Restoration

To help reverse habitat damage caused by past human activity, CBEP supports a variety of restoration projects, from mapping and inventory development to on-the-ground restoration, project monitoring, and assessment.

Royal River Dams and Fish Passage Improvements  CBEP's role on fish passage improvements has been limited. The CBEP Board has not taken a position regarding dam removal, but is committed to assisting with collection of information necessary to support a careful decision.  CBEP Director Curtis Bohlen moderated a public forum on the future of the dams and CBEP has funded a fish passage improvement project.

CBEP received a  NOAA Gulf of Maine Marine Council grant for the  "Thomas Bay Marsh Tidal Restoration Project" and is working in partnership with the Town of Brunswick to complete the project.   

CBEP supported the development of a Watershed Management Plan for the Pleasant River and its tributaries, located in the towns of Gray and WIndham.  The goal of the Plan is for Pleasant and Thayer Brook, a main tributary to the Pleasant, to be able to attain Maine's Class B water quality standards.

 
Mapping fringing marsh habitat along the Casco Bay coastline: project summary | report (PDF) ¦ data (html) ¦ files for download (GIS)

Results of 2009-10 assessment of stream/road crossings identifying barriers for migration of fish and other aquatic organisms throughout the watershed: Fish Passage Barrier Assessment and Atlas

- Identifying salt marsh tidal restrictions

- Recommendations for restoring Mill Brook, Westbrook, ME, 2008: full report (PDF) ¦ report summary (PDF) ¦ appendices: A, B, C, D, E, F, G

- Mill Brook Stream Bank Stabilization and Habitat Enhancement Project, 2007 (PDF)

- Restoration of Alewife Passage at Highland Lake Dam

- Restoration of Riparian Buffer at the Former Smelt Hill Dam Site, Falmouth, ME: Final Report, 2005 (PDF)

- Assessing and restoring habitat in the Presumpscot River: Fish Assemblage and Habitat Assessment of the Presumpscot River, Midwest Biodiversity Institute Technical Report, 2008 (PDF) ¦ Presumpscot River Management Plan, 2003 ¦ Final Habitat Restoration Inventory Summary Report for the Lower Presumpscot River Watershed, 2005

Protection

CBEP supports the long-term protection of high-value habitats by assisting with property acquisition, conservation easements, and mapping conserved areas.  CBEP's Habitat Protection Fund supports local conservation by providing seed funding in support of habitat protection efforts by land trusts, towns, and state agencies.  Between 2006 and 2010, CBEP invested more than $250,000 to protect over 4,500 acres of land.

Casco Bay Workshop on Land Trusts and Climate Change Adaptation

Studying Indicator Species

Protecting the quality and quantity of habitat is necessary in order to maintain biological diversity in and around Casco Bay.  Individual species can serve as broader indicators of the health of natural systems, due to their unique habitat requirements or role within ecological communities.  Some of the "indicator species" that CBEP tracks are:

Eelgrass

CBEP is currently partnering with the Maine DEP to conduct an eelgrass aerial survey.  Results will be included in the 2015 State of the Bay report.

 - Status, Trends, and Conservation of Eelgrass in Atlantic Canada and the Northeastern United States (Workshop Proceedings, February 24-25, 2009, Portland, Maine), 2009
- Indicator 14: Eelgrass Habitat Change Over Time, State of the Bay Report, 2010 (PDF)

Waterbirds

- Osprey Nest Abundance, Distribution, and Productivity in Casco Bay 2011-2013

With support from CBEP, and in collaboration with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Biodiversity Research Institute is conducting a three-year (2011-2013) baseline study on Osprey nest abundance, distribution and productivity in Casco Bay.  Osprey are one of the most well-established bioindicator species because their nest distribution patterns and changes in the local foodweb that supports them.  This survey effort represents the first comprehensive inventory ever to be conducted on Ospreys in Casco Bay.       

2011 Report
2012 Report                                            

- Casco Bay Shorebird Monitoring Project 2009-2012

Shorebird Montioring Reports
- Casco Bay Shorebird Monitoring Project Year Four report, 2012 (PDF)
- Casco Bay Shorebird Monitoring Project Year Three report, 2011 (PDF)
- Casco Bay Shorebird Monitoring Project Year Two report, 2010 (PDF)
- Casco Bay Shorebird Monitoring Project Year One report, 2009 (PDF)

Shorebird Monitoring Project Data
  2012 Working Casco Bay Shorebird Data
  2011 Working Casco Bay Shorebird Data
  2010 Working Casco Bay Shorebird Data
  2009 Working Casco Bay Shorebird Data

- Indicator 15: Status of Waterbird Populations in Casco Bay, State of the Bay Report, 2010 (PDF)
- Outer Green Island Tern Restoration Project

Marine invasive species

- Report on the 2013 Rapid Assessment Survey of Marine Species at New England Bays and Harbors, 2014 (PDF)
- Factsheet: Maine's Marine Invasion: What is Invading Maine's Coastal Waters? (PDF)
- Why it is important to look for invasive species in all Maine ecosystems, 2009 (YouTube video)
- Non-Shipping Pathways for Marine Invasive Species in Maine, 2007 (PDF)
- Marine Invaders in the Northeast:  Rapid Assessment Survey of Non-native and Native Marine Species of Floating Dock Communities, 2010 (PDF)