A new tool will soon be available to help residents of four towns take care of their properties in ways that protect the local environment. This tool, a stewardship guide for coastal communities booklet, is a collaboration between the conservation commissions of Arrowsic, Georgetown, Phippsburg and Westport Island and the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust. This guide will highlight how actions in yards, gardens and homes can impact local resources and will detail ways to protect drinking water, coastal waters, habitat, and unique places. The booklets will have pages and resources specific to each town. Each household in the four towns will receive a copy of the booklet early this summer and each commission will make it available on their town’s website.

Pictures are needed to help these booklets feature special places in each of the four towns. If you have high-resolution images that you are willing to have included, please contact Ruth Indrick at 442-8400 or rindrick@kennebecestuary.org.

“This booklet will give the residents of our coastal communities the information they need to keep nutrients and polluted runoff from reaching our waters,” said Indrick, KELT water quality project coordinator. She has been working with several of the communities to improve water quality and restore clam flats. “Keeping the coastal ecosystems healthy is important for clammers, lobstermen, and all of those who live, work, and play in this amazing area,"she said.

Paul Schlein, editor of the new guide, expressed thanks to the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund for funding to design and print the booklets.

To find out more, contact one of the conservation commissions or Indrick.