Outdoors - Spring 2022

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EXPLORE MAINE’S STATE PARKS & HISTORIC SITES

PLAN A FAMILY CAMPING TRIP

FROM WHAT TO PACK TO CAMPFIRE RECIPES TO TRY

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION OF THE BANGOR DAILY NEWS SPRING 2022

PLUS! MEET A MAINE BOATBUILDING FAMILY • TURNING A LOVE OF FISHING INTO A CAREER

Outdoors & ADVeNTure

Contents 04

Publisher RICHARD J. WARREN

A passport to Adventure

DISCOVER A FUN WAY TO EXPLORE MAINE'S MANY STATE PARKS AND HISTORIC SITES

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Advertising Sales JEFF ORCUTT

happy Little campers

jorcutt@bangordailynews.com

TIPS FOR SURVIVING A FAMILY CAMPING TRIP

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Sections Editor/Art Director AMY ALLEN

campfire eats

aallen@bangordailynews.com

3 GREAT RECIPES TO TRY ON YOUR NEXT OVERNIGHT CAMPING ADVENTURE

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Creative Services Manager CORALIE CROSS

all hands on deck

Creative Services CALLIE PICARD, CAROLINA RAVE

IT'S ALL ABOUT QUALITY AND CRAFTSMENSHIP FOR THIS FAMILY OF WOODEN BOAT BUILDERS

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Cover Image

Those pesky Little Pests

Adobe Stock

THE LATEST ON MAINE'S TICK POPULATION

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To advertise in our next edition, please call 990-8000 or email advertising@bangordailynews.com

river of dreams

MEET A MAINE WOMAN WHO TURNED A LOVE OF FISHING INTO A CAREER

© 2022 Bangor Daily News. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without express written consent. Requests for permission to copy, reprint, or duplicate any content should be directed to advertising@bangordailynews.com

PHOTO: AISLINN SARNACKI

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Conserving the Big Outdoors PROTECTING SHORELINES AND PUBLIC ACCESS FOR MAINERS TO HIKE, HUNT, FISH, SKI & MORE

As you tie up your boots, grab your jacket, and step out the door for an outdoor adventure in the North Woods, you enter the largest expanse of wilderness east of the Mississippi. These vast forestlands cover an expanse of 12 million acres—3.5 times the size of the state of Connecticut. They provide Maine with the last dark skies in the eastern United States and hold the capacity to help mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration. But will these forestlands remain this way forever?

The Forest Society of Maine (FSM), based out of Bangor, is Maine’s land trust for the North Woods. FSM’s mission is to conserve Maine’s forestlands to sustain their ecological, economic, cultural, and recreational values, with a particular focus on large working forest landscapes. FSM’s approach embraces the values and traditions of Maine and helps to maintain the great

privilege of public access on private lands.

FSM has helped conserve more than one million acres of forestland, mostly through conservation easements. An easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and either a land trust or government agency that permanently limits uses of the land to protect conservation values.

Landowners continue to own the land, to pay property taxes, and retain the right to implement ecologically based, sustainable forest management. Placing an easement on forestland prevents development and conversion to other uses, and often assures public access.

The forestlands that FSM has helped conserve feature a total of over 180 ponds and lakes and 25 mountains. FSM has worked to protect 780 miles of lake and pond shoreline, as well as over 200 miles of river shoreline and almost 1,800 miles

COURTESY OF THE FOREST SOCIETY OF MAINE of streams. That’s a lot of water access conserved in perpetuity!

In addition to water access, most of FSM’s conservation easements assure pedestrian public access for activities such as hiking, hunting, fishing, skiing, and other non-intensive recreational uses.

These easements make permanent the longstanding tradition of open public access on Maine’s undeveloped woodlands. Keeping Maine’s forests as forests, with continued opportunities for traditional recreation opportunities, is FSM’s objective.

So, the next time you step out into the North Woods to recreate, take a moment to think about the vastness of these wildlands, and the land trusts in Maine, such as FSM, continually working to ensure these forests remain forests and provide generations with economic and recreational benefits forever!

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ADVeNTure EXPLoRe Ma iNe’s Many StaTe Parks AND h iSTORIC SIt eS

BY AISLINN SARNACKI

LIGHTHOUSES, MOUNTAINS, FORTS AND FORESTS — MAINE HAS IT ALL, AND THERE’S A PASSPORT THAT CAN HELP YOU FIND IT. In 2010, the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands launched the Maine State Parks Passport. The booklet features 48 state parks and historic sites scattered throughout the Pine Tree State. To participate, all you have to do is visit the locations and collect the stamps.

