Bonyun Preserve, Westport Island
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| Photo by Heather Perry |
Bonyun Preserve is conservation land
managed primarily for the preservation of wildlife.
The Preserve is open free of charge
to the public from dawn to dusk. Help
us protect what you have come to enjoy.
Natural areas are delicate.
Foot traffic
only, no camping, fires, pets, bicycles,
or motorized vehicles.
Please respect boundary signs and enjoy your visit.
Ecology of the Preserve
As you walk the trails look for six
natural areas that support a variety of
flora and fauna.
1. Tidal Inlet - Mill Cove’s salt marsh
supports wading birds such as snowy
egret and great blue heron, as well as
migrating shorebirds.
Low tide mud flats offer abundant
crustacean and marine worm habitat.
Fish fry shelter in the shallow waters.
2. Mixed Old-growth Woods - Great
white pine, oak and hemlock are habitat
for woodpeckers and songbirds. Two
osprey nests are located on Thomas
Cove shore. White-tailed deer, fox, raccoon,
and mink use these forests
for food and shelter.
3. Fresh Water Marshes - Wetlands
nurture amphibians and birds. Mosses
and ferns take root on the banks.
4. Sasanoa River Estuary - Part of the
Kennebec-Androscoggin watershed
draining one-third of the state, the estuary
is a nationally-recognized habitat
for birds and fish.
This section of the east coast flyway is
essential for the survival of migrating
birds. Over 40 species of fish use these
waters including striped bass, Morone
saxatilis.
5. Riparian Areas - Land adjacent to
waterways is used by 85% of Maine’s
vertebrates. Amphibians find food and
shelter along the small streams that
drain into Mill Cove.
6. Pocket Wetlands - Salt marsh uplands
provided early settlers with hay,
Spartina patens. Populated by salt-tolerant
species, marshlands are the most
productive ecosystems in the world.
Geology of the Preserve
Westport Island is underlain by granite
bedrock, covered for the most part with
thin, relatively poor acidic soils.
The general landscape was shaped by
events that occurred during the pleistocene
epoch, which began about 2
million years ago. There were at least
four periods of glaciation during which
huge ice sheets covered all of Lincoln
County.
The last major glaciation spread
southeast about 18,000 years ago. As
it moved, the glacier ground up rocks
beneath it and deposited this newly
eroded material as a compact layer of
glacial till. The sheer weight of the ice
sheet depressed the land surface, while
the large quantity of water tied up in the
ice lowered the surface of the sea by as
much as 350 feet.
As the ice melted the land began to
rebound and emerge from the sea. This
emergence lasted from about 13,000 to
10,000 years ago when sea level was
180 feet below the present level. Since
that time, a slow submergence of the
land has brought the sea up to its present
level.
Land Use History
6000 years ago to 1700. Abenaki tribes inhabited seasonal camps in the rich
fishing and clamming grounds of the
Kennebec estuary.
1607-1676. European settlements,
established for fishing, lumber and fur
trade, expand along the rivers and on
islands like “Jeremysquam”-
now Westport Island.
1735 Timothy Dunton, first permanant
Westport Island settler, arrives.
1810 Main Road (Rt. 144) laid out to
connect five island mills.
1860 Seamen and fishermen
outnumber farmers 3 to 1.
1880 Forty sailing vessels lie in
Westport Island coves. Riggs Mill is
operating on the southwest portion of
the Island.
1941 Eugenia and William L. Bonyun
buy 120 acres from the Thomas family.
The Thomas family, and their ancestors
before them, farmed on Thomas Point
since the island was fi rst settled. The
Bonyun family began truck farming,
and raised three sons on the property.
1979 Bonyun land is placed under conservation
easement to Maine
Department of Inland Fisheries and
Wildlife.
2002 Heirs donate Bonyun Preserve to
the Land Trust.
The Donors
Bill and Gene Bonyun were beloved
folklorists who pioneered the concept
of folk songs as living history, and sang
folk and maritime songs in the classrooms
and concert halls of America.
Bill and Gene generously protected this
land in its natural state for future
generations to enjoy.
View the Bonyun Preserve brochure with more information and trail maps.
Directions -
From Route 1, take Route 144 south 10 miles to second intersection with West Shore Road. Turn Right, go .25 miles to parking lot and kiosk on left. Marked trails.
