Desert of Maine

The Desert of Maine ( en.: Desert of Maine ) is an inland dunes in the U.S. state of Maine. It is located about four kilometers west of the center of Freeport (Cumberland County) in a pine forest.

History

In 1797 (or 1783) William Tuttle moved with his family to the then nearly 121 hectare farm area. There is first built very successful potatoes, harvested hay and kept cattle. Subsequent generations also had sheep to sell their wool to weaving. However, errors in the crop rotation resulted in interaction with massive deforestation and overgrazing after a few decades to increasing soil erosion, the sand deposits uncovered. It is sand and silt, which are there since the end of the so far last Vergletscherungsphase the Pleistocene Ice Age about 10,000 years ago. At that time, the glaciers of the region sanded larger stones first into gravel and later to even more fine-grained materials, which support up to 25 meters deep. In the course of time extended these few small stains, strong northwest wind shaped dunes and drove the sand and on, until finally began a first irreversible desertification. First, the Tuttles considered still to use the sand for the production of bricks and build a new foothold in this way, but the high mica content prevented the necessary stability of the stones. 1919 therefore saw the family eventually forced to abandon the farm for good.

Henry Goldrup († 1976), the alleged inventor of the bumper sticker, bought the land for $ 300 and converted it to 1925 in a tourist attraction to. Over time, the farm buildings were fanned by the sand. The same fate also befell a 1935 -built pump house, which was completely swallowed up in 1962 and 2006 was below a 2.5 meter thick sand cover. After the death of his wife Elizabeth Goldrups could not even manage the terrain. After it had been two years for sale, bought it in the early summer of 1982, the Californian Ronald Dobson with his family.

The Desert of Maine is now a well-known across the state borders, travel and destination and recorded almost 30,000 visitors annually. In order to preserve them as Naturkuriosität with up to 18 meter high dunes, is trying, among other things with strong Auslichtungen to inhibit overgrowth by one scattering fauna. Nevertheless, the desert has been its disclosure already lost much of their original extent and measures currently only about 16 acres.