately 2,300-foot-long rail and road access corridor passes through a thickly wooded portion of the island, crossing at least two perennial streams and disturbing additional wetlands along the way. Assuming a 100-foot width, the corridor would destroy more than 5.25 acres of intact natural landscape, in addition to the more than 100-acre upland ecological destruction at the facility site proper.
"Adding insult to injury, the proposed new road and rail corridor requires changing the conservation easement boundary in the vicinity.
"#FriendsOfSearsIsland Vice President Rolf Olsen received confirmation of the new road and rail access plan from Kay Rand in response to his query. Rand also substantiated that the new access corridor would cross a portion of the conservation parcel and necessitate a change in that parcel’s boundary.
"According to budget information included with the grant application, clearing, grubbing, excavation and borrow, grading, drainage, erosion control, paving and other work related to this access corridor will add $8 million to the cost of developing Sears Island. Mack Point already provides both a heavy load road and rail.
"The new Sears Island rail and road access corridor presents yet another failure by MDOT to incorporate an honest understanding of climate change into decision-making. As MDOT fiddles for federal grant money to pursue a mega facility on Sears Island, the Earth tilts toward catastrophic climate change.
"I will venture the opinion that, had the #MillsAdministration and MDOT focused offshore wind port research on Mack Point as promised in March 2020 (see attached press release), as promised in the Sears Island Planning Initiative, and as the historical record certainly suggests is the rational approach, including deeply exploring development possibilities there with #SpragueEnergy, they might already have secured permits and seen construction begun.
#Accountability Now"End the insulting double-speak. With honor and integrity, not intrigue and obfuscation, open-up and bring the full spectrum of facts to this decision. Accountability now!"
Steve Miller
#WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #AllianceForSearsIsland #ProtectWahsumkik #MackPoint #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #GovernorJanetMills #WabanakiAlliance #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #PenobscotNation #Passamaquoddy #ProtectTheForest #CorporateColonialism #Wassumkeag -
#MDOT Plans New #SearsIsland Road and Rail Access Corridor Through Current #ConservationLand
Published by
#allianceforsearsislandon May 23, 2024
"Can we hold the Maine Department of Transportation accountable for bull-dozing their way toward developing Sears Island and industrializing #PenobscotBay, along the way breaking promises, rewriting environmental protection law, changing the Sears Island conservation easement, withholding from the public important development costs and impacts and avoiding open, honest, transparent public involvement?
"We might be tempted to begin our list of facts illustrating MDOT’s abuse of authority and public trust with the illegal filling of Sears Island #wetlands and construction of the causeway, apparently in violation of its permit, in the 1980’s. But let’s keep to the more recent offshore wind record of broken promises and undisclosed development activity.
"During the Governor’s announcement in February, [#GovJanetMills] claimed, without supporting data, that Sears Island development 'will cost less' and 'is expected to result in less environmental harm' than would development of a state-owned but privately operated offshore wind facility at Mack Point.
"The 'cost less' assertion raised major questions not yet answered in part because, a few months earlier, at the last OSWPAG meeting, we were told, 'The total project cost for construction is very similar for both MP ($460 Million Total Project Cost) and SI ($470 Million Total Project Cost).'
"Sears Island’s current #undeveloped, natural condition, provides important ecological services to the region and state, especially for fisheries, #CarbonSequestration and publicly accessible recreation. #MackPoint does not provide these ecological services. According to a reliable source, every acre of intact Sears Island forest locks up between 80 and 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – #CO2 that cannot harm our #climate.
"Developing Sears Island proposes removing all vegetation and life from more than 100 acres on Sears Island, nearly one-third of which is existing or historical #wetland, and then harvesting 1.4 million cubic yards of soil to create an impermeable, nearly level work area. Doing so constitutes radical, permanent, irreparable ecological damage, forever eliminating current upland and associated marine #environmental benefits. This exactly flips an appropriate climate-change response and dramatically undermines any claim that developing Sears Island instead of Mack Point represents the least environmentally damaging choice.
Broken Promises
"In 2007, the state promised to choose #MackPoint as the preferred location for future marine transportation development. The Sears Island agreement, signed by 38 stakeholders including the Maine Department of Transportation, and adopted as state policy by then-Governor Baldacci and the State of Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Transportation, says: 'Mack Point shall be given preference as an alternative to port development on Sears Island.'
"The Sears Island agreement also committed the State of Maine from ever harvesting soil from the island. Ever. Not one cubic yard of soil would be harvested and certainly not 1.4 million cubic yards of soil!
Sadly, the Governor’s announcement and subsequent actions taken by MDOT toward developing Sears Island render the promises made in 2007 by our government worthless.
