All About BPWS

Blandings Park Wildlife Sanctuary Blandings Way
Biddeford ME 04005

ALL ABOUT BPWS ... Blandings Park Wildlife Sanctuary is open every day from dawn to dusk. There are trail maps at the entrance to Terrapin Trail or you can print one by clicking below. You can find our entrance at the end of Blandings Way which is off of Pool Street about 1 mile from downtown Biddeford. Our rules are simple: respect all life, keep to the trails, and bring out only what you brought into the Sanctuary. For your safety, it is always good to wear orange when in the woods where there are inherent dangers. Please respect all adjoining landowners whose property may not be part of BPWS.

CLICK HERE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PRINT OUT YOUR OWN TRAIL MAP

Please check frequently on our NEWS and EVENTS page for current programs and happenings, and please join us in our efforts by checking out our HOW YOU CAN HELP page. Without folks like you, the dream of Blandings Park Wildlife Sanctuary would not be possible.

Blandings Park Wildlife Sanctuary was founded in 2006 as a public charity 501 (c) 3 grass roots land trust. Our goal is to preseve and protect as many acres as possible in our defined focus area. Our mission is to guide the public to the benefits of conservation, education, recreation, and research for the benefit of all.

The Sanctuary now has over 200+ acres of valuable wildlife habitat forever preserved. All made possible by generous donations from folks like you.

We have been so fortunate with the positive response we have had from the general public. We could not have accomplished so much so quickly without the cooperation of local developers and landowners in our focus area. Thanks also goes to the many efforts of our valuable group of volunteers.

Limited Conservation Development is a useful tool adopted by many land trusts throughout the US as a great way of gaining cooperation among landowners, developers, conservation enthusiasts, and governmental officials. The portion of land least environmentally sensitive is approved for development while the most enviromentally valuable portion is donated to a land trust and forever preserved. Blandings Park Wildlife Sanctuary has made good use of this tool. Four out of our first six donated parcels of forever preserved land have come from the generosity of builders and developers in the BPWS focus area.

Pictured here beginning at left front and circling back are Founders, Peggy Ann and Dave Ayers along with Board and Committee Members, Maripat and Paul Brady, Kim Rich and Joe Habraken, and Mary Ellen Charles.

During 2010 we were able to join many trails in our focus area, beginning with Terrapin Trail (see map on left). Where trails cross land not already preserved by BPWS, we have "Permission to Use" agreements in place with the rightful landowners.

Please check on our "NEWS and EVENTS" page for more details and information on scheduled events planned in Blandings Park.

Volunteers on a walk in the Sanctuary to design future trails:

PLEASE CONSIDER BECOMING A PART OF OUR DREAM ... you can learn more about the many ways in which you can help on the next page, HOW YOU CAN HELP, or by dropping us an email at bpws@maine.rr.com.

We need YOU. Without YOU none of this would be possible. Together, we can make it happen!

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WELCOME HOW YOU CAN HELP
NEWS and EVENTS CONTACT BPWS

The focus area for Blanding Park Wildlife Sanctuary is bounded by Pool Street, Guinea Road, West Street and Granite Street in Biddeford, Maine. The interior land contains over 1,000 vacant acres while the exterior frontage on all streets is well developed and home to many of the citizens of Biddeford.

The State of Maine through the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Beginning With Habitat, defined our focus area as one rich in various species of plant and wildlife that are endangered, threatened, or species of special concern.

In July 2007, after many hours of research by our co-founders with the help of two local attorneys (Don Furman and Rick Hull) who generously donated their time, BPWS acquired 30+ acres known as the Ayers-Gookin parcel. The Lamb family donated 35 acres at the same time after a successful subdivision off of Ledgemere Drive. In November 2007 a fundraiser made possible the purchase of a valuable 10 acre parcel from the Davis family. By March 2008, we added our third parcel of 55 acres off of West Street with a generous donation after subdivision from the Reuillard family. In March 2009 the Sanctuary received an additional 31+ acres from Southern Coast Development (owned by Dave and Peggy Ayers, co-founders of BPWS) after they received approval for Biddeford's first limited conservation development. The new street, Blandings Way, will serve as the public entrance to Blandings Park as well as Terrapin Green, an energy smart active adult community (www.TerrapinGreen.com). In December we received a small donation of land from the Lavigne family with frontage on Pool Street. During 2011, the City of Biddeford granted BPWS three small parcels of land by quit claim deeds totaling 25+ acres. A donation of 10+ acres from the Sevigny Family Trust and a smal parcel with frontage on Pool Street from the Bouthillette family brings our total forever preserved acreage to 200+.

Below is our current map showing over 5 miles of our color coded trails:

Our Grand Opening of the public entrance to Blandings Park Wildlife Sanctuary from the newly created Blandings Way off of Pool Street (Route 9) in Biddeford was held on February 15, 2010.

Members of the Land Stewards Committee hard at work designing our first Terrapin Trail for your exercise and enjoyment.