Posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 by Maine Sportsman
James Dorso Wildlife Management Area
In April 2006 one of the best wildlife habitats to be found in central Maine, Ruffingham Meadow Wildlife Management Area, was renamed in honor of James Dorso. The newly signed James Dorso Wildlife Management Area is located in Searsmont just off of Rt. 3 between Augusta and Belfast.
Jim Dorso served as a wildlife technician for the MDIFW for over twenty years before retiring in 1989. Jim became known as the father of Maine’s waterfowl nesting box program. Jim began making nesting boxes after seeing the idea and illustrations in a Popular Mechanics magazine. He built several, placed them near his house, and was amazed at their success when he found eggs in them that nesting season. Within a few years, he had built and was maintaining 150 of them.
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Tags: Central Maine Hunting Report • Categories: Hunting Reports
Posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 by Maine Sportsman
Scarborough Marsh WMA Restoration
Located just 9 miles south of Portland and amidst the rapidly growing town of Scarborough is the largest, most ecologically diverse saltmarsh in the state. The estuary is the meeting place of five rivers and the Atlantic Ocean. This exceptional wetland, totaling over 3,100 acres is owned by the Department and managed as the Scarborough Marsh Wildlife Management Area (WMA). MDIFW surveys indicate the marsh provides habitat for the highest number of water dependent birds in the state, including resident and migratory waterfowl and wading birds. Though this WMA was largely acquired and managed for waterfowl such as the black duck, blue-winged teal and wood duck, the marsh provides habitat for many other wetland species, including at least seven state and federally listed birds. Today, as in the past, the marsh provides many recreational opportunities such as waterfowl hunting, trapping, striped bass fishing, shellfish harvesting, canoeing and bird watching. The Nature Center, managed by Maine Audubon Society in partnership with MDIFW, welcomes over 10,000 visitors annually for educational programs.
Much like the state’s vast inland forests, salt marshes, including Scarborough, have a long history of human use. Prior to European settlement, the Sokokis Indians maintained a settlement on Winnock’s Neck, where they harvested shellfish, fish, seal and waterfowl. European settlement beginning in the 1600′s brought livestock to the area. The marsh then became a source of hay, with the cordgrasses (Spartina spp.) and blackgrasses (Juncus spp.) considered most valuable. The shorter the hydroperiod on the marsh, the higher the yield of hay, so marshes throughout the east coast were parallel ditched to drain the tidal water. In addition, large earthen dikes were built and sluice gates were installed to reduce the influence of the tides on the marsh. This type of farming was physically demanding and technically challenging, yet the marshes were extensive, productive, required no cultivation and could be quite profitable. The harvesting declined in the early 20th century due to competition with larger farms inland. Later, in the early 1920′s, the marshes endured another phase of ditching for the purposes of controlling mosquitoes. Additional alteration of the marsh has resulted from the establishment of three major transportation corridors, two railroad lines and U.S. Route 1. These practices were done at a time when the ecological value of a salt marsh was not fully realized. These values were compromised through changes in hydrology, soils and vegetation types, including the spread of invasive plants. The state acquired Scarborough Marsh largely between the years 1957 and 1978, and smaller acquisitions continue today through funding from Pittman-Robinson funds, state bond monies and private donations. Former MDIFW Biologist Russell Degarmo was instrumental in the acquisition of the marsh in the early days. Much of the initiative for restoring the marsh can be attributed to the work of MDIFW’s Region A Wildlife Biologist, Phil Bozenhard. A group of citizens and conservation groups concerned about the future of the marsh established the Friends of Scarborough Marsh. They have been an important liaison to the community and are fully invested in the planning and restoration of the marsh.
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Tags: Southwestern Maine Hunting Report • Categories: Hunting Reports
Posted on Friday, December 1st, 2006 by Maine Sportsman
This Month: No Rest for the Maine Sportsman in December
The dark, festive month once struck Maine sports folks as a time of rest and reflection after a busy fall of fishing and of chasing bears, waterfowl, upland birds and deer.
These days, though, December has turned into the busy man’s month.
For starters, in the 1990s, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife extended the season for grouse, pheasant and gray squirrel through Dec. 31, a month more of hunting beyond the old Nov. 30 closing for those three species.
The muzzleloading season for deer statewide runs from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2, and the second week of the season continues from Dec. 4 to Dec. 9 in Wildlife Management Areas (WMDs) 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 29, roughly the bottom third of Maine.
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Tags: December 2006 Issue • Categories: Almanac
