Funding Round/Year:
2021
Project Sponsor:
Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust
MNRCP Region:
Central Interior and Midcoast
Location:
Bristol
Total Cost of Project:
$281,200
MNRCP Award:
$200,000
Project Type:
Fee Acquisition
Project Description:
The Half Moon Pond project conserved approximately 206 acres of land including approximately 47.5 acres of forested, scrub shrub, emergent, and unconsolidated bottom freshwater wetlands, with the balance consisting of upland buffer. Approximately 11 acres are mapped as Inland Wading Bird and Waterfowl Habitat. The site is located within the largest unfragmented forest block on the Pemaquid Peninsula, and it is part of a wetland and upland area that supports one of Midcoast Maine’s few populations of the State Threatened Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata). The property also contains approximately 7,500 linear feet of perennial streams and several unmapped ephemeral drainages. Multiple vernal pools are documented on the property. The southernmost part of the land abuts (across Poor Farm Road) existing conservation land owned by Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust. The site is adjacent to an additional 261 acres that CRCT is under option to purchase for conservation protection, adding to the size and connectivity of conserved land in the area.