The Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary, owned and managed by the Stanton Bird Club since 1921, is a 312-acre natural space in Lewiston that is used and enjoyed by many people.

This wonderful place did not just happen. A lot of good stewardship has been accomplished during the last 18 years. From about 1965 through 1985, there was a decline in volunteer activity. Unfortunately there was an increase in misuse and trashing of the sanctuary. Through the 1970s until 1985, the sanctuary was known as a place where people should not go. It was becoming an urban jungle.

In 1986, a revitalized Stewardship Committee was formed, and they carried out a big cleanup effort, which cost several thousand dollars. Truckloads of trash were hauled away, ponds were cleaned, erosion was controlled and trails were marked and re-opened. A brochure was developed to help visitors use the sanctuary, and a volunteer nature guides program was established. The guides have increased the educational use of Thorncrag.

Now, once again, many people find the sanctuary to be a positive, pleasant place to enjoy nature. Good stewardship encourages appropriate uses and the club welcomes trail hiking, bird watching, nature walks, jogging, picnics, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Dogs are welcome but must be kept on a leash at all times.

Through the efforts of members of the Stanton Bird Club, 11 tracts of land have been assembled since 1922. Some tracts have been gifts and others have been purchased. The 80- acre Michaud Farm was bought in 1995 and is a very important addition. The farm was purchased in part by the sale of timber harvested from the sanctuary. The harvesting was guided by Forest Management Plans developed in May 1988 and November 1995. This latter plan was for the newly acquired Michaud Farm.

This summer the Stanton Bird Club board of directors hired Harry Dwyer to reassess the resources of our current 312 acres and to write an updated plan. Dwyer is a licensed, professional forester and an active member of the Forest Stewards Guild, a national organization of resource management professionals. In 2001, he received the Outstanding Forest Steward Award from the Maine Forest Service Stewardship Program.

We selected Dwyer for his commitment to management based on ecological principles, and he will help us maintain the ecological integrity of Thorncrag as we manage to protect and improve our wildlife habitat. Dwyer is also the forester for the Androscoggin Land Trust and for the Washburn-Norlands Foundation in Livermore.

The new management plan will include an assessment of fire hazard. Dwyer has walked the sanctuary with Maine Forest Ranger Art Lavoie from Gray. It appears the fire hazard at Thorncrag is relatively low compared with other parts of the country. Lavoie indicates the network of trails provide excellent firebreaks, and he will make some recommendations to further minimize the hazard of fires to the sanctuary and our neighbors.

Trees grow and the forest changes. Four examples of our active management are: trail maintenance; wildlife planting; a viewing corridor from the summit of Thorncrag toward Mount Washington; and enlarging the meadows at the Michaud Farm.

How can community volunteers help at Thorncrag?

• Often both dead and live trees fall across the trails and need to be removed. Once a year, brush that is growing into the trails needs to be clipped back so walkers can have access to the sanctuary. Without trail work the trails would disappear within a few years.

• The two-acre wildlife clearing along the blue trail was created in 1990, and shrubs were planted to provide wildlife food plants that cannot grow in the shade of uncut woods. Every year or so volunteers must remove all the sprouting trees to keep this area open so the shrubs are not crowded out.

• The viewing corridor from the summit of Thorncrag involved clearing a strip of trees about 30 feet wide and several hundred yards long in 1996. Many sanctuary visitors who walk up the yellow trail past the Anthony fireplace to the summit have enjoyed this splendid view of Mount Washington. Already some sprout growth is over 12 feet high. The management of this corridor will involve cutting all trees over about 5 feet high to keep the view open and to maintain this desirable strip of wildlife habitat. This project needs to be done during the coming year.

• Enlarging the Michaud meadows is being done to provide grassland habitat for bobolinks, meadowlarks, bluebirds and other creatures that require open areas and or woodland edges. This is being done by sawing and clipping the brush and small trees that have taken over the abandoned pastures. Much of the brush is the very invasive honeysuckle, autumn olive and multiflora rose. The brush is piled and then chipped with a large rented chipper. The cleared areas are being kept open by bushhogging the fields in late July after the ground nesting birds have raised their young.

The club welcomes everyone who is interested in helping to do the many projects that protect and improve Thorncrag. There are a wide variety of tasks needing to be done throughout the year, including the spring and fall Nature Festivals.

Paul Johnson is a member of the Stanton Bird Club board of directors and a stewardship volunteer. The club can be reached at Stanton Bird Club, P.O. Box 3172, Lewiston, ME 04243 or by phone at 782-5238.

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