“It’s a great little book,” said Kimberly Hansen of Westbrook, who picked up a passport last summer and has since visited over a dozen locations with her 10-yearold German shepherd mix, Annika. “Each page gives you a brief description of the park with symbols that tell you what you can do at the park like swim, hike, boat and fish.”

Hansen’s passport is quickly becoming a booklet of memories. With an instant camera, she photographs her dog sitting in front of each passport station (a container where you collect the stamp). She then staples the photos onto pages of the passport.

“We’ll finish it this year,” she said. “But it will definitely take some vacation time to go to Aroostook County and visit the three locations that are up there. I’ll spend the night at a campground or hotel, or rent a cabin.”

A FAMILY-FRIENDLY CHALLENGE The Maine State Park Passport Program was launched on the 75th anniversary of the Maine State Parks System, as a way to celebrate the parks and historic sites while raising awareness about them. Right away, the program was a big hit.

“When we first started doing this in 2010, it was like ‘The Amazing Race,’” said Maine State Park Regional Manager Gary Best. “There were several families that were trying to be the first to get to all 48 [locations].”

Griffith Head in Reid State Park in Georgetown.

PHOTOS BY AISLINN SARNACKI

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(Left to right) Owls Head State Park, Aroostook State Park in Presque Isle and Reid State Park in Georgetown.

PHOTOS BY AISLINN SARNACKI

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Best recalls meeting one family that kept photos of their Maine State Passport travels in a three-ring binder.

“It was exactly what we wanted when we launched this program,” he said of the family.

“In the photos, they were on ATVs at one park, camping at another, swimming and hiking mountains. They just really embraced it.”

Ashley Spaulding of Eddington picked up a passport in May of 2021, and started visiting the sites with her sons, Cole, age 5, and Ethan, 6. Since then, the family has visited eight state parks, returning to some multiple times. They also camped out at two of the parks: Lamoine State Park in Lamoine and Peaks-Kenny State Park in Dover-Foxcroft.

“They both really do get so excited to hunt down the boxes (passport stations) and fight over who gets to stamp theirs first,” Spaulding said.

The boys were especially excited to visit their eighth park, Range Pond State Park in Poland, because it earned them their first prize: a magnet.

For each eight locations you visit, you can collect a prize. And the contest is valid yearto-year, so you do not need to collect all your stamps in one summer.

“The rewards get bigger and better as you go through, so it’s kind of a fun way for people to receive acknowledgement for all the parks they visit,” Best said.

The final prize for reaching all 48 spots?

A free season pass to Maine state parks and historic sites.

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Brothers Ethan Spaulding, 6, and Cole Spaulding, 5, of Eddington, proudly hold up the magnets they were awarded for visiting eight locations on the Maine State Parks Passport.

They are shown here on the beach of Range Pond State Park in Poland.

PHOTO BY ASHLEY SPAULDING

(Above & below) Kimberly Hansen of Westbrook photographs her dog, Annika, at each passport station and staples the photos in her Maine State Parks Passport.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KIMBERLY HANSEN

HOW TO PARTICIPATE Participating is simple. First, you’ll need to purchase the $1 passport at a staffed Maine state park or historic site between May 15 and the end of September.

The passport functions as a guide, with one location per page. The locations are organized by the state’s eight tourism regions, each of which are represented by a different color at the top of the page. The passport also features simple maps of each region. So if you want to visit multiple locations in one trip, it’s easy to see what parks and historic sites are close to one another.

Each page includes a short description of the park or site, as well as driving directions, GPS coordinates, website, phone number and when the park gates are open. Each page also includes the lock combination for the site’s passport station. (Hint: It’s the year the park was established.)

The passport station is a locked, brown box where you find a custom stamp for each bangordailynews.com BANGOR DAILY NEWS / 7

Outdoors & ADVeNTure location. The stamp includes the park or site name, an icon and the date it was established.

“Passport stations are very accessible for everyone,” Best said. “We wanted the stamp to be in an area that can be reached by anybody of any age or physical ability.”

Once you’re done, don’t forget to explore the park or historic site.

“Whether you’re doing it for education or just recreation, whether you want to get outside and hike in different areas or swim or just picnic, this is a really wonderful way to do that,” Best said.

While the official season for stamping passports is May 15 through September, you can sometimes get your passport stamped outside that timeframe if you attend organized activities and events at state parks and historic sites. And it never hurts to check the park passport station.

Park staff will sometimes leave the ink pad and stamp in there if the park is busy (and the ink pad doesn’t freeze).

“It really does provide some fun motivation and incentive,” Best said. “You get caught up in something as simple as wanting to collect a stamp.”

