Looking for a way to protect your lake from harmful algal blooms? Building your shoreline buffer with woody vegetation is a key step you can take to help keep polluted stormwater runoff from getting into the lake. Using live stakes, which are woody-shrub cuttings, is a low-cost, low-maintenance, and easy way to build your buffer. Once plugged into the ground, live stakes root quickly to help establish buffer vegetation and stabilize hard-to-plant shorelines. For more information, including potential species, click here.

We are now taking orders for live stakes to be planted in early May! You have the option to plant them yourself, or we will plant them for you. Please fill out this online form to claim yours while supplies last. Supplies are limited and priority will be first-come, first-served.

If you have questions about our Live Stakes program or the form, please contact our Water Quality Specialist, Sara, at sara@30mileriver.org.

30 Mile is committed to preventing the spread of swollen bladderwort from Tilton Pond, at the top of our watershed, and to finding solutions that effectively manage and reduce this invasive species’ impact on the pond’s ecology, recreation, and property values.

We work closely with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to implement best management practices. The DEP provides guidance for our work, assists us in the field, and helps to continue and refine the management plan.

This winter, we worked with DEP to install posts across the pond’s outlet that will support wire mesh to reduce risk of swollen bladderwort moving downstream to the culvert at Jackman Mills Road. In June, our staff will remove any invasive bladderwort in the area between the screen and culvert to further reduce risk of spread.

Additional work planned for our staff for the upcoming season includes:

• Maintaining four fragment nets in the outlet stream between Jackman Mills Road and East Road
• Conducting multiple early-detection surveys of David Pond (including a diver survey)
• Completing high-priority area surveys of Parker Pond
• Continuing ongoing outreach and education to foster long-term community engagement in prevention, early detection, and control of this invasive.

Currently, large-scale mechanical removal of swollen bladderwort from Tilton Pond is not feasible. Before such work can be considered, the overall abundance of the plant must be reduced dramatically to a manageable level, potentially through herbicide treatment. Because there is no history of herbicides being used on swollen bladderwort in Maine, the DEP is tracking the effectiveness of an herbicide currently being used on swollen bladderwort in Massachusetts. Once they have seen these results, likely by the end of this coming season (one year post-treatment), they will decide about approving its use in Maine. 



News coverage on DEP’s recent public message regarding Tilton Pond can be found here.

We are seeking applicants for the new role of Community Engagement & Development Coordinator. This is a fulltime position based in our newly renovated building in Mount Vernon Village. The role blends community outreach, relationship-building, and behind-the-scenes coordination to keep our fundraising and engagement efforts running smoothly.

As the official first day of spring (March 20th!) is rapidly approaching, so are warm and rainy nights. For thousands of amphibians – vertebrate animals with wet, mucus-covered skin, such as frogs and salamanders – this also means the beginning of a critical event in their life cycle. 

Under perfect spring conditions (rainy with temperatures 45°F or higher), you may see dozens, even hundreds of migrating amphibians crossing the road at night. Prompted by these environmental cues, “Big Night” is the mass migration of amphibians moving from winter habitats to breeding sites, such as wetlands and vernal pools. Vernal pools are temporary bodies of water that dry up by summertime, but during the springtime provide a refuge from aquatic predators, such as fish, increasing the survival chances of amphibians’ young. While the term “Big Night” implies a singular event, migration occurs throughout early to mid-April across Maine. You can still find smaller numbers of migrating amphibians outside of these “Big Night” conditions. 

Unfortunately, successful migration can be challenging, as many migratory routes intersect with our roads. Maine Big Night is a community science project that aims to reduce amphibian road mortality by assisting them safely across roads, all while collecting vital data. Not only do volunteers save thousands of amphibians each year, this data also helps inform wildlife conservation, better understand our road infrastructure's impact on wildlife connectivity, and improve road planning.

Road improvements that provide wildlife passage also make roads much more resilient to damage from major weather events. These roads can then reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and the potential for road washouts, making it safer for animals, drivers, and water quality. If you notice a large number of amphibians on a road near you and want to get involved in this project, visit mainebignight.org to learn more. 

Support 30 Mile! Your gift today will make a difference in protecting our lakes from phosphorus pollution, invasive species, and other threats. Find the giving level that works for you.