Blog – Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust

Coastal Rivers naturalist inspired to pursue Master’s in Marine Affairs

Posted on August 16, 2019 by

Those of you who attended Coastal Rivers’ Membership Celebration in July had the chance to hear Melanie Nash speak about how her personal experiences volunteering with and working for PWA and Coastal Rivers have inspired her studies and career goals. Article and featured photo by Coastal Rivers volunteer Adair Heyl. “How can anything be more important than the environment?” asks Melanie Nash, summer staff naturalist at Coastal Rivers’ Beachcombers’ Rest Nature Center (BRNC) at Pemaquid Beach Park. “If we don’t reach kids, conservation isn’t going to happen. The little 7-year old who said, ‘Don’t go to the vending machine; fill…

Twin Villages Foodbank Farm on Channel 6 News

Posted on August 12, 2019 by

Hannah McGhee Posted in Season's Successes

Don Carrigan of Channel 6 News caught up with Sara and Meg at Twin Villages Foodbank Farm recently to learn about what sets this farm apart from all the rest. Spoiler alert: All the food is donated to food pantries and other low-income food programs in Lincoln County! Coastal Rivers is proud to partner with the farm by providing land and behind-the-scenes support. Click to view the video on YouTube.

Summer Jobs

Posted on August 1, 2019 by

Barnaby Porter Posted in Barnaby's Blog

This post is part of a series contributed by Coastal Rivers Trustee Barnaby Porter. Read the previous post here. A hot summer afternoon in my shop with a fly or two buzzing around my head makes me look yearningly at the lazy fluffs of clouds in the sky and wish I were out there somewhere on the sparkling sea, waves lapping at the hull of my boat, nothing more to do than stand at the helm and allow my senses to inhale the essence of our amazing coastal waters. “Vacationland,” they call our state. For amusement, I turn on my…

River House and Coastal Rivers aim to keep plastics out of the River

Posted on July 29, 2019 by

Hannah McGhee Posted in Season's Successes

About a year ago, during a cruise on the Damariscotta with DRA, now Coastal Rivers, Bremen resident Eleanor Kinney looked out over the harbor and noticed a lot of blue Styrofoam boat moorings. This type of Styrofoam crumbles easily and is an abundant source of plastic pollution in aquatic environments. Eleanor knows this from experience, as she has long been picking up bits of it along the shores of Biscay Pond near her home, where the material is commonly used for buoyancy under docks and swim platforms. A founding member of kNOw S.U.P., a group of volunteers working locally to…

Partner Project: Maine Coast Photovoice

Posted on July 26, 2019 by

Hannah McGhee Posted in What's New

Exploring coastal resilience through community photography and visual storytelling You are invited to participate in a research study examining social and environmental change through photography and visual storytelling in the Damariscotta River Estuary. WHO: Researchers from the University of Maine Communication & Journalism Department are looking for 10-20 residents living in or around the Damariscotta Estuary (18 years or older) to join their team in an effort to document the important changes happening around us. WHEN: Through Summer 2020 (dates yet to be determined) WHERE: Education Hall at Coastal Rivers’ Round Top Farm (3 Round Top Lane, Damariscotta, ME 04543)…

Shags Come to the Symphony

Posted on July 1, 2019 by

Barnaby Porter Posted in Barnaby's Blog

This post is part of a series contributed by Coastal Rivers Trustee Barnaby Porter. Read the previous post here. By way of introduction, Barnaby writes, “This piece was written some years back during one of Round Top’s many earlier incarnations. It was a memorable event and might well be something Coastal Rivers should or could contemplate repeating in the future ~ perhaps a Concert for the Climate . . . or a Riverine Symphony.” People speak of “the ecology” in a grand way these days. It kind of hurts my ears. What they really mean to say, I think, is…

Coastal Rivers volunteers monitor water quality at area swim beaches

Posted on June 21, 2019 by

Hannah McGhee Posted in Season's Successes

calibrating instruments for swim beach monitoring

Nine water quality volunteers for Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust attended a Healthy Beaches training recently to go over the proper use of tools and protocol for taking water samples. As a service to the community, Coastal Rivers monitors the water at three area swim beaches for pathogenic contamination. Trained volunteers test weekly for Enterococci at Pemaquid Beach, and for E. coli at the Bristol Mills swimming hole and Biscay Beach. Two of the volunteers have been testing the water at Pemaquid Beach for over 15 years. Data are reported to the towns of Bristol and Damariscotta, which manage the swim…

Dodge Point dock rebuilt and ready for boating season

Posted on June 19, 2019 by

Hannah McGhee Posted in Season's Successes

Just in time for boating season, the dock at Dodge Point is installed for the summer. The dock is open for public use and is a popular spot for picnics or to reach the hiking trails by boat. Volunteers and staff from Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust remove the dock each fall and reinstall it in the spring to provide easy access to the preserve by boat. Coastal Rivers co-manages Dodge Point Preserve, which is owned by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL). Visitors to the dock may notice the pier is looking sturdier than it did last year!…

Not Very Showy, Not Much of a Smell

Posted on June 3, 2019 by

Barnaby Porter Posted in Barnaby's Blog

This post is part of a series contributed by Coastal Rivers Trustee Barnaby Porter. Read the previous post here. I’ve been cutting a few white pines just lately – the Maine state tree, bearing, in this season, the state flower. It’s not much of a flower some would say, not very showy, not much of a smell – just a pale yellow tassel in the whispering forest canopy. But . . . there’s something to be said for numbers, and there certainly are a lot of those pine flowers nodding across the state – a lot of pine trees for…

Coastal Rivers and oyster growers partner for river clean-up

Posted on May 22, 2019 by

Hannah McGhee Posted in Season's Successes

Despite cool weather and drizzle, Damariscotta River oyster growers partnered with Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust staff and volunteers for a successful river clean-up on May 17. “A clean estuary is key to the health of the river and to the aquaculture industry,” observed Executive Director Steven Hufnagel. “We all share a commitment to environmental stewardship of the river.” A total of six boats carrying oyster growers and Coastal Rivers staff and volunteers deployed to various points between the Damariscotta-Newcastle bridge and Glidden Ledge. The trash they collected in just two and a half hours filled a large-body truck. The clean-up…