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KEEPING THE PROGRAM FRESH

A couple sits on a rocky beach of Owls Head State Park below the bluff that is home to Owls Head Light Station..

PHOTOS BY AISLINN SARNACKI

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The Maine State Park Passport has been in circulation for over a decade, and it’s still going strong.

“We’ve printed somewhere around 300,000 of these [passports],” Best said “They’re in glove boxes across the country.”

Over the years, the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands has tweaked the program to keep the public engaged. For example, a few years ago, the bureau added a geocaching component.

Geocaches are hidden compartments that are found by using GPS coordinates. While geocaching isn’t typically permitted in Maine state parks, eight official geocaches were created by the bureau — one per tourism region — for the passport program. Each geocache contains a stamp to be added to passports.

While the passport stations are placed out in the open, in highly accessible locations, the geocaches are more challenging to find. But the effort it takes to find them is well worth it, Best said. The geocaches highlight special places.

“We’ve got some ideas of how we can continue to make [the passport program] fresh,” Best said.

“So in the coming years, stay tuned. We’ll be thinking of ways to add to it and make it more enriching to encourage people to do it twice.”

For more information about the Maine State Park Passport, visit maine.gov/dacf/parks/ discover_history_explore_nature/activities/ passport_program.shtml.

What’s in Your Firewood?

TIPS ON PROTECTING MAINE'S FORESTS FROM INVASIVE INSECTS AND PESTS Nearly 90 percent of Maine’s land is covered by trees, which not only contribute to Maine’s iconic beauty, but also support clean air and water, wildlife habitat and our way of life. People come from all over the world to enjoy Maine’s cool temperatures, fresh air, and natural landscapes. Invasive forest insects and diseases are a huge threat to Maine, and firewood is the easiest way to spread them around.

Many people think that firewood is dead. In truth, firewood harbors live insects and pathogens for many years after the tree has died. Many of these insects and diseases can spread to living trees and kill them.

Firewood movement contributed to the rapid spread of the emerald ash borer, a devastating invasive insect that has killed billions of ash trees in North America (www.maine.gov/eab). Many other invasive pests can also hide on or in firewood.

HERE ARE JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF WHAT YOU MAY CARRY WITH YOU WHEN YOU MOVE FIREWOOD (WWW.MAINE.GOV/FORESTPESTS): • oak wilt fungus that threatens our oak trees;

COURTESY OF THE MAINE FOREST SERVICE

• the colorful planthopper and expert hitchhiker, the spotted lanternfly, that threatens not only trees, but also important crops and certain adult beverages (e.g. wine); • the devastating Asian longhorned beetle that can kill many of our hardwood trees, including the sugar maple (www.maine.gov/alb); and • the rash-causing, tree-defoliator, browntail moth (www.maine. gov/dacf/knockoutbtm).

These invasive pests are just a few of many forest health threats that we know can move with firewood. Tiny insect eggs or microscopic fungi may be lurking on or under the bark, waiting to be carried to a new location. Even seemingly pest-free firewood can harbor hidden hitchhikers.

SO, WHAT’S IN YOUR FIREWOOD? Maybe the next threat to Maine’s pristine lakeshores and great trout habitat, to Maine’s tourism, recreation and forest economies, to Maine’s scenic mountains and shores, to Maine’s way of life and the

way life should be—to the reasons you traveled here in the first place.

This is why Maine bans untreated, outof-state firewood and urges use of local or heat-treated firewood, regardless of origin.

If you have questions, check out www. maine.gov/firewood.

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Outdoors & ADVeNTure

HaPpY LITTle

CaMPeRS TIPS ON SURVIVING THE ELEMENTS (AND YOUR KIDS) ON A FAMILY CAMPING TRIP

BY EMILY MORRISON

staying in a hotel with no pool. After we hit the mall and the movies, we’d go back to our air conditioned room, flip through the pay-per-view channel and say, “Next time, let’s make sure there’s a hot tub at least.”

Like most Mainers, we had a camp, but we didn’t think of ourselves as campers. We had beds, stoves and screens in our windows. Life didn’t get much better than heading “upta camp.”

It wasn’t until I married an outdoor enthusiast in my early 20s that I learned what camping really entailed and I gotta tell you, I wasn’t a big fan.

No place to plug in a hairdryer?

Bugs in the tent? Lumpy ground? Shared outhouses?

No thanks.

But, after twenty years of marriage to my personal guide to the outside, I’ve learned a few things, and surprisingly, they’ve made the difference between booking a hotel with a pool and discovering how to rough it with the best of ’em.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN It really pays to consider everything that can go wrong.

