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Mahoosucs Unit

Grafton Twp, Riley Twp

Vital Statistics

• Size: 9,993 acres
• Regulated: 733 acres
• Non-Regulated: 9,241 acres
• Upland: 9,980 acres
• Forested Wetland (NWI): 0 acres
• Non-Forested Wetland: 2 acres
• Open Water: 11 acres
• Roads: trails-20 miles
• Biophysical Mahoosucs/Rangeley Lakes
• BPL Region: West

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Exemplary Natural Communities

Click on any column header to sort the table by that feature.

Also see the Natural Community Fact Sheet page.

Scientific Name	Common Name	State Rank	Global Rank
Beech - Birch - Maple Forest	Northern Hardwoods Forest	S4	G3G5
Labrador Tea Talus Dwarf - Shrubland	Cold Air Talus Slope	S2	G3G5
Spruce - Northern Hardwoods Forest	Spruce - Northern Hardwoods Forest	S4	GNR
Red Spruce - Mixed Conifer Woodland	Spruce - Pine Woodland	S4	G3G5
Fir - Heart-leaved Birch Subalpine Forest	Subalpine Fir Forest	S3	GNR

 

Rare Plants

Click on any column header to sort the table by that feature.

See the Rare Plant Fact Sheet list for more information about individual species.

Scientific Name	Common Name	State Rank	Global Rank	State Status
Vaccinium boreale	Alpine Blueberry	S2	G4	SC
Hierochloe alpina	Alpine Sweet-grass	S1	G5	T
Minuartia groenlandica	Mountain Sandwort	S3	G5	SC

 

Rare Animals

There are no documented occurrences of rare animals within this Ecoreserve.

For more information on rare animals in Maine, visit the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Description

Extending from 1120 feet to 3980 feet in elevation, the Mahoosuc ecological reserve is second to only Bigelow in elevational gradient, and it is one of the three largest state reserves. Most of the reserve (8,458 acres) has been classified as sub-alpine forest, and 259 acres have been classified as alpine ridge -- the most alpine habitat of any of the thirteen ecological reserves. This alpine ridge, traversed by the Appalachian Trail, supports numerous populations of rare plants. Mahoosuc Notch, a notoriously difficult section of the Appalachian Trail, passes through a jumble of boulders known as a rare Cold Air Talus Slope community, where cold air drainage results in ice chunks remaining through the summer months.

Less than 10% of the reserve was classified as regulated timberland, primarily the hardwood and mixed wood stands on the lower slopes. Most of these stands have been selectively harvested in the past, but some areas, including a beech-birch-maple forest in Mahoosuc Notch, show no evidence of cutting. At intermediate elevations, some transitional conifer-dominated stands also show no signs of past harvesting, with trees over 245 years old.

The reserve also includes the 10-acre, 37 foot deep Speck Pond, a sub-alpine tarn. Only two acres within the reserve is wetland.

Resources

• Mahoosuc Management Unit-Management Plan. 1998. Department of Conservation Bureau of Public Lands, