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Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve improves web presence

It's more logical, easier to navigate, better organized and more informative. It's the new Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve (WNERR) website, just launched this spring.

"It's brand-new. It has more links and it reflects the diversity of our programs and the information we provide," said Paul Dest, executive director of WNERR. "It's information-rich."

This sign is one of the new interpretive signs recently installed at the Wells Estuarine Reserve and Research Center. The grassland beyond was managed by a controlled burn not long before this image was taken.

Funded in part by a grant from the Maine Coastal Program, the website will enable viewers to see what's new at WNERR. A recent MCP grant helped WNERR recently to monitor pollution and coordinate a volunteer beach profiling at Laudholm Beach as part of the Healthy Beaches Program. Another grant assisted WNERR to publish information about coastal resources, including a new brochure, trail maps and a Coastal Fish Guide.

MCP also collaborated with WNERR on regional land conservation in towns connected with the Piscataqua Region Estuary Partnership, and to develop monitoring protocols for the Drakes Island Marsh as part of the Gulf of Maine Restoration grant program.

One of the new projects featured on the website is a connecting branch off the existing Yankee Woodlot Trail that traverses interesting habitat and leads to a 200-year-old farmhouse foundation.

In collaboration with the Rachel Carlson National Wildlife Refuge, WNERR has also erected some new interpretive signs explaining watersheds, natural succession and the importance of riparian areas to water quality.

"For the 2011 'walking' season, we hope to have five or six more new ones completed," said Dest. The new website can be found at:
http://www.wellsreserve.org

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