Vol. 4, No. 2 Contents
Headline Back Issues
Spring 2000
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Gulf islands feeling pressure of their growing popularity (cont'd)Considering more controlsAs island use grows, public and private owners and managers find themselves considering additional measures to try to control, but still allow visitation. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife already closes Maine's seabird nesting islands to visitors during the nesting season to prevent disturbance of birds and trampling of eggs and nests. If an adult bird leaves its nest to drive an intruder away, the eggs become vulnerable to predators and to the elements. Last summer, MITA, in partnership with the Maine Conservation Department's Bureau of Parks and Lands, posted voluntary capacity guidelines on 11 of the most heavily used public islands on the Maine Island Trail. The Bureau owns about 1,500 islands, 35 of which are part of the Trail. This summer, MITA and the Bureau are posting voluntary recreational use guidelines including island capacity, group capacity, and length-of-stay limits - on all 35 public islands. In addition, they are hiring a seasonal caretaker to look after the three most heavily visited islands in Casco Bay. Managers might eventually have to institute fees to recover the cost of protecting some islands from larger crowds, said Tom Rumpf, Land Protection Director for The Nature Conservancy's Maine Chapter, which owns and protects about 50 Maine islands for conservation. "It takes resources to manage high levels of recreational use and still protect island habitats. Free use may not survive forever," he asserted.
Some island owners find that a good way to allow visitation without ruining island resources is to allow only day trips. On islands that do allow overnight camping and have resident caretakers, a reservation system can keep the numbers of people who can camp on an island at any given time at manageable levels. Rob Cabot's family has owned Butter Island in Penobscot Bay since his grandfather purchased it in 1943. "We feel fairly strongly that we should try to share the island with the public. It was clearly what my grandfather wanted when he was alive," said Cabot. But last year the family instituted a reservation system to try to more evenly distribute the numbers of overnight visitors to the 360-acre/146-hectare island, and also restricted visitors to fewer areas. "We realized we had to do something to preserve our own privacy," and to maintain the island's solitude and ecological integrity, he said. Supervision of visitors can also protect habitats and wildlife. On seabird islands, said Steve Kress, Manager of National Audubon Society's Maine Coast Seabird Sanctuaries and Director of its Seabird Restoration Program, "The actual disturbance really boils down to trampling." Restricting visitors' movements allows them to spend time observing the birds while protecting the birds' nests. This is possible on islands that are staffed by researchers or wardens, such as Machias Seal Island, a bird sanctuary at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy famous for its Atlantic puffin colony. Small groups of visitors are allowed on Machias Seal - which is supervised by the Canadian Wildlife Service - according to a limited schedule. Once there, bird-watchers are restricted to certain boardwalked areas and are allowed to watch the puffins from wooden blinds. Noting that the puffin colony has "been growing rapidly this century," Kress said this method seems to be working for the birds as well as those who like to observe them. |
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