Sears Island
Encyclopedia
Sears Island, known as Wassumkeag or shining beach by the indigenous Wabanaki
tribes of northern New England, is located off the coast of Searsport
in Waldo County
, Maine
at the top of Penobscot Bay
.
The island is the largest undeveloped, uninhabited, causeway accessible, island on the eastern coast of the United States
. It is 940 acres (3.8 km²) in area.
A causeway was built approximately 20 years ago upon what formerly was a tidal bar
. At high tide Sears Island was a true island, and at low tide the exposed gravel bar allowed for easy access. Locals would drive over at low tide, always careful to return in time, lest they would have to wade or swim and leave the car stranded until the next tide. Several generations ago there were farms on the island. Only stone cellar holes and a few small fields remain today.
Sears Island acts as a great element barrier for one of the most well-protected harbors in the state of Maine, Stockton Harbor, an attractive anchorage both for the protection it offers, and its convenience to upper Penobscot Bay towns Searsport, Belfast
and Castine. Bar Harbor
is about an hour car ride east, and both Camden
and Bangor
are about a half-hour south and north, respectively. Sears Island also offers spectacular views of Cape Jellison
.
It is home to numerous species of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians and plant life. The shallow shoal off the west side of the island supports meadows of eelgrass
(Zostera marina
) and other nursery habitats
and features that play an important role in the fish and shellfish populations of greater Penobscot Bay.
Since the 1980s, successive Maine governors have promoted the development of the island as a general cargo port (Joseph Brennan, John McKernan
), a wood-chip port (Angus King
), an LNG terminal (John Baldacci
, 1st term), and an Intermodal freight transport
hub for global container ship
traffic (Baldacci's 2nd term).
A three year long consensus-driven effort by Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) and its Sears Island Joint Use Planning Committee culminated on January 22, 2009 in the signing by Maine transportation commissioner David Cole of a perpetual conservation easement
granting Maine Coast Heritage Trust control of 600 acres (242.8 ha) of the island, while leaving the remaining 340 acres (137.6 ha) of the island open to port development.
On February 19, 2009 however, a Rockland, Maine environmental activist and separately residents of Augusta and of Searport, sued asking the Maine Superior Court "to rescind the Jan. 22, 2009 conservation easement until the MDOT has fully complied with the requirements of the Maine Sensible Transportation Policy Act and the Maine Site Location of Development Law." On September 8, 2010, Maine Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hjelm dismissed all three cases, concluding that the current lack of port development, and lack of any interest in port development by the Plaintifs made the injury theoretical and impossible to evaluate: the Plaintiffs as yet lacked demonstrable standing
to sue. On May 3, 2011, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judge's decision.
Many Penobscot Bay area environmentalists and tourism-based businesses have expressed environmental
and aesthetic concerns about further industrializing this portion of the coast.
, and Islesboro Island, among many others), but also by the numerous walking trails that zig-zag their way around the island. There are beautiful beaches that surround the perimeter of the island as well.
Wabanaki
Wabanaki, Wabenaki, Wobanaki, etc. may refer to:In geography* area referred as the "Dawn land" by many Algonquian-speaking peoples to describe the Eastern region of the North American continent, generally described as being New England in the United States, plus Quebec and the Maritimes in CanadaIn...
tribes of northern New England, is located off the coast of Searsport
Searsport, Maine
Searsport is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,641 at the 2000 census. Searsport includes the village of North Searsport. The town is known as "the home of the famous sea captains" and the "Antique Capital of Maine." -History:...
in Waldo County
Waldo County, Maine
Waldo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 38,786. Its county seat is Belfast.Waldo County was founded on 7 February 1827 from a portion of Hancock County...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
at the top of Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
.
The island is the largest undeveloped, uninhabited, causeway accessible, island on the eastern coast of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is 940 acres (3.8 km²) in area.
History and Geography of Sears Island
Named after David Sears of Boston after he agreed to grant a large sum of money towards founding of Searsport, Sears Island is currently state-owned land, but is part of the town of Searsport. Formerly it had been known as Brigadier's Island.A causeway was built approximately 20 years ago upon what formerly was a tidal bar
Tombolo
A tombolo, from the Italian tombolo, derived from the Latin tumulus, meaning 'mound,' and sometimes translated as ayre , is a deposition landform in which an island is attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or bar. Once attached, the island is then known as a tied island...
. At high tide Sears Island was a true island, and at low tide the exposed gravel bar allowed for easy access. Locals would drive over at low tide, always careful to return in time, lest they would have to wade or swim and leave the car stranded until the next tide. Several generations ago there were farms on the island. Only stone cellar holes and a few small fields remain today.
Sears Island acts as a great element barrier for one of the most well-protected harbors in the state of Maine, Stockton Harbor, an attractive anchorage both for the protection it offers, and its convenience to upper Penobscot Bay towns Searsport, Belfast
Belfast, Maine
Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,668. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River on Penobscot Bay, Belfast is the county seat of Waldo County...
and Castine. Bar Harbor
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor is a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population is 5,235. Bar Harbor is a famous summer colony in the Down East region of Maine. It is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory and Mount Desert Island...
is about an hour car ride east, and both Camden
Camden, Maine
Camden is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,254 at the 2000 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is a famous summer colony in the Mid-Coast region of Maine...
and Bangor
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
are about a half-hour south and north, respectively. Sears Island also offers spectacular views of Cape Jellison
Cape Jellison
Cape Jellison is a peninsula that juts into Penobscot Bay on the coast of Maine. In colonial times it was known as Wasaumkeag Point. It is part of the town of Stockton Springs, between Searsport and Bucksport, in the upper mid-coast region of the state...