Broken Laws
"But highly questionable governmental actions in pursuit of developing Sears Island continue. In March this year the Governor brought forward the sand dune bill that allows violation of sand #dune system protections on Sears Island and creates a dangerous threat in the future for any environmental law that may interfere with MDOT development aspirations. Though initially failing to pass in the House, the bill eventually became law after strong political pressure.
New Sears Island Road and Rail Corridor
"And now we come to the MDOT application for a federal grant specifically to develop Sears Island. Nestled within several documents associated with the grant application is page 2 of a two-drawing file titled, Sears Island Wind Port Concept Drawing 2024-04-29, copy attached or available at https://www.maine.gov/mdot/grants/infra/.
"The illustration depicts a new 'heavy load' access road and rail corridor as part of Sears Island development plans for the first time, at least in public.
"As proposed, the new approximately 2,300-foot-long rail and road access corridor passes through a thickly wooded portion of the island, crossing at least two perennial streams and disturbing additional wetlands along the way. Assuming a 100-foot width, the corridor would destroy more than 5.25 acres of intact natural landscape, in addition to the more than 100-acre upland ecological destruction at the facility site proper.
"Adding insult to injury, the proposed new road and rail corridor requires changing the conservation easement boundary in the vicinity.
"#FriendsOfSearsIsland Vice President Rolf Olsen received confirmation of the new road and rail access plan from Kay Rand in response to his query. Rand also substantiated that the new access corridor would cross a portion of the conservation parcel and necessitate a change in that parcel’s boundary.
"According to budget information included with the grant application, clearing, grubbing, excavation and borrow, grading, drainage, erosion control, paving and other work related to this access corridor will add $8 million to the cost of developing Sears Island. Mack Point already provides both a heavy load road and rail.
"The new Sears Island rail and road access corridor presents yet another failure by MDOT to incorporate an honest understanding of climate change into decision-making. As MDOT fiddles for federal grant money to pursue a mega facility on Sears Island, the Earth tilts toward catastrophic climate change.
"I will venture the opinion that, had the #MillsAdministration and MDOT focused offshore wind port research on Mack Point as promised in March 2020 (see attached press release), as promised in the Sears Island Planning Initiative, and as the historical record certainly suggests is the rational approach, including deeply exploring development possibilities there with #SpragueEnergy, they might already have secured permits and seen construction begun.
#Accountability Now"End the insulting double-speak. With honor and integrity, not intrigue and obfuscation, open-up and bring the full spectrum of facts to this decision. Accountability now!"
Steve Miller
#WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #AllianceForSearsIsland #ProtectWahsumkik #MackPoint #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #GovernorJanetMills #WabanakiAlliance #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #PenobscotNation #Passamaquoddy #ProtectTheForest #CorporateColonialism #Wassumkeag -
#MDOT Plans New #SearsIsland Road and Rail Access Corridor Through Current #ConservationLand
Published by
#allianceforsearsislandon May 23, 2024
"Can we hold the Maine Department of Transportation accountable for bull-dozing their way toward developing Sears Island and industrializing #PenobscotBay, along the way breaking promises, rewriting environmental protection law, changing the Sears Island conservation easement, withholding from the public important development costs and impacts and avoiding open, honest, transparent public involvement?
"We might be tempted to begin our list of facts illustrating MDOT’s abuse of authority and public trust with the illegal filling of Sears Island #wetlands and construction of the causeway, apparently in violation of its permit, in the 1980’s. But let’s keep to the more recent offshore wind record of broken promises and undisclosed development activity.
"During the Governor’s announcement in February, [#GovJanetMills] claimed, without supporting data, that Sears Island development 'will cost less' and 'is expected to result in less environmental harm' than would development of a state-owned but privately operated offshore wind facility at Mack Point.
"The 'cost less' assertion raised major questions not yet answered in part because, a few months earlier, at the last OSWPAG meeting, we were told, 'The total project cost for construction is very similar for both MP ($460 Million Total Project Cost) and SI ($470 Million Total Project Cost).'
"Sears Island’s current #undeveloped, natural condition, provides important ecological services to the region and state, especially for fisheries, #CarbonSequestration and publicly accessible recreation. #MackPoint does not provide these ecological services. According to a reliable source, every acre of intact Sears Island forest locks up between 80 and 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – #CO2 that cannot harm our #climate.
"Developing Sears Island proposes removing all vegetation and life from more than 100 acres on Sears Island, nearly one-third of which is existing or historical #wetland, and then harvesting 1.4 million cubic yards of soil to create an impermeable, nearly level work area. Doing so constitutes radical, permanent, irreparable ecological damage, forever eliminating current upland and associated marine #environmental benefits. This exactly flips an appropriate climate-change response and dramatically undermines any claim that developing Sears Island instead of Mack Point represents the least environmentally damaging choice.
