Clusters of dead bittersweet, an invasive vine, dry up in the trees of the River’s Edge Preserve after their roots were severed to prevent them from killing the trees they were engulfing. (Sophie Burchell/Staff Writer)
The woods at the end of Eagles Lane in Falmouth were once overrun with bittersweet.
A woody vine with broad green leaves, the invasive species overtakes and strangles trees, creating a dense wall of vegetation and pushing out native plants, leaving behind a “food desert” for the insects and birds.
But today, many of the trees in the 24-acre parcel are cleared of the creeping vine, and monarch caterpillars can be found feasting on the native milkweed growing between trees.
The invasive species removal project is being managed by the Falmouth Land Trust, which acquired the parcel last year and started opening it to the public this summer. Largely contained in Falmouth, with 8 acres crossing into Westbrook, the River’s Edge Preserve sits along the Presumpscot River across from the Riverside Golf Course and offers water access and a quarter-mile trail.
In addition to the removal of bittersweet at the road’s end, other changes on Eagles Lane include 16 new houses built up the hill from the land trust property. The two transformations go hand in hand.
The 24 acres of the preserve were donated to the Falmouth Land Trust as part of the Eagles Lane development project by Presumpscot River LLC. Zoned as a conservation subdivision, the housing development came with the guarantee that open space would be preserved and managed for the public.
“It’s a win-win for developers and to help conserve some land,” said Presumpscot River LLC developer David Chase. “It made sense for me for the land trust to maintain it, own it and keep the access.”
Under this zoning the plots for the houses themselves can be smaller as long as the required amount of contiguous open space is preserved on the parcel, said Chase. Development residents will then have easy access to the preserved woods at the end of their road.
Chase grew up in Falmouth, spending his time outside along Meader Brook and the Presumpscot River, to which the preserve now maintains public access.
“I ran up and down that river. And always had poison ivy,” he said.
A map of the Falmouth Land Trust new property, River’s Edge Preserve. (Courtesy of Falmouth Land Trust)
Under this zoning, the preserved land has to be managed by a third party, said the development’s landscape architect Peter Beagle. This can be a land trust, homeowners association, or sometimes a town. Often, homeowners associations are not equipped to take over land and trail maintenance for the long haul, said Whitney Bushey, Falmouth Land Trust’s stewardship manager.
When approached by the developers about taking over management of the land, Falmouth Land Trust was excited by elements of the property: providing the public access to the Presumpscot for kayaking and fishing, evidence of river otters on the property, and the opportunity to conserve the native species and habitat.
“We kind of jumped at the chance to have a little piece of the Presumpscot in conservation,” said Falmouth Land Trust Executive Director Mila Plavsic.
The organization also had doubts. Plavsic said it was unsure it could handle the extent to which the property was overrun with invasive plants with only two full-time staff members. Ultimately, however, it decided the land and the work it demanded was worth undertaking.
“I thought, ‘Gee, is this something we want to get into?’” asked Plavsic. “But on the flip side, if we can make a dent and make it better, then it’s an example to other people to not give up when you have invasive plants,” she said.
The invasive plant removal was too large of a project for the land trust’s small staff, so it contracted a vegetation control company to combat the bittersweet. The removal crew physically cut down vines, often conducted by sawing a large band of vines at the base of the tree away. The vines above the tree die and decompose, leaving a big knot of shriveled bittersweet that come down later. They also spot treated the vines with herbicide, said Plavsic.
Whitney Bushey, Falmouth Land Trust’s stewardship manager, shows a monarch caterpillar on a milkweed leaf at the River’s Edge Preserve on Aug. 19. (Sophie Burchell/Staff Writer)
Remediating a forest overtaken by invasives takes years and comes with no guarantees — new bittersweet vines are already creeping up. River’s Edge will undergo five years of invasive species monitoring, with contractors repeating the treatment as needed as they work to achieve complete invasive removal.
As it approaches the preserve’s management going forward, the land trust wants to get the new Eagles Lane neighborhood and Falmouth residents overall involved, invested in the woods that in some cases practically makes up their backyard.
“It’s a place that’s a work in progress. You know, it’s going to look better as time goes on and as we get volunteers and get other partners to help us stay on top of what was started here and keep going,” said Plavsic.