Maine Adds Acreage to Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge
12/7/98
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Title: Maine Adds Acreage to Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge
Source: United Press International
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 12/7/98
SACO, Maine, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Rachel Carson, the marine biologist who
awakened the nation -- and the world -- to the dangers of pesticides, is
being remembered in special ceremonies today in Maine.
The U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife has just purchased 30 acres
of underdeveloped seaside property in Saco, Maine, to add to the Rachel
Carson Wildlife Refuge.
The new acreage serves as a habitat for rare piping plovers, black
ducks and other marine creatures.
Special signing ceremonies are to take place this afternoon with
Refuge manager Ward Feurt and Saco Conservation Commission chairman
Horace Wood in charge.
The Refuge plans to erect an observation platform on the grounds to
permit visitors a closer view of the birds and the dunes; otherwise, the
land will remain in its pristine condition.
The sale represents a triumph for the Refuge. For 12 years the city
has fought plans to develop the area. Owner Louis Arcidy of Manchester,
N.H., had sought to build houses on the land but neighbors had
challenged such efforts, claming the sand dunes would be damaged.
The terms of the sale have not been revealed but the land was
assessed at $300,000. In 1994 the government had offered $600,000 but
the deal fell through when the Refuge was unable to come up with the
money.
The Refuge is a fitting memorial to Carson who spent her summers in
Maine observing and doing research which led to the publication of
``Silent Spring'' in 1962, spurring the environmental movement in the
United States.
Headquartered in Wells, the Refuge now includes some 3,500 acres of
Maine coastal wetlands where migratory birds stop. In winter, eiders can
be found in the marshes; in summer, egrets and herons.
Carson died in 1964.