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Commissary Point

Project Description

Commissary Point lies at the head of Whiting Bay, just across the water from Tide Mill Farm--a 1-500 acre property protected by an easement that the State purchased with a Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) Program grant. Another LMF grant enabled the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife(IF&W) to acquire Commissary Point , and that purchase spurred two adjoining acquisitions, creating a 433-acre wildlife management area with eight unbroken miles of shoreline.

The protection of these properties, in one of the state’s most wildlife-rich regions, has helped Maine to implement the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, a treaty developed between Canada and the United States to protect significant bird habitat. The upland portions of Commissary Point provide feeding, roosting and nesting habitat for numerous bald eagles, while the tidal flats support thousands of resident and migratory waterfowl.

IF&W now works to maintain and restore the diverse mix of open fields, orchards, thickets and woods that characterized this landscape when it was still an active saltwater farm – keeping a diverse array of habitats to meet the needs of varied species.

A detailed trail map and write-up is available in the regional Cobscook Trails guidebook, available at area businesses and through the Quoddy Regional Land Trust (207-733-5509 or e-mail qrlt@maineline.net).