State of the Beach/State Reports/ME/Website

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Maine Ratings
Indicator Type Information Status
Beach Access52
Water Quality74
Beach Erosion8-
Erosion Response-6
Beach Fill5-
Shoreline Structures3 2
Beach Ecology5-
Surfing Areas25
Website6-
Coastal Development{{{19}}}{{{20}}}
Sea Level Rise{{{21}}}{{{22}}}

Websites

Maine's Coastal Program Website can be accessed at: http://www.maine.gov/spo/coastal/index.htm

Here's a map of Maine's coastal zone.

The Maine Coastal Program (MCP) Website is well organized and easy to use.

The Website provides some very useful information on beach access, water quality, and beach erosion. Information on the other beach health indicators is somewhat lacking.

The use of environmental indicators in Maine is receiving a lot of attention, however. In December 2002, more than 100 representatives of government agencies, academia and non-government organizations met in New Hampshire for the Atlantic Northeast Coastal Monitoring Summit, which explored the potential for integrated regional monitoring and provided participants with a forum to discuss possible indicators. As a follow-up, the Northeast Coastal Indicators Workshop in January 2004 developed regional indicators for six categories: fisheries, eutrophication, contaminants, land use, aquatic habitat and climate change.

Regional efforts culminated in the Gulf of Maine Summit in the fall of 2004. The purpose of the summit was to formally adopt environmental indicators and begin to evaluate and respond to regional environmental problems. See the report. Currently, MCP is populating the public access and governance indicator databases.

There is a nice discussion of indicators on the Gulf of Maine Council's Website. The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment's EcoSystem Indicator Partnership (ESIP) has released its first online fact sheet, which introduces the selected priority indicators for the Gulf of Maine.

The 2007 Maine Beaches Conference offered several sessions on "Maine's Changing Beaches" as well as sessions on beach profiling, beach water quality, beach ecology and other topics. The 2009 Maine Beaches Conference included sessions on the value of Maine's beaches, the state of Maine's beaches, and adaptation strategies for storms, sea level rise and climate change.

Several publications are available via the Website.

These include Maine's CZM Assessment and Strategy, also known as the "Maine Coastal Plan" which is available for 2001 and 2006.

A recent addition to the Website is Protecting Maine's Beaches for the Future (2006), A Proposal to Create an Integrated Beach Management Program. The report includes recommendations on beach nourishment, habitat management, acquisition of property from willing sellers, hazard mitigation, data and mapping and education and outreach. A specific implementation plan and strategy to develop new funding will direct the work of state agencies and others in the coming years. This comprehensive and forward thinking document is a must read for beach managers everywhere.

A great 4-page summary of volunteer and governmental efforts to monitor and protect Maine's beaches is the 2005 document The State of Maine's Beaches. Coincidentally, the topics in this document dovetail nicely with the topics in this report and the activities of Surfrider Foundation's Northern New England Chapter.

There is also The State of Maine's Beaches in 2007 from the Maine Geological Survey.

Maine rules and regulations are available via the SPO Website.

The Planning for Climate Change page provides resources to support both initial and ongoing climate change planning in coastal communities.

Maine Coastline, the MCP newsletter, is available in PDF format. Here's a link to the Fall 2008 Edition.

The MCP Website provides access to an overall map of Maine's Coastal Zone, but no detailed maps or photos. For better maps, go here.

The MCP Website now provides an extensive set of links via Coastlinks

The MCP Website is generally up-to-date.

Website Contact Info

Lisa Leahy
Email: lisa.leahy@maine.gov

Tom Miragliuolo
Email: tom.miragliuolo@maine.gov



State of the Beach Report: Maine
Maine Home Beach Description Beach Access Water Quality Beach Erosion Erosion Response Beach Fill Shoreline Structures Beach Ecology Surfing Areas Website
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