Brief Description: 3,100 acre Scarborough Marsh Wildlife Management Area is owned and managed by Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and includes nearly all 2,700 acres of Scarborough Marsh, Maine's largest and best known salt marsh. Recognized for its tremendous biological productivity, Scarborough Marsh supports seven state or federally listed threatened or endangered species and holds the distinction as the salt marsh with the greatest diversity of water-dependent birds statewide. However, barriers to tidal flow, undersized culverts, invasive plants, fill material and ditching have compromised the Marsh's biological vitality. Man-made ditches have excessively drained the Seavey Landing section of the marsh, lowering the natural water table and destroying permanent pool habitat that once supported a suite of species - aquatic plants, invertebrates, fish, shorebirds, wading birds and waterfowl - that depended on permanent water on the high marsh. By installing ditch plugs in strategic locations, water will no longer drain through the ditches, allowing the water table on the marsh to rise and permitting the re-establishment of permanent pool habitat. Restoration work will include the installation of approximately 16 ditch plugs and the excavation of approximately 32 sumps. This restoration effort will include pre- and post-restoration monitoring and will emphasize community outreach (extensive media coverage, newsletter articles, field trips, local student involvement and permanent outreach signs).

Resource Values: Hydrology will be restored on an estimated 46.1 acres.

Corporate Wetland Restoration Partnership (cash—pending)	$20,000
(two automated data loggers —pending)*	$6,000
Natural Resources Conservation Service Wetland Reserve Program (pending)	$20,000
National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Act Grant	$42,358
Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (obligated)	$38,000
Ducks Unlimited (obligated)	$2,000
US Fish & Wildlife Service/Gulf of ME Program NFWF ME Habitat Restoration Grant (pending)	$42,358
Friends of Scarborough Marsh (in-kind obligated for outreach/coordination)	$1,000
Total Implementation Cost*	$86,000
*Note: The data loggers are not included in the total project budget, so if the data loggers are not provided through CWRP, their cost will be added to the total project budget.

Schedule: We want to complete this project in 2001. All funding sources (cash and in-kind) need to be confirmed soon (1 month) so that permits will be finalized and approved (1 month). Pre-restoration monitoring could be conducted late this summer or fall (3 months), and ditch plugging could occur late in 2001.

Permit Status: Permit application is currently being developed. Restoration partners have submitted permit applications for similar projects in the past and we anticipate no hurdles in receiving routine permit approval.

List of Partners: Ducks Unlimited, Inc., Friends of Scarborough Marsh (10-organization coalition), Maine Audubon Society, Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gulf of Maine Program

What is requested from the ME-CWRP: $26,000 in cash or in-kind services needs to be obligated for the following items, or to contribute to the overall cost of the restoration effort:

1. $20,000 in cash is needed to complete this restoration work.
2. Donate two data loggers that automatically monitor water height and how it changes throughout the tidal cycle and collect data on water quality parameters. Data loggers will be needed at the restoration site for four years of monitoring - pre, and post one, three and five years. Estimated purchase price = $6,000.
   

Point of Contact: Phil Bozenhard 207-657-2345, ext. 110

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