Maine’s Saltwater Wetlands Under Pressure

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Join the Pulitzer Center for a Maine Monitor event in partnership with the Wells Reserve. "Maine’s Saltwater Wetlands Under Pressure" is a panel discussion exploring the consequences of wetland loss for Maine, moderated by Maine Monitor editor Kate Cough.

The event will take place on Wednesday, March 27, at 7:00pm at Wells Reserve at Laudholm in Wells, Maine. It will also be live streamed on Zoom.

Wetlands are some of the world’s most productive habitats and important ecological resources. Maine has the largest wetland area anywhere in New England, with four times that of the other five states combined. Yet since 2008, more than 12.5 million square feet of the state's wetlands have been impacted by development, and many have been lost entirely. Maine's tidal wetlands are some of the most at risk, threatened by rising seas and surrounded by development, with little space to migrate.

Join a panel of wetland experts for a discussion moderated by Cough. The discussion will center on an upcoming Pulitzer Center project, reported by Cough, that explores the consequences of wetland loss for Maine through profiles of several of the state's tidal wetlands. The stories, out later this month, will explore the history, current use, and pressures Maine's coastal wetlands face, as well as solutions being explored to save them.

Speakers: 

• Kate Cough is editor of The Maine Monitor. She previously served as enterprise editor for The Monitor while also covering energy and the environment and writing the weekly Climate Monitor newsletter. Before joining The Monitor, Cough was a beat reporter for The Ellsworth American and digital media strategist for The Ellsworth American and Mount Desert Islander. 
• Jeremy Gabrielson’s work at Maine Coast Heritage Trust focuses on conservation of natural places and responses to climate change. In addition to tidal marsh protection, he has a strong interest in coastal resilience, coastal access, and locally driven economic development in rural communities.
• Jacob Aman directs the community and site-based stewardship programs at the Wells Reserve in Wells, Maine, managing priority habitat and species in cooperation with state and federal partners and advancing coastal habitat conservation through local and regional initiatives.
• Susan C. Adamowicz, Ph.D., has over 30 years’ experience in estuarine ecology and salt marsh restoration. As the Land Management Research and Demonstration biologist for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she is stationed at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, where she is working to implement innovative restoration approaches on over 300 acres of marsh in four different estuaries. 

This event will be in-person and available via a live Zoom. To get your free ticket for the in-person or virtual event, click here.