Pocket Swamp Preserve

Preserve

Public Access

December 31, 2015

Home of the ancient Blackgums!

The Pocket Swamp Preserve consists of 48 acres of forested upland and forested wetlands in East Fryeburg, Maine on the northerly side of Route 302. This Preserve is adjacent to several other pieces of conserved land in the area, and, on its western edge, abuts The Nature Conservancy’s 600-acre Mt. Tom Preserve.

Probably once used as farmland, the property is now split into two main forest types: approximately five acres of softwoods and 13 acres of hardwoods. The natural community of the latter is considered a Hemlock-Hardwood Pocket Swamp (State Rank S2), in part because of the presence of native Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica) trees, which are an indicator of this community type. According to a diameter-at-breast-height-to-age correlation, some Blackgum trees on the property may be more than 300 years old! USVLT’s Conservation Management Plan for this preserve makes careful note of the importance of both these special trees and the wildlife community as a whole.

Eighteen acres were originally acquired on December 31, 2015 to create the Deacon Chadbourne Preserve. This title originated from a previous landowner, Joseph Chadbourne, a deacon and who sold the property in 1909. In February 2023, the land trust purchased 30 additional acres. With this addition, a new name was desired to reflect the unique protected habitat. This land is now known as Pocket Swamp Preserve.

State(s): ME
Town(s): fryeburg
Acres: 48
Town Tax Map: 12, Lot: 7
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