.
It is home to numerous species of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians and plant life. The shallow shoal off the west side of the island supports meadows of eelgrass
Zostera
Zostera is a small genus of widely distributed seagrass, commonly called marine eelgrass or simply eelgrass . The genus Zostera contains sixteen species.-Ecology:Zostera is found on sandy substrates or in estuaries submerged or partially floating...
(Zostera marina
Zostera marina
Zostera marina is a species of seagrass known by the common names common eelgrass and seawrack. It is an aquatic plant native to marine environments on the coastlines of mostly northern sections of North America and Eurasia. It is the most wide-ranging marine flowering plant in the Northern...
) and other nursery habitats
Nursery habitats
In marine environments, a nursery habitat is a subset of all habitats where juveniles of a species occur, having a greater level of productivity per unit area than other juvenile habitats . Mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass are typical nursery habitats for a range of marine species...
and features that play an important role in the fish and shellfish populations of greater Penobscot Bay.
Environmental controversies
The possible industrial development of the island has been a point of controversy for many years. Writer E.B. White, a resident of nearby Brooklin, Maine, noted in a 1975 essay for the New Yorker that he had attended an evening forum about a Central Maine Power Company proposal to construct a nuclear power plant on Sears Island. White reported to New Yorker readers that the Central Maine Power Company "feels very good about nuclear generating plants, is not worried about radiation or accidents." In response to a goat farmer, their spokesman acknowledged radioactive "iodine can contaminate milk . . . [b]ut he was cheerful about the prospect. You would simply put the animals on a controlled diet, he said, and after about forty days the radioactivity would be gone." Facing local opposition, the plant was not built.Since the 1980s, successive Maine governors have promoted the development of the island as a general cargo port (Joseph Brennan, John McKernan
John R. McKernan, Jr.
John Rettie "Jock" McKernan, Jr. is an American politician who served two terms as the 71st Governor of Maine, from 1987 to 1995....
), a wood-chip port (Angus King
Angus King
Angus S. King, Jr. served two terms as the 72nd Governor of Maine from 1995 to 2003. Since 2004, King has been a distinguished lecturer at Bowdoin College teaching a course called "Leaders and Leadership"; in the fall of 2009, he also taught a similar course at Bates College...
), an LNG terminal (John Baldacci
John Baldacci
John Elias Baldacci is an American politician who served as the 73rd Governor of the U.S. state of Maine from 2003 until 2011. A Democrat, he also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003....
, 1st term), and an Intermodal freight transport
Intermodal freight transport
Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...
hub for global container ship
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
traffic (Baldacci's 2nd term).
A three year long consensus-driven effort by Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) and its Sears Island Joint Use Planning Committee culminated on January 22, 2009 in the signing by Maine transportation commissioner David Cole of a perpetual conservation easement
Conservation easement
In the United States, a conservation easement is an encumbrance — sometimes including a transfer of usage rights — which creates a legally enforceable land preservation agreement between a landowner and a government agency or a qualified land...
granting Maine Coast Heritage Trust control of 600 acres (242.8 ha) of the island, while leaving the remaining 340 acres (137.6 ha) of the island open to port development.
On February 19, 2009 however, a Rockland, Maine environmental activist and separately residents of Augusta and of Searport, sued asking the Maine Superior Court "to rescind the Jan. 22, 2009 conservation easement until the MDOT has fully complied with the requirements of the Maine Sensible Transportation Policy Act and the Maine Site Location of Development Law." On September 8, 2010, Maine Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hjelm dismissed all three cases, concluding that the current lack of port development, and lack of any interest in port development by the Plaintifs made the injury theoretical and impossible to evaluate: the Plaintiffs as yet lacked demonstrable standing
Standing (law)
In law, standing or locus standi is the term for the ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case...
to sue. On May 3, 2011, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judge's decision.
Many Penobscot Bay area environmentalists and tourism-based businesses have expressed environmental
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
and aesthetic concerns about further industrializing this portion of the coast.
Uses of the Island
Visitors can drive out to the end of the causeway, and even though there is a road that travels down the center of the island to the southern tip, you can not drive on the island itself, as it is blocked off by large concrete blocks and fencing. You can however walk, hike, bike, and explore the island, not only by the road—appx. 1 miles (1.6 km) long — which offers spectacular views of Penobscot Bay, Cape Rosier/CastineCastine, Maine
Castine is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States and was once the capital of Acadia . The population was 1,343 at the 2000 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institution that graduates officers and engineers for the United States Merchant Marine and marine...
, and Islesboro Island, among many others), but also by the numerous walking trails that zig-zag their way around the island. There are beautiful beaches that surround the perimeter of the island as well.