Trail protection a hot topic in cold weather

First off, I hope your Thanksgiving is a great one, and you stop for at least a minute or two to reflect on the past year and give thanks for being able to live in an area with so many natural wonders. I know I’m thankful for those who’ve gone before and were thoughtful enough to set aside some land where we all can go to enjoy the outdoors. I’m thankful too for those who are working today to ensure that we’ll have public places our children will be able to use.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a Maine Island Trail Association public forum in Wiscasset where the discussion was centered on island access, how the public is affected by current use and how the voluntary use guidelines posted on many of our public islands worked this past summer. It was the fourth in a series of public meetings that began in the spring of 1999 to deal with policies concerning increased island use.

MITA’s mission is to “establish a thoughtful use and volunteer stewardship for the Maine islands that will assure their conservation in a natural state while providing an exceptional recreational asset that is maintained and cared for by the people who use it.”

There are some 46 islands in the Maine Island Trail where one can go to explore and stay overnight. A similar number of privately-owned islands are open to use by MITA members only.

The public islands represent a fixed amount of real estate that has come under pressure as more and more people get out and explore them. This leads to increased wear, tear, erosion and degradation of the fragile ecosystems that make up these beautiful places. It’s a situation where we could love them to death.

A few years ago, MITA began looking at this increased use and started the multifaceted process of coming up with a way to limit the deterioration of these gems while maintaining the experience of discovery and adventure that is inherent in exploring our islands. The Maine Island Trail is a national centerpiece and MITA’s membership encompasses a wide variety of interests from public to private to commercial.

With in the 300-mile trail there are some islands that receive more use than others and therefore are showing signs of erosion, campsite sprawl and hardening, trail widening, litter and waste deposition, tree trimming and illegal fire rings and campsites.

To reduce the impact on these heavily used islands, MITA began to look at ways to limit the number of visitors, especially those staying overnight.

The result was that this year, 35 public islands were posted with inconspicuous signs asking visitors to limit their stays to two nights. The signs also had suggested limits on the number of overnight visitors as well as the number of groups each island could accommodate.

These small signs outline the responsible-use guidelines for islands, including removal of trash and human waste, using established campsites, not using open fires; observing wildlife at a distance, and respecting others who may be using the island.

MITA stakeholders last Wednesday, by a show of hands, agreed that continued use of these limits (with a few modifications) for the coming year was a good thing. This past summer saw a slight decrease in overall island use most likely due to the often questionable weather. Generally the number of visits was down throughout spring and early summer, but up during October, said Karen Stimpson, MITA’s executive director.

Throughout the summer, 26 monitor skippers and 96 island adopters visit the islands on a regular basis. Once each spring and fall, cleanup crews scour the islands to pick up litter, clean up and disperse illegal fire rings and check on the overall well-being of all the islands in the trail. Logbooks on each of the islands provide anecdotal information about the island experience from those camping there. All these sources help paint an accurate picture of what’s happening to each of the islands and how the public is reacting to the experience. From these sources and through MITA stakeholders meetings such as last Wednesday’s meeting, use policy is formed.

There were a few reports this summer of tree liming, trash deposition, renegade fire rings and pocket tent sites, but the overall health and well-being of the islands is very good, MITA’s Rachael Nixon said. Encouraging news to be sure, but there is no cause to be less perseverant in spreading the word of Leave No Trace ethics and responsible use of our outdoor resources.

Indeed, where there has been intensive use, particularly in the Casco Bay area, MITA is working to have a caretaker hired to be an educational presence, much like ridge runners are for the Appalachian Trail. The caretaker would discourage undesirable activity and be a proactive steward. If the program works, Stimpson said, it may be considered for other heavily used areas, such as Merchants Row.

Stakeholders generally backed the concept as long as the caretaker doesn’t come on like a law enforcement type. If you visit Jewell Island in Casco Bay next summer, don’t be surprised if you run into an island caretaker. You’ll likely see him or her on Little Chebeague, Crow and Little Snow islands as well.

If you’ve visited Hell’s Half Acre in the Stonington area after August, you are familiar with another form of ecosystem preservation. Volunteers from Hurricane Island and Outward Bound School worked with staff from the Bureau of Parks and Lands and MITA to build a 12-by-14-foot cedar plank tent platform on the western campsite. The idea is to make it the one place to pitch a tent or tents and thereby reduce soil compaction or erosion as is being experienced at the other campsite on the island. User comments taken from the logbook suggest the platform generally was well received.

Some at the stakeholders meeting expressed concern that tents would be pitched in the vicinity and not on the platform. Someone objected to the visual impact of such a platform. Others suggested the platforms be the only designated campsites where environmental degradation has been a problem, while others suggested that soil be hauled in for designated tent sites and that these be the only places people could camp.

One way to prevent development of rogue campsites, said Dave Getchell, the trail’s conceptual father, would be to add a small map to the island’s welcome sign. That way, campers would know exactly where to camp. There also could be a site-specific limit to the number of campers, thereby eliminating possible confusion encountered with signs that now limit the total number of campers and groups.

An unresolved issue is the use of public islands by commercial outfitters. One stakeholder said he knew of instances where an outfitter would go out to a certain island toward the end of the week and set up tents so that he could be guaranteed a campsite for his weekend clients.

Some outfitters have found or are in the process of finding alternate property they can lease for their use. Stimpson said MITA is interested in hearing about specific commercial instances where campsites are being “reserved” by outfitters setting up camp early and thus precluding use of an island by others. “We’d like to talk to them about the issue of fair play,” Stimpson said. “If everyone did this it would be a mess. We’d like to hear about specific issues.”

A potential solution to overcrowding would be to develop overflow campsites on islands with the carrying capacity, thereby reducing pressures on some of the smaller islands, Stimpson suggested.

In addition to finding property to lease, the sea kayak guide community is attempting a voluntary screening practice whereby weekend plans for specific islands are run through a central point. That way conflicts can be pinpointed ahead of time and alternate plans can be made. It’s not a bad idea. Unfortunately not all outfitters are participating.

Jeff Strout’s column is published on Thursdays. He can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.