Like, what if it rains for two days straight? What if the mosquitos are unbearable? What if the stove runs out of gas? What if the stove doesn’t work? What if someone gets hurt? What if someone gets really hurt?

Answering these questions will help you prepare for emergencies, but you should also anticipate what creature comforts you’ll need. Planning for crisis and comfort prepares you for almost anything.

A FEW PACKING SECRETS Bring extra toilet paper and pack it in zip lock bags. Take it off the roll before you stuff it in the bag. And remember, it’s better to have too much “TP” than not enough. No

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PHOTO: COLIN FIELD/ADOBE STOCK

Growing up, my family’s idea of camping meant

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Outdoors & ADVeNTure one needs to come down with poison ivy on their unmentionables.

Remove most food from its packaging and put it in, you guessed it, more ziplock bags.

If space and weight of your gear is in issue, consider using what you have for multiple purposes. For example, you can use your fleece top and pants as a pillow and your socks as mittens!

WHEN IT COMES TO FOOD When planning meals, keep it simple. Mac & Squeeze Cheese is an easy crowd-pleaser.

For breakfast, bring instant oatmeal packets. You can eat the oatmeal straight from the packet even with hot water in there (that way you don’t dirty dishes in the morning when you want to get going).

For lunch, instead of bread that can get smashed and torn, go for wraps. Even if it adds a little more weight to your pack, always bring an extra snack that’s high in energy. Nothing brings morale down quicker than needing food and not having it.

Speaking of morale, don’t skimp on the chocolate! It’s light, easy to pack, and when you find yourself at the summit after a grueling, and perhaps unpopularly challenging trail, a little chocolate goes a long way to boosting the blood sugar as well as the mood.

(For more recipes to cook over an open flame, turn to page 14.)

DON’T FORGET TO ENJOY YOUR FAMILY It seems like this last one should go without saying, but everybody knows that close quarters, rainy weather and a few bug bites can burst your balloon. Remember, camping is about more than enjoying every cold morning or damp night.

It’s about making memories with your loved ones that last a lifetime.

And if you can keep this in mind all the times you run out of toilet paper and realize you forgot to pack an extra pair of underwear, then you’ll be a happy camper for life.

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Find Your Path at Hidden Valley Nature Center IMMERSE YOURSELF IN NATURE AND BOOK AN OVERNIGHT ADVENTURE ON LITTLE DYER POND Imagine 1,000 roadless acres, laced with nearly 30 miles of multi-use trail that meander up and down ridges and along the shores of 100-acre Little Dyer Pond.

A boardwalk that extends into a vast kettlehole bog teeming with flowering plants, including several varieties of orchids, and unique bird species such as the relatively uncommon yellow-bellied flycatcher. Places to hunker down with a good book and a picnic lunch, where patience is rewarded with bird song and critter sightings. All of this awaits you at Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson.

Open from dawn to dusk every day, Hidden Valley Nature Center offers opportunities for kids of all ages to be outside and inspired by nature’s beauty.

Looking to truly immerse yourself in the experience? Five cabins and yurts are available for overnight camping. Three of them are fully insulated and all five

have woodstoves. Each cabin or yurt has its own woodpile and outhouse, as do two shoreline tent sites. Midcoast Conservancy members receive a 40% discount on already-reasonable rental rates, making this an affordable and fun family adventure.

Music lovers should mark their calendars for two outdoor concerts at Hidden Valley Nature Center. On August 28, Jazz in the Woods will bring nationallyacclaimed musicians to the Barn for an afternoon that will dazzle jazz aficionados. On September 18, the annual Live Edge Music Festival features four Maine bands, with everything from rock to salsa tunes to get the audience dancing.

Time outside has so much to offer, including recreation, an appreciation of nature, and a place to connect with

COURTESY OF MIDCOAST CONSERVANCY

community and creativity. Hidden Valley Nature Center provides opportunities for all of these and more… come explore this place of wonder!

To learn more about Midcoast Conservancy, and its nearly 100 miles of public-access trails across midcoast Maine, go to www.midcoastconservancy.org.

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Campfire eats ROASTING HOT DOGS AND S’MORES OVER AN OPEN FIRE IS GREAT, BUT IF YOU’RE CAMPING FOR MORE THAN ONE NIGHT OR JUST WANT TO MIX THINGS UP A LITTLE, HERE ARE THREE GREAT CAMPFIRE RECIPES TO TASTE-TEST ON YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE. BY AMY ALLEN

NUTELLA AND BANANA POCKETS I tapped my best friend Jaime Madore, an avid camper who always has what we need (like a full-sized propane-powered coffee maker), to share her recipe for this tasty treat that’s great for breakfast or dessert. It’s been years since she made these for us and my kids are still talking about them.

