SACO — With spring finally here, a group of volunteers took to the great outdoors Tuesday and worked on the Saco Heath preserve in honor of Earth Day.
The Saco Heath, located off Route 112, is a nutrient-poor peat bog that attracts unusual plants, including carnivorous varieties like the pitcher plant and the sun dew, said Eric Aldrich, marketing specialist and spokesman for The Nature Conservancy.
The Nature Conservancy maintains a public trail and a mile-long boardwalk that runs through the quiet bog on the approximately 1,200-acre preserve.
The original boardwalk was built in the 1990s of untreated Hemlock, and needed to be replaced after years of use. Over the past couple of years, volunteer teams have, one section at a time, replaced the boardwalk with plastic decking.
“It’s a unique parcel in the middle of a developed area,” said Jonathan Bailey, Southern Maine/New Hampshire land steward with the Nature Conservancy.
The Saco Heath is also the northern most range of the black gum tree, said Bailey.
“It’s a nice little oasis,” said Aldrich. “It’s a great place to escape for a couple of hours and see a remarkable ecosystem. The boardwalk lets you get right into it.”
The property maintains a “great balance” of preservation and public use, said Bailey.
Saco Conservation Commission member Paul Christian was one of about 20 volunteers lending a hand Tuesday morning, putting some of the finishing touches on the project, such as removing pieces of the old boardwalk and trimming vegetation along the trail.
Christian said as a resident of Hillview Avenue, the heath is “my backyard,” and he thought it was important to help out. He said his employer, Tom’s of Maine, was allowing him to take paid time off from work to help on the project.
Nancy Sferra, director of science and stewardship with the Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, was one of the people who built the original boardwalk, and she was also helping out Tuesday.
“It’s so nice to see it restored,” she said.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].
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