Broken Promises
"In 2007, the state promised to choose #MackPoint as the preferred location for future marine transportation development. The Sears Island agreement, signed by 38 stakeholders including the Maine Department of Transportation, and adopted as state policy by then-Governor Baldacci and the State of Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Transportation, says: 'Mack Point shall be given preference as an alternative to port development on Sears Island.'
"The Sears Island agreement also committed the State of Maine from ever harvesting soil from the island. Ever. Not one cubic yard of soil would be harvested and certainly not 1.4 million cubic yards of soil!
Sadly, the Governor’s announcement and subsequent actions taken by MDOT toward developing Sears Island render the promises made in 2007 by our government worthless.
Broken Laws
"But highly questionable governmental actions in pursuit of developing Sears Island continue. In March this year the Governor brought forward the sand dune bill that allows violation of sand #dune system protections on Sears Island and creates a dangerous threat in the future for any environmental law that may interfere with MDOT development aspirations. Though initially failing to pass in the House, the bill eventually became law after strong political pressure.
New Sears Island Road and Rail Corridor
"And now we come to the MDOT application for a federal grant specifically to develop Sears Island. Nestled within several documents associated with the grant application is page 2 of a two-drawing file titled, Sears Island Wind Port Concept Drawing 2024-04-29, copy attached or available at https://www.maine.gov/mdot/grants/infra/.
"The illustration depicts a new 'heavy load' access road and rail corridor as part of Sears Island development plans for the first time, at least in public.
"As proposed, the new approximately 2,300-foot-long rail and road access corridor passes through a thickly wooded portion of the island, crossing at least two perennial streams and disturbing additional wetlands along the way. Assuming a 100-foot width, the corridor would destroy more than 5.25 acres of intact natural landscape, in addition to the more than 100-acre upland ecological destruction at the facility site proper.
"Adding insult to injury, the proposed new road and rail corridor requires changing the conservation easement boundary in the vicinity.
"#FriendsOfSearsIsland Vice President Rolf Olsen received confirmation of the new road and rail access plan from Kay Rand in response to his query. Rand also substantiated that the new access corridor would cross a portion of the conservation parcel and necessitate a change in that parcel’s boundary.
"According to budget information included with the grant application, clearing, grubbing, excavation and borrow, grading, drainage, erosion control, paving and other work related to this access corridor will add $8 million to the cost of developing Sears Island. Mack Point already provides both a heavy load road and rail.
"The new Sears Island rail and road access corridor presents yet another failure by MDOT to incorporate an honest understanding of climate change into decision-making. As MDOT fiddles for federal grant money to pursue a mega facility on Sears Island, the Earth tilts toward catastrophic climate change.
"I will venture the opinion that, had the #MillsAdministration and MDOT focused offshore wind port research on Mack Point as promised in March 2020 (see attached press release), as promised in the Sears Island Planning Initiative, and as the historical record certainly suggests is the rational approach, including deeply exploring development possibilities there with #SpragueEnergy, they might already have secured permits and seen construction begun.
#Accountability Now"End the insulting double-speak. With honor and integrity, not intrigue and obfuscation, open-up and bring the full spectrum of facts to this decision. Accountability now!"
Steve Miller
#WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #AllianceForSearsIsland #ProtectWahsumkik #MackPoint #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #GovernorJanetMills #WabanakiAlliance #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #PenobscotNation #Passamaquoddy #ProtectTheForest #CorporateColonialism #Wassumkeag -
#MDOT Plans New #SearsIsland Road and Rail Access Corridor Through Current #ConservationLand
Published by
#allianceforsearsislandon May 23, 2024
"Can we hold the Maine Department of Transportation accountable for bull-dozing their way toward developing Sears Island and industrializing #PenobscotBay, along the way breaking promises, rewriting environmental protection law, changing the Sears Island conservation easement, withholding from the public important development costs and impacts and avoiding open, honest, transparent public involvement?
"We might be tempted to begin our list of facts illustrating MDOT’s abuse of authority and public trust with the illegal filling of Sears Island #wetlands and construction of the causeway, apparently in violation of its permit, in the 1980’s. But let’s keep to the more recent offshore wind record of broken promises and undisclosed development activity.
"During the Governor’s announcement in February, [#GovJanetMills] claimed, without supporting data, that Sears Island development 'will cost less' and 'is expected to result in less environmental harm' than would development of a state-owned but privately operated offshore wind facility at Mack Point.