INGREDIENTS Pillsbury crescent dough, Grands biscuit dough or buttered white bread Nutella Bananas (sliced)

CAMPFIRE KABOBS

DIRECTIONS

On a trip to Baxter State Park to hike and camp out with some friends, I was tasked with dinner for the group and discovered this super easy and tasty recipe for kabobs. I’ve since made it dozens of times, tweaking the recipe and trying it with different kinds of meat, veggies and even fruit. While it’s super delicious with chicken on the grill at home, for camping I recommend using steak tips so you don’t have to worry as much about the temperature and cooking the meat all the way through.

Spray a pie iron (which is a cast-iron sandwich maker and super handy for camping) with non-stick cooking spray.

Line both sides with a sheet of dough or bread. Spread the dough or bread with a layer of Nutella and banana slices, then close the pie iron to form a sandwich. Cook over an open flame for about 5 minutes per side, depending on the heat of your fire. Carefully open and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS 1 lb steak tips (cut into bite-sized pieces) ¼ cup Worchester sauce ¼ cup soy sauce ¼ cup olive oil 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard 1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp brown sugar 2 Tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp dried parsley 1 tsp pepper 2 Tbsp chopped basil CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

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Outdoors & ADVeNTure CRACKED EGG BREAKFAST BURRITOS Growing up, a little box of cereal and tiny powdered doughnuts from a bag were standard camping trip breakfast fare. But sometimes it’s nice to step it up and fill your belly properly before a day of outdoor adventures. My bestie and favorite hiking partner Kate Schmidt introduced me to this delicious recipe for campfire-friendly breakfast burritos, which are as much fun to make as they are to eat.

INGREDIENTS 1 large tortilla per person 1 large egg per person Salt and pepper BURRITO INGREDIENTS (choose any or all!)

Pre-made shredded hash browns Bacon or sausage or chopped ham Shredded cheese Diced peppers Green onion Tomato Sour cream Hot sauce DIRECTIONS Cook your hash browns and meat on a camp stove, or bring them pre-cooked and ready to go. Place a tortilla on a large square of heavyduty tinfoil. Add your chosen burrito ingredients and top with cheese.

Crack an egg over the top of the ingredients and wrap into a burrito (fold the ends then roll tight), then wrap the tinfoil around the entire burrito. Lay the packet on a grill over a campfire, turning frequently to avoid burning, until hot. Take a peek after about 10-15 minutes to make sure your egg is cooked. Once ready, top with sour cream and/or hot sauce and enjoy!

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CAMPFIRE KABOBS, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 KABOB VEGGIES

Mix and match depending on the taste preferences of your crowd — simply chop into bite-sized pieces.

Baby potatoes (par-boil first so they’re soft enough to skewer and will cook at the same pace as the rest of the veggies) Mushrooms Zucchinis Pineapple (technically a fruit, but super delicious grilled!)

Cherry tomatoes Onion Peppers DIRECTIONS Mix the marinade ingredients and divide into two gallon-sized plastic bags. Skewer your meat and veggies. I like to separate my kabobs into meatonly and veggie-only skewers to help regulate cooking times — and it’s also helpful if you’re camping with any vegetarians. Drop the skewers into the plastic bags of marinade and let them do their thing in a cooler until you’re ready to cook. I reinforce the bottom of the plastic bags with duct tape to ensure the sharp ends of the skewers don’t puncture the plastic and make a mess in your cooler.

You can cook them directly over the campfire — and if you have a grilling basket it makes the task much easier.

Just line them up and flip a few times until done.

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Outdoors & ADVeNTure

ALL haNDS

oN DeCk IT’S ALL ABOUT QUALITY AND CRAFTSMENSHIP FOR THIS FAMILY OF WOODEN BOAT BUILDERS

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BY WANDA CURTIS

ne business sector seeing a boom during the pandemic is the boat building industry. Contrary to what some boat builders expected, sales skyrocketed nationwide during the past two years. Maine's “largest builder of small wooden boats” is Cottrell Boatbuilding, a company that has seen an increase in sales during the pandemic which they attribute to people having more flexible work schedules and more time for leisure activity.

“Most people were looking to isolate,” said Lynn Cottrell.

“I had a lovely young mom in Rhode Island buy one for her three kids because they were not able to go to their summer camps. And I think people just had more time on their hands and decided it was time to pony up and buy a boat!”

