Will the next Reserve hold a freshwater estuary?
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-07-07
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has nominated the St. Louis River in the northwest part of his state to become the 28th National Estuarine Research Reserve. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will determine whether to add the site to the Reserve system.
The Governor’s press release is here. The NERR System announcement is here.
According to the latter reference…
If NOAA approves the designation, the 15,000-acre St. Louis River site will become the second reserve in the Great Lakes. Ohio’s Old Woman Creek, on Lake Erie, was designated in 1980. The St. Louis River flowing between the cities of Superior, Wisconsin, and Duluth, Minnesota, is one of the largest freshwater estuaries on Lake Superior.
In simple terms, estuaries are “where rivers meet the sea.” In Wells, that sea is the Gulf of Maine, but the Wisconsin sea would be a large freshwater lake. We are used to thinking of estuaries as the places where fresh water and salt water mix. The idea of a “freshwater estuary” is not new, but it is controversial.
To learn about seiches and wind tides and how they contribute to the definition of a freshwater estuary, we recommend this University of Wisconsin Extension page. Follow the link for Freshwater Estuaries Defined.
Does the term freshwater estuary catch you by surprise?
Open all weekend - Happy Independence Day
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-07-03
Wells Reserve trails will be open as usual from 7 am to sunset, and the Visitor Center will even be open on the Fourth. Come enjoy the site!
Now that summer is in full swing, it’s time to plan ahead for a couple of our key events. Here are two fliers you can post on your refrigerator or on the bulletin boards of your favorite stops.
One drop at a time
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-06-19
This morning, the Coastal Training Program advisory committee met at Wells Reserve to share news, resources, ideas, and collaborative opportunities. Among the attendees was LaMarr Clannon of Maine NEMO, who highly recommended a visit to One Drop at a Time: A Sustainable Pilot Project with Green Stormwater Management Technology. I decided to check it out, and enthusiastically endorse LaMarr’s recommendation.
Globe points explorers to Wells Reserve
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-06-17
Last Sunday’s Boston Sunday Globe featured the Wells Reserve in “Just a Tank Away,” right up front in Explore New England.
Take a walk on the quiet side at [Wells Reserve], adjacent to, but a world away from, the hubbub of Maine’s Wells Beach.
Did you see the mention? Will you take the Globe's advice?
Doing the tick tuck
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-06-13
In today’s Portland Press Herald, Josie Huang reports in Lyme disease threat comes back strong that winter went easy on deer ticks and the little critters are especially abundant this spring.
Regulars at the Wells Reserve know it’s a hot spot for Ixodes scapularis and most plan their trail walks accordingly. In this image, the hiker on the left demonstrates a couple of key ways to minimize the chance that a tick will get under her skin. The hiker on the right is poorly prepared for prevention.
- Tuck pant legs into socks, so ticks climb up your legs outside instead of inside, and
- Wear light-colored clothing, so the dark ticks are easier to spot and remove.
It’s the deer tick nymph, mainly active now through July, that imposes the greatest risk of passing Lyme disease, so take precautions and you can still enjoy the beauty of Wells Reserve trails with a bit less worry.
For more facts on ticks in Maine, we recommend the Maine Medical Center Research Institute website.
Social science tools for natural resource managers
Scott Richardson ~ 2008-06-12
Coastal Training Program (CTP) coordinator Chris Feurt is in Burlington, Vermont today, speaking at the 14th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. This year’s theme is “People and Place: Linking Culture and Nature.”
Chris’s talk is titled “Understanding the ‘system’ in ecosystem management—social science tools for natural resource managers.” Her case study stems from the CTP “Protecting Our Children’s Water” initiative, where social science methodologies are applied to community-based ecosystem management. Here is part of her abstract…
Stakeholder and institutional analysis combined with instructional design and collaborative learning methodologies facilitated watershed partnerships in coastal watersheds in southern Maine. An understanding of the cultural roots of conflict, motivational forces guiding resource management and perceived barriers to collaboration guided this place-based design of the national science to management initiative. The social science methodologies applied in this case study yielded surprising and valuable perspectives about the social system influencing community based ecosystem management. A conceptual framework for integrating social science tools into ecosystem management is proposed.