Monitoring The Islands With MITA
photographs and text by Jim Dugan
The Maine Island Trail Association cares for — and provides access to — over 200 islands and mainland sites on the Maine coast. MITA’s mission is dual: stewardship and access.
During the summer, a dedicated group of volunteer “Monitor Skippers” keeps regular tabs on the islands. The skippers drive a small motor boat to visit a regular route. Each route gets covered two to four times a month in summer. Some skippers do a couple runs a week, while others only once or twice a month.
Rockland Photographer Jim Dugan tagged along with one of the skippers, Bob MacEwen, for a trip around the “Western Rivers” route, about 40 miles on the Kennebec, Sasanoa, and Back Rivers and up into Merrymeeting Bay.
MITA is always looking for new skippers; contact them for info about the apprenticeship process.

Most of the islands have campsites with a logbook for visitors to sign. Bob checks these at each stop and notes how much use the island is getting.
Comments
Very nice Eagle photo! Not an easy image to capture so clearly. Well done.
Chris