Cottrell Boatbuilding is a family-owned and operated company with shops in Searsport and Winterport. Lynn's husband Dale and their two sons Seth and Ben do all of the building. Lynn said that she handles the sales and bookkeeping. She also does painting and varnishing when the need arises, she said. They build small wooden boats for rowing and sailing — wherries, dinghies, yacht tenders, dories and daysailers. They also build custom boats.

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“We use centuries-old traditional methods as well as modern construction techniques,” said Lynn. “We love building traditional plank-on-frame boats, but we realize it is not for everyone. These days most of our boats are a more modern composite construction, mainly glued lap wood epoxy. The new modern wooden boat. This modern construction method results in a very rugged, lightweight, strong hull. Less expensive and easy to maintain.”

ARTISTIC VALUE According to Lynn, one of the plank-on-frame fiddleheads they built is being used as the base for a glass-topped conference table. She said the boat was specially designed to be taken out on the lake and then to an office setting in the New Hampshire mountains.

“We also have one in the barn now waiting for the house it is going into to be finished,” she said. “It is going to be a chandelier hanging from a cathedral ceiling. The owners are planning on rowing her at least once before she is installed — that made us feel a little better. We build our boats to be

(Right, top) From left to right, Ben, Seth and Dale at work in their shop on a Cottrell Catspaw Dinghy.

(Right, middle) Rowing a Penobscot Wherry.

(RIght, bottom) Dale Cottrell works at a bench in the shop.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF COTTRELL BOATBUILDING

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Outdoors & ADVeNTure used, but we love that people appreciate their value as art too. We have built a couple of boats for some very famous musicians.”

In recent days, Cottrell’s 12- and 15-foot Maine whitehalls have been their most popular boats. The 12-footer is good for a single rower but has room for several passengers, said Lynn. The 15-footer is better “Annie” — the boat and the dog — for couples who want to take to the water in a 12-foot Maine whitehall. row together. One of their 12-foot Maine whitehalls was purchased by a local woman who grew up rowing on the Maine coast. The boat was dubbed “Annie,” which is also the name of the owner’s dog.

CUSTOMERS NEAR & FAR The Cottrell family builds custom boats for locals, as well as customers from far away.

Spain, New York and Boston are real hot spots right now, said Lynn. One couple brought them a boat that had been in their family for many years and was left to disintegrate.

They wanted the boat rebuilt but there wasn’t anything left to rebuild.

“We took the lines off it and built a new one for them,” Lynn said. “Actually our boats are all semi-custom as our customers choose the boat they want and then decide, for instance, do they want it trimmed in mahogany or teak, what colors do they want it painted, etc. The glued lap boat hulls are made of Marine-grade plywood and trimmed in mahogany or teak. The traditional plank-on-frame boat hulls are cedar on oak, trimmed in mahogany or teak.”

Customers need to allow anywhere from 6 to 12 months for custom boats to be completed. Some people give a deposit to hold a building slot for them.

MADE BY HAND According to Seth Cottrell, their shop is one of the last of its kind in the world. He said they don’t fabricate any parts. Everything is made by hand using old, traditional methods. He said that his family has been building boats since the 1980s.

“Boatbuilding is a huge part of the Cottrell family’s culture because they’ve all grown up around it and honed their craft over the years,” said Seth. “My brother Ben and I are the primary builders. Dad is supposed to be retired but he has a hard time being it. We build between 10 and 12 boats a year. Boats take from six to 16 weeks or so to build from start to finish, but it depends on the model.”

Dale Cottrell moved to Maine in 1969 and worked for other boatbuilders for a time, said Seth. He worked for River and Gillman and then Plastic Pete. He started Winterport Boat Company, building the puffin dinghy, in the mid-80s.

The family finds pleasure in observing the joy their completed boats bring to the owners.

Many of their customers share updates about where their boats travel and often seek help in maintaining the boats.

While Cottrell Boatbuilding is a family business and Seth’s three children enjoy working with him in the shop, he said he doesn’t expect the youngest generation of the Cottrell family to take up boatbuilding as a career. He hopes that maybe they’ll at least pursue it as a hobby in the future though.

“There aren’t many people who build small traditional wooden boats anymore,” said Seth. “It is mostly done through museums. It is labor-intensive and there are faster ways to make a buck.”

But it is all worth it in the end. “Seeing a wooden boat come together from a pile of wood and some screws is a magical thing,” said Lynn, “and the joy that it brings to the owners brings us joy as well.”

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Outdoors & ADVeNTure

ThoSE PeSKY LITTle

PesTS HERE’S THE LATEST ON MAINE TICKS AND PROTECTION

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BY AISLINN SARNACKI

s soon as the temperature rises above freezing, ticks start to stretch their legs. After spending the winter dormant under the snow, these tiny pests emerge to wander the landscape in search of an animal to bite.

