Flora & Fauna
The wilderness landscapes within the EPI ownership are home to a rich variety of flora and fauna. A 2004-2008 inventory of the East Branch Sanctuary recorded 308 plant species, 75 bird species, 18 mammal species, and over 25 natural communities.
Three rare plant species (purple clematis, fragrant woodfern and northern firmoss) and many uncommon plant species were observed, as well as three natural communities/ecosystems considered imperiled in Maine (spruce heath barren, blueberry lichen barren, and hardwood river terrace forest) and six rare communities (maple basswood ash forest, red pine woodland, three-toothed cinquefoil blueberry low summit bald, silver maple floodplain forest, hardwood seepage forest, and bluejoint meadow). The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has classified some 4,000 acres of this sanctuary as "critical for biodiversity conservation," as the ecosystems are likely to harbor rare or uncommon plants and animals.
Some 13,000 acres of successional spruce-fir forest in the sanctuaries is now classified habitat for Canada lynx, listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for snowshoe hare, the primary food for lynx. Black bear, beaver, muskrat, moose, and grouse are common to the inland sanctuaries, which are also wintering habitat for white-tailed deer, the population of which has been impacted in recent years by severe winters, coyotes, and changing forests. Among the smaller mammals are the red squirrel and its primary predator the pine marten, raccoon, red fox, and bobcat.
Of the more than 25 species of reptiles and amphibians known to occur in Maine, 23 are found on EPI lands, several of which are listed as either endangered (box turtle), threatened (spotted turtle) or of special concern (wood turtle, blue-spotted salamander, northern spring salamander, northern leopard frog, eastern-northern ribbon snake, and northern brown snake).
The East Branch of the Penobscot River supports fisheries for native brook trout and landlocked salmon, and the East Branch and Big Benson-Sebec sanctuaries contain many trout ponds. Big Benson, a 320-acre pond with a depth of 83 feet, is home to togue (lake trout) and brook trout, among other fish.
Birds are in abundance in Bass Harbor Marsh, part of the Coastal Sanctuary on Mount Desert. Surrounded by maturing red spruce forests, the marsh is home to many species, including warblers, white-winged crossbills, the red-breasted nuthatch, and the hermit thrush. The saltwater of the marsh is habitat and breeding grounds to many species of ducks, the common loon, and the red-breasted merganser. Raptors, such as the bald eagle and osprey, hunt on the waters of the marsh.
For more information on plants and animals in the specific sanctuaries, see sanctuaries.