Midcoast Stewards Program
by Sam Low, Midcoast Steward '03

They come from almost every walk of life. There is a famous chef, a retired banker, a journalist, a part-time walking guide for a famous art museum, a real estate broker, a quilter, a history teacher, a land developer, a book seller and even one who prefers to only mention previous  "government work." All of them have fallen in love with Maine and have committed to volunteer significant time to preserving the state's unique sense of place.

They spent every Tuesday and Thursday for five weeks studying midcoast Maine's complex ecosystems. They toured woodlands, vernal ponds, wetlands, coastal beaches, rocky tide pools, a famous Maine farm and an alewife stream. They took water samples and learned to measure clarity, salinity, oxygen content and the presence of pollutants. They studied the habits of phytoplankton, lobsters, various shellfish, horseshoe crabs and a miscellany of anadromous fish. They now understand the difference between point source and nonpoint source pollution and know how to distinguish a "forever wild" conservation easement from an agricultural one. They understand the basic geological history of Maine and how it influences the fertility of the land and the behavior of the creatures that crawl and fly over it and swim in its waters. And as a result of all this they graduated on Thursday, May 22nd, as Midcoast Stewards - ready to take on multiple tasks designed to help preserve Maine's natural bounty.