Spring is a busy time for ticks in Maine. And since many ticks can carry and transmit diseases to people, it’s essential to protect yourself every time you go outside to enjoy the warming weather.

“What we’ve seen from our survey data is that the majority of our clients are encountering ticks right in their own yards, while doing yard work, gardening or going for a quick walk to the mailbox,” said Griffin Dill, who manages the Tick Lab within the Diagnostic and Research Laboratory at the University of Maine.

At the Tick Lab, researchers receive tick samples from the public to identify and test for diseases.

“Last year, we saw a peak [of tick submissions] somewhere around early to mid April,” Dill said.

Maine is home to 15 species of ticks. Of those, it’s the black-legged tick — commonly called the deer tick — that people worry most about. The blacklegged tick can carry and transmit three of the most common tick-borne diseases in Maine: Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis.

24 / MAINE OUTDOORS & ADVENTURE Spring 2022

Outdoors & ADVeNTure THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS YOU CAN PROTECT YOURSELF FROM TICKS WHILE ENJOYING THE OUTDOORS THIS SPRING: • Wear clothing that covers your skin such as long-sleeved shirts, pants and tall socks.

• Tuck your pants into your socks or wear gaiters to protect your ankles.

• Wear light-colored clothing on which ticks (which are dark) are easier to spot.

• Treat your clothing with permethrin and other repellents.

Read labels thoroughly before using the products.

Tick identification deer tick

lone star tick dog ticks

• Avoid tick habitat such as underbrush and tall grass.

• Upon returning indoors, check your body for ticks multiple times. Remember that ticks can be extremely small. Use a mirror or enlist the help of a partner for a more thorough check.

• If you do find a tick embedded in your skin, remove it with tweezers or a tick spoon by grasping the tick as close to your skin as possible and pulling upward with steady, even pressure. Wash your hands and the bite area with rubbing alcohol, plus soap and water.

And consider sending the tick to the Tick Lab for identification and testing for diseases.

• Consult your doctor if you’re concerned that you might have a tick-borne illness.

26 / MAINE OUTDOORS & ADVENTURE Spring 2022

“This past year we saw a significant jump across the board in the percentage of infected ticks that were submitted to us,” Dill said.

The first black-legged tick was detected in Maine in the 1980s. Since then, the species has expanded its range throughout the state, starting in the south and spreading along the coast and inland. Nowadays, black-legged ticks can be found in all 16 counties.

“Once you get north of Orono and Old Town, the numbers really start to drop off,” Dill said. “But we’ve started to see some increases in submissions from Washington County around Calais, Eastport and Lubec.”

While Lyme disease, babesiosis and anaplasmosis are currently the most common tickborne diseases in Maine, researchers are keeping an eye out for other tick-borne diseases that might spread to the state in the near future.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever, for example, is a potentially fatal disease that can be treated with antibiotics. It’s carried by dog ticks in many areas of the country but has yet to be found in Maine’s robust dog tick population.

“In the past year we tested well over 1,500 dog ticks [in Maine] and have not found any Rocky Mountain spotted fever yet, so that’s certainly a good thing,” Dill said.

Another concern are diseases carried by the Lone Star tick, which has recently expanded its range into Maine.

“This year we did see a slight increase in the number of Lone Star ticks submitted to the program,” Dill said. “At least half of those were associated with out-of-state travel.”

The Lone Star tick can carry a number of pathogens that cause diseases such as ehrlichiosis.

“Numbers [of Lone Star ticks in Maine] are still really low but it’s something on the tick-borne disease horizon,” Dill said.

For more information about ticks in Maine visit the Tick Lab website at extension. umaine.edu/ticks.

bangordailynews.com BANGOR DAILY NEWS / 27

Outdoors & ADVeNTure

Megan Hess with a young client and a freshly caught bass.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MEGAN HESS 28 / MAINE OUTDOORS & ADVENTURE Spring 2022

River of

DREAMS Meet a woman who turned her love of fishing and the great outdoors into a career

F

BY GENIE JENNINGS

rom a very young age, Megan Hess fished with her father. She grew up with a love of the outdoors and all its creatures, particularly aquatic life. After earning her bachelor’s degree in aquatic biology at the University of Wisconsin, she decided to study for her master’s at the University of Maine at Orono. On her way to her new school, she stopped at a fly fishing show in Eddington, New Jersey, where she met Sheralyn and Jason Bouchard, owners of Chandler Lake Camps. After learning of her destination, Sherry invited the young woman to visit them.

A remote camp in the Great North Woods of Maine is not the easiest place for someone to drop in, but after settling herself at UMaine, Megan made her way. The invitation had been real; she had a place to stay and work.

