Surry Forest Wetlands

This project will conserve, through fee acquisition, an approximately 2,100- acre undeveloped parcel of land in the midst of a steadily developing area of coastal Hancock County, the largest undeveloped parcel in the region. A 2015 study commissioned by BHHT identified important potential wildlife dispersal corridors on the Blue Hill Peninsula that would connect large blocks of undeveloped, conserved land crucial for long-term viability of wildlife populations. The project parcel lies at a critical intersection of two identified potential major wildlife corridors linking large conservation preserves north of US Route 1 with conservation lands on the Blue Hill Peninsula. The parcel contains over 700 acres of wetland habitat, vernal pools, streams and upland buffer. The land includes frontage on two major local roads with upland areas that are highly developable. This project will prevent the possibility of conversion to residential or commercial uses, including gravel mining, which are occurring on nearby lands. The property in the future will be permanently protected as an exceptional coastal forest that includes an array of protected wetlands. Generous vegetated wetland and stream buffers will be allowed to regenerate, and any forestry activities and recreational trails will be sited to avoid negative impacts to wetland resources, in accordance with current Best Management Practices and a long term property management plan. As part of the project, a road crossing will be removed from a wetland and the area allowed to reestablish as wetland.