Menu
Stockman Island
Public Access: Closed April 15-July 15th, open the rest of the season
Restrictions: No overnight camping, no visiting during nesting season of April 15th - July 15th
Description and History:
Stockman Island in Casco Bay is a bare island (in the sense that it does not have any real trees except a small stand of sumac on one end) of about 16 acres, approximately 2100 feet long and 450 feet wide. Its highest point is 36 feet above sea level. Vegetation is grass and low bushes, with many raspberries and generous stands of poison ivy. A few shallow wet areas along the spine of the island are characterized by ferns and fireweed. It has never supported trees of any size because its soil is very thin (approximately 16" to bedrock) and drains fast. Because of its attractiveness to nesting seabirds (500 nesting pairs of eider ducks in 1985), Stockman was the second priority island on the State's acquisition list in 1988.In 1989, however, the island was threatended with development; a family from out-of-state purchased it with the idea of building a summer cottage. Although the island was (and is) in the Resource Protection Overlay District, the Town of Cumberland was powerless to stop the building because of an error in the town office. In the fall of 1990, after some other attempts to save the island has fizzled, the Trust (then still in its infancy) stepped in and undertook to raise the approxinately $90,000 needed to buy out the owner and keep the island undeveloped. In this we were successful, thanks to help from other land trusts and local foundations, a significant contribution from the town of Cumberland, and (most important) a great outpouring of popular support. The deal was closed in July, 1991.
Stockman Island is first and foremost a bird and marine wildlife refuge, and any other activities on the island are subordinate to this purpose. As outlined in its stewardship plan for the island, the Trust's specific goals are: "to preserve Stockman Island in its natural condition: to so manage the habitat as to encourage bird populations, particularly eider ducks, to re-establish themselves; to encourage scientific and educational use of the island where and as appropriate; and to permit such passive and low-impact recreational use of the island as is consistent with all of the above."
Stockman is an important link in a chain of protected islands lying between inner Casco Bay and the outer rocks and ledges, running from the Goslings to Little Chebeague. It is used for picnicking in the summer, outside the nesting period that runs from April 15th to July 15th, but no camping is permitted.Ironically, there is little nesting on the island at the moment because of raccoons, originally exported from Chebeague (where they were a nuisance), but biologists from the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife are working (in cooperation with the Trust) to get rid of the raccoons and restore the island to the birds.
Michael Porter