I. Introductions/Anti-Trust

Chairman Brooks called the meeting to order at 9:40 A.M. and welcomed the 23 people in attendance to the 73nd meeting of Project S.H.A.R.E. After the general introductions, Chairman Brooks read the Anti-Trust guidelines.

II. Past Minutes

There was a motion by Gary Donovan, second by Joan Trial, to accept the minutes as presented. Motion carried.

III. Treasurers Report

Steven Koenig gave a summary of the Treasurers Report and funding initiatives. Chairman Brooks accepted the report as presented.

IV. Watershed Council Report

Bill Cherry (Machias/E. Machias) reported on current activities including: developments on a proposed landfill, whitewater races on both the Machias and E. Machias Rivers, and outreach activity.

Tracey Gamache (Pleasant/Narraguagus) reported that a grant from the Norcross Foundation is providing funding for signs identifying water bodies in the DPS rivers. Water quality monitoring is continuing. An upgrade of the Schoodic Brook boat launch is planned.

V. Issues and Answers: The Machias River Corridor

Gary Donovan introduced the discussion with the history of project development.

• 1970 the Machias was listed as a priority recreational river by the state of Maine.
• 1998 Champion International developed a riparian management plan intended to aggressively protect the riparian zone.
• In February 1999 Champion signed an agreement with the State Planning Office to maintain the riparian management plan as long as they owned the land.
• November 1999 Champion offered sale of an easement to riparian corridors on the Machias and Dennys Rivers with the Dennys to be negotiated first.
• June 2000 there was a hostile takeover of Champion by International Paper.
• 2002 the Dennys River Project was completed.
• 2003 Phase I of the Machias Project was completed
• 2005 Phase II of the Machias Project was completed
• The project includes 14,100 acres of fee land managed by the DOC, 18,406 acres of conservation easement monitored by the ASC. 236 miles of shore frontage are protected.

Joan Trial (ASC) followed with a presentation of the ecological importance of watershed process and connectivity in a riverine ecosystem, including: how land influences the aquatic community, headwater ecology, the role of macro invertebrates, how stream ecology and hydrology changes with stream order, and the role of the riparian zone.

Alan Hutchinson (Forest Society of Maine) discussed the concepts of large conservation easements as a tool to protect river corridors. Projects of this magnitude are complex. Once completed they require an ongoing monitoring component. Communication and meshing stakeholder priorities are essential throughout project development.

Bill Cherry concluded the discussion with a power point presentation of activities ongoing within the Machias Corridor. Bill has recently taken on the position of Steward for the Machias Corridor and took this meeting as an opportunity to announce that new position.

VI. Other Business

Joan Trial provided a update regarding the spawning of Aquaculture fish in the Dennys River. ASC is monitoring redds and parr production to determine if the fish spawned successfully. The meeting adjouned at 11:55 AM.

The next meeting is August 10, 2006 at the Hillgrove Community Center.

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