Early this year, Joel Fitzpatrick of Wyley Enterprises purchased 24 acres in Brunswick, adjacent to Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust’s Crystal Springs Farm trails, Thornton Oaks retirement community and Arrowhead Drive. In early June, he hired a company to start logging parts of the land to make way for a potential development project slated for 2025. 

While the project is being done legally and up to code, according to town officials, it has raised concerns among some neighbors about habitat fragmentation and increased potential for flooding.

“The developer saw an opportunity and went for it,” said Brunswick resident Andrew Villeneuve. “There was a gap in language [in statute] that allowed him to curtail environmental review. As unfortunate as it is, he owns the land, and it’s in our best interest to work with him to mitigate further damages.” 

The Maine Forest Service requires a Forest Operations Notification before cutting trees for products going to a mill but does not regulate development, which falls under the Maine Department of Environmental Protection jurisdiction and municipal rules.

The DEP will get involved once a proposal is submitted, but until then, residents claim there is a loophole. 

Villeneuve pointed to the mitigation hierarchy, a set of guidelines used in development projects to limit the negative impacts on biodiversity. The principle emphasizes three steps: avoid, minimize and offset. 

With the logging project set for completion on June 30, residents are focused on monitoring development regulations to ensure wildlife buffers and water management plans are in place. They are also planning to call for possible “environmental reparations,” stressing the responsibility of both the developer and the community. 

Wildlife

Nicolette Williams, who lives near the site, chose to homeschool her five kids so they could learn from nature. Her curriculum includes documenting local wildlife and plants, such as lady slippers and orchids. 

“You can find us out back no matter the weather,” Williams said. “Observation is key for development. In the winter, we’ll cross-country ski on BTLT trails to identify local animal tracks. Once the kids found rabbit and fox prints in the snow, they put a whole storyline together, imagining that a chase occurred.” 

It’s not just foxes and rabbits — neighbors have concerns for other creatures that call the forest home: deer, coyotes, raccoons, possums, skunks, woodchucks and porcupines, not to mention an array of birds. 

Lois Gerke, a Freeport resident, has been cleaning the Williams’ home for years. She took up birding after moving from Manhattan to Maine and has spotted various species while walking through Crystal Springs Farm.

“When you have an experience with a bird, like the wood thrush, it stirs your soul,” Gerke said. “It doesn’t take ration or anger to get people to care about the environment; it takes connection. You want to take care of nature once you fall in love with it.” 

Gerke said she has documented song sparrows, thrushes, black-capped chickadees, barred owls, crows, eagles, red tail and cooper hawks, and newly endangered tri-colored bats. 

“People bond to a space and all that it holds,” Gerke said. “Most birds in this area are common species like the American goldfinch and northern cardinal, but they are part of our marvelous normal. If we remove their habitat, they will leave.” 

Some residents say they have already seen signs of habitat displacement. Lenny Shevenall found a woodchuck burrowing under his deck for the first time in decades, and Alisa Hughes-Stricklett found grey tree frogs in her cat’s water bowl. 

According to resident Laura Hatmaker, the property has vernal pools near the retention pond with frogs, peepers, spotted salamanders and amphibian egg cases. She said she hopes to see proper buffering during development to protect the breeding site. 

Villeneuve said if BTLT set out acoustic recorders and confirmed the presence of tri-colored bats, an additional buffer could be enforced to protect the endangered species. 

Vernal pools

Vernal pools are natural bodies of water that form in dips in the land. The pools, often associated with forest wetlands, provide breeding habitats for amphibians and other wildlife.

Fitzpatrick said he hired a third party to map vernal pools and wetlands this spring. Contrary to local observations, he said the party found neither rare species nor abundant wildlife. He declined to release the reports to The Times Record in advance of submitting them for state or local approval and permitting. 

David Madore, DEP deputy commissioner, said his department had no documentation pertaining to mapping vernal pools in this area, as no permit application had yet been filed.

Apart from concerns regarding the lack of protection for vernal pools, Hatmaker raised concerns about the impact of removing the riparian (riverbank) buffer along Mere Brook stream.

“A vital strip of land has been removed,” Hatmaker said. “Riparian areas are important wildlife corridors; animals move along waterways. Shrinking that buffer and adding development instead forces creatures to different, more dangerous routes.” 

Water table

Since moving to the neighborhood in 2019, Williams said her family have been dealing with flooding problems.

Arrowhead Drive sits on a slope, and residents at the bottom have described their lawns as swampy and saturated. Some have spent thousands on mitigation efforts, such as sump pumps and French drains, and one even installed a bridge to cross from one side of their yard to the other.

“Financially, I’m worried,” Hughes-Stricklett said. “Until now, we’ve been putting on waders and unclogging the retention pond ourselves. But now, without these trees, nothing will stop the debris from piling up.”

According to Dave Brooks, a hydrologist, the water table lies within 2 feet of the topsoil. He said that without the wetland holding water and acting as a “sponge,” the watershed could flood more frequently. 

“It’s not just local cash washed away, but municipal funds, too,” Villeneuve said. “After this operation, the sediment deposit downstream will likely crush headwater vegetation the town worked hard to maintain.”

‘We can have both’

In the short term, residents hope to see environmental reparations — such as rewilding — as part of the development plan and a commitment to obey natural resource buffers. They claim larger culverts and retaining walls could also help offset the flooding expected downstream.  

“We can have both nature and housing,” Hatmaker said. “Returning to former conditions will take time, but with plantings and thoughtful use of existing access to BTLT trails, Fitzgerald can provide a nice resource for future residents.” 

Villeneuve agreed, adding that although it’s hard to find solutions everyone agrees on, it’s essential because the need for housing will continue to exist.

“By looking at spaces already developed, like abandoned parking lots, we can site development in more appropriate places in the future,” Villeneuve said. “We aren’t advocating for no development but rather a more centralized plan of development. Over the past century, 90% of all New England forests have been logged, and we’re finally seeing them return. Regeneration takes decades, but it is possible.” 

Fitzgerald declined further comment for this story.  

Kristian Moravec contributed to this report. 

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