Jason encouraged her to get a Maine Guide License. As she worked on her degree in ecology and environmental sciences, continuing the research she had begun in her home state, Megan also completed the Maine Guide School program at Fins and Furs Adventures.

My husband and I fished with Megan last summer on our third visit to Chandler Lake. This was a particularly poignant trip, because my husband has Parkinson’s Disease and can no longer do many of the things we have always loved doing. I had been a bit apprehensive when I found we were not going out with Jason. We had been hoping to re-visit Coyote Pond (not its real name but one of the ‘special’ places one does not want to over-populate). The way, one could not call it a road, into the pond is up and then down what amounts to boulders on a very steep pitch. We were going for the green drake hatch. At night. The hatch was strong. The fish were huge. I needn’t have worried. Megan can drive backcountry!

For a while she was living one of the Maine dreams. She sold her hand-tied flies, guided people on fishing trips. She became involved with Maine Women Fly Fishers, starting her own chapter because it was too difficult for everyone in the state to meet in one place. She taught fly casting and tying. She gave lectures on the ‘bugs’ that fish like to eat. She began teaching what she calls Fly Fishing 101. A semi-private class for one to four people. In

Megan Hess (in back) with a client showing off a pike.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MEGAN HESS

approximately four hours, it covers how to set up a rod, different styles of fishing, a variety of flies and basic casting.

Then, her real dream became reality, when she got a job for which her master’s degree had prepared her. She is now the Town of Orono’s Environmental Services Coordinator.

Megan plans to continue doing all she was doing before on a reduced scale. She will still accept custom orders for flies. She will still be guiding occasionally during the busiest times for Jason and Sherry, but mostly she will be concentrating on guiding for bass in the Bangor area. She will concentrate on bringing new, especially young, people into her sport. She is excited to continue with the very small group and one-on-one classes of Fly Fishing 101. We discussed the possibility of working with youth groups such as scouts. Both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have badges that are based on fishing and/ or streamside ecosystems. These are the areas of Megan’s particular expertise and passion. Fly fishing is a personal connection with the fish and its environment. Once we feel this bond, we understand our part in it. We know we must protect it all.

Megan Hess can be contacted at beadheadfishing.com. bangordailynews.com BANGOR DAILY NEWS / 29

Put Going ‘Up North’ On Your Bucket List STOCK UP FOR YOUR BIG ADVENTURE UP NORTH IN FORT KENT A casual conversation might lead to someone saying, “I’m headed ‘up north’ for the week to disconnect and get away from it all.” Going ‘up north’ is not only a general location in Maine, it’s an actual destination in Fort Kent that has all the gear and essential items you need for your ‘up north’ adventure.

Nestled on Main Street and a stone’s throw from the confluence of the St. John and Fish Rivers, Up North Outdoors is a branch of S.W. Collins Co. and serves as the area’s outdoor and sporting goods outfitter where you can find fishing lures, poles, camping gear, coolers, knives and all things outdoors.

“We have brought in several new items over the past year that appeal to all outdoor recreation enthusiasts in addition to hunting and fishing,” said Ashley Brown, store manager. “We’ve expanded our camping gear options, added Orca coolers to the already popular YETI brand and now you’ll find a grand selection of jerky and other must-have snacks that easily pack in your gear.”

With the growing popularity of craft

30 / MAINE OUTDOORS & ADVENTURE Spring 2022

beer in Maine, Up North Outdoors offers a cooler filled with many popular Maine brews and a few that are exclusive to the area including Mast Landing, Battery Steele and Bissell Brothers. “Our craft beer selection continues to grow and we love talking to our customers about their favorite brands and suggestions for others we could bring in,” said Brown.

Up North Outdoors is also a full-service tagging station utilizing Maine’s new instant data process which provides Inland Fisheries and Wildlife biologists access to real-time information on the deer and moose herd.

There’s always a friendly competition on who tagged the biggest moose or deer on the Big Buck Club board.

The Outdoor store is a Platinum sponsor of the Muskie Derby held annually in August which brings together hundreds of thrill-seekers hoping to catch the big one.

We welcome everyone near and far to stop in to learn more about all the great outdoor op-

COURTESY OF S.W. COLLINS CO.

portunities in the area and stock up for their big adventure ‘up north!’

Up North Outdoors is a division of S.W. Collins Co. which is a fifth-generation Aroostook County lumber and building supply dealer with locations in Lincoln, Houlton, Presque Isle, Caribou and Fort Kent. Their commitment to offering excellent products and legendary service has been the core of the business since 1844.