"The 'cost less' assertion raised major questions not yet answered in part because, a few months earlier, at the last OSWPAG meeting, we were told, 'The total project cost for construction is very similar for both MP ($460 Million Total Project Cost) and SI ($470 Million Total Project Cost).'
"Sears Island’s current #undeveloped, natural condition, provides important ecological services to the region and state, especially for fisheries, #CarbonSequestration and publicly accessible recreation. #MackPoint does not provide these ecological services. According to a reliable source, every acre of intact Sears Island forest locks up between 80 and 100 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – #CO2 that cannot harm our #climate.
"Developing Sears Island proposes removing all vegetation and life from more than 100 acres on Sears Island, nearly one-third of which is existing or historical #wetland, and then harvesting 1.4 million cubic yards of soil to create an impermeable, nearly level work area. Doing so constitutes radical, permanent, irreparable ecological damage, forever eliminating current upland and associated marine #environmental benefits. This exactly flips an appropriate climate-change response and dramatically undermines any claim that developing Sears Island instead of Mack Point represents the least environmentally damaging choice.
Broken Promises
"In 2007, the state promised to choose #MackPoint as the preferred location for future marine transportation development. The Sears Island agreement, signed by 38 stakeholders including the Maine Department of Transportation, and adopted as state policy by then-Governor Baldacci and the State of Maine’s Joint Standing Committee on Transportation, says: 'Mack Point shall be given preference as an alternative to port development on Sears Island.'
"The Sears Island agreement also committed the State of Maine from ever harvesting soil from the island. Ever. Not one cubic yard of soil would be harvested and certainly not 1.4 million cubic yards of soil!
Sadly, the Governor’s announcement and subsequent actions taken by MDOT toward developing Sears Island render the promises made in 2007 by our government worthless.
Broken Laws
"But highly questionable governmental actions in pursuit of developing Sears Island continue. In March this year the Governor brought forward the sand dune bill that allows violation of sand #dune system protections on Sears Island and creates a dangerous threat in the future for any environmental law that may interfere with MDOT development aspirations. Though initially failing to pass in the House, the bill eventually became law after strong political pressure.
New Sears Island Road and Rail Corridor
"And now we come to the MDOT application for a federal grant specifically to develop Sears Island. Nestled within several documents associated with the grant application is page 2 of a two-drawing file titled, Sears Island Wind Port Concept Drawing 2024-04-29, copy attached or available at https://www.maine.gov/mdot/grants/infra/.
"The illustration depicts a new 'heavy load' access road and rail corridor as part of Sears Island development plans for the first time, at least in public.
"As proposed, the new approximately 2,300-foot-long rail and road access corridor passes through a thickly wooded portion of the island, crossing at least two perennial streams and disturbing additional wetlands along the way. Assuming a 100-foot width, the corridor would destroy more than 5.25 acres of intact natural landscape, in addition to the more than 100-acre upland ecological destruction at the facility site proper.
"Adding insult to injury, the proposed new road and rail corridor requires changing the conservation easement boundary in the vicinity.
"#FriendsOfSearsIsland Vice President Rolf Olsen received confirmation of the new road and rail access plan from Kay Rand in response to his query. Rand also substantiated that the new access corridor would cross a portion of the conservation parcel and necessitate a change in that parcel’s boundary.
"According to budget information included with the grant application, clearing, grubbing, excavation and borrow, grading, drainage, erosion control, paving and other work related to this access corridor will add $8 million to the cost of developing Sears Island. Mack Point already provides both a heavy load road and rail.
"The new Sears Island rail and road access corridor presents yet another failure by MDOT to incorporate an honest understanding of climate change into decision-making. As MDOT fiddles for federal grant money to pursue a mega facility on Sears Island, the Earth tilts toward catastrophic climate change.
"I will venture the opinion that, had the #MillsAdministration and MDOT focused offshore wind port research on Mack Point as promised in March 2020 (see attached press release), as promised in the Sears Island Planning Initiative, and as the historical record certainly suggests is the rational approach, including deeply exploring development possibilities there with #SpragueEnergy, they might already have secured permits and seen construction begun.
#Accountability Now"End the insulting double-speak. With honor and integrity, not intrigue and obfuscation, open-up and bring the full spectrum of facts to this decision. Accountability now!"
Steve Miller
#WindTerminal #SandDunes
#Searsport #AllianceForSearsIsland #ProtectWahsumkik #MackPoint #Wahsumkik
#EndangeredSpecies #ProtectTheDunes #GovernorJanetMills #WabanakiAlliance #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #PenobscotNation #Passamaquoddy #ProtectTheForest #CorporateColonialism #Wassumkeag