Are you looking forward to the first time you set up camp on a MITA island after a beautiful day of boating? The smells of a delicious meal wafting through the air as you perch on the rocks and watch seals bob about in the distance, birds soaring. Peaceful, picturesque and all possible because of great MITA members like yourself. You may have already been out on the Trail this year, but for most of us we're still anxiously awaiting our first trip. We want to wish you the very best for the coming season and hope to see you at one or many of our events!
MITA and KCT co-host Leave No Trace Awareness Workshops - June 8
By embracing the seven Leave No Trace (LNT) principles, island-goers can make significant strides toward lessening their own personal impact and helping to preserve healthy island ecosystems.
Join MITA, Kennebunkport Conservation Trust and Leave No Trace's Traveling Trainers for a Leave No Trace awareness workshop at KCT headquarters in Kennebunkport. We will go over the fundamentals of Leave No Trace and discuss the latest thinking in low-impact recreation on the coast. This event is FREE and open to the public. Please RSVP to stewards@mita.org if you plan to attend. Content will be the same for both the morning (9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) and afternoon (2:00-5:00 p.m.) sessions.
Join us as we host the
Yarmouth Clam Festival Paddle Race!
The Maine Island Trail Association will host this year's paddle race. We encourage all experienced paddlers (even stand up paddlers) to come out and give it their all. The six mile course runs up the Royal River, around Lanes Island and finishes at the dock of the Royal River Grillhouse for a fantastic exclusive race menu to be had on their riverside deck. Additional information and registration forms are available at www.mita.org. See you on July 21!
Boaters wanted!
Want to put your salt water skills to work?
Monitor skipper Tom McKinney with Doug Welch, Executive Director of MITA.
Volunteer monitor skippers are experienced small boaters who use MITA skiffs to check on groups of Trail islands during the summer season. These routine monitoring runs are central to MITA's stewardship activities, and the skippers are also boat drivers for other volunteer work projects and cleanups. All skippers go through an apprenticeship training, which includes training runs with veteran skippers. We are looking for some new skippers, particularly for the regions east of Penobscot Bay. Anyone interested is encouraged to go out on a monitoring run this summer to learn more about the program. For more information, contact Mariaby emailor at 207-699-4371.
Check the online Guide for updates before heading out on the Trail!
The Maine Island Trail is constantly evolving. The 2012 Guide offers a snapshot of the Trail from early spring, but since the book went to print new sites have been added and some usage guidelines have changed (e.g. Ames Island and Carrying Place Cove). Be sure to check the online Guide before you set out for the latest information and updates from the Trail.
