Crowley Island Project Area

- High Value Feeding and Roosting Shorebird Habitat
- High Value Tidal Waterfowl and Wading Bird Habitat



The "Brontosaurus" at work and views of the roosting field before, during and after cutting.
In addition to the benefits for wildlife, the Crowley Island flats are important to the local economy. There are productive clam-flats bordering the eastern shore of the island and beds of eel grass that, along with other plants, forms the base of food production in the sea. Eel grass provides shelter for juvenile fish, and invertebrates and is a site for primary settlement of the larvae of some bivalve mollusks and other invertebrates.

Becoming concerned about the negative impact of potential residential development along the eastern shore, in 2003 PRWF acquired two large contiguous parcels, protecting three miles of shoreline, 300 acres of upland and more than 150 acres of intertidal wetlands. Downeast Coastal Conservancy holds a conservation easement on another 58-acre parcel on the southwest tip of Crowley Island.
For walkers or cross-country skiers, a rough and unmaintained woods road offers access to the interior of the island. Deer and upland bird hunters also reach the island’s isolated woodlands along this route. The public boat launch on the Addison Basin Road offers direct access to the protected waters surrounding the island for kayaks, canoes and outboards.

There are many walking trails on Crowley Island.

A salt marsh on Crowley's eastern shore.
PO Box 154 • Addison • Maine • 04606 • [email protected]