Mall of a Different Sort

Just as this region has built an extensive and expanding mall along Stillwater Avenue, over time connecting individual shopping areas into the region’s most extensive retail bonanza, two land trusts would like the other side of the street to provide a corridor for wildlife and people that would connect from Bangor to Hudson.

It is an excellent idea, one clearly aimed for the benefit of the environment and the benefit of local residents, many of whom now use the separate areas but often cannot practically get from one to the other, with development pressures making that connection less likely in the future. Based strictly on willing-seller transactions and with respect to traditional uses of the land, the corridor would begin at the Essex Woods in Bangor, run near the old Veazie Railroad bed to the Bangor City Forest, Orono Bog, Caribou Bog and University of Maine land, north along Pushaw Lake to the Hirundo Wildlife Refuge to Hudson.

The land is mostly undeveloped for now and contains several areas that would remain undeveloped. The recreational goals of the project are to add miles of trails for hiking, biking, snowmobiling, hunting and wildlife education programs. Environmentally, the Penjajawoc Stream is an especially important area for a large variety of birds. The many bogs along the corridor hold an astounding variety of wildlife, with some species such as Lincoln Sparrow, Palm Warbler, Four-toed Salamander and Southern Bog Lemming found almost nowhere but bogs. Though these places won’t necessarily be developed, their lack of connection matters to wildlife. Large contiguous areas allow some species travel lanes and ways for their young to migrate, maintaining a healthy population over a broader area. Many songbirds nest only in the forest interior so need large amounts of undeveloped land.

As Maine drivers know well, some wildlife avoid developed areas while others try regularly to cross roads, sometimes with tragic results. Still other species, such as snowshoe hares, avoid crossing open areas. Finally, without significant blocks of uninterrupted natural areas, larger animals – bear, moose – show up in neighborhoods.

Finding willing sellers in this corridor and raising the money to make the purchases will take several years, but some sellers are ready now and the Bangor and Orono land trusts that are pushing this project along have some funding but need more soon. They have a worthy request of the Land for Maine’s Future Board for nearly $400,000 that would give the project a major boost. LMF hasn’t funded much in this region, and should certainly look positively upon the broad concept of this plan.

This region needs robust and successful places to shop, and it needs healthy and thriving natural areas easily accessible to the public. One of the great advantages of Maine is that there is room for both and they can be near each other. But the natural areas will assuredly be threatened by creeping retail-store development unless the land is protected. The land trusts deserve support in their efforts to save some of these valuable places. The LMF could help enormously by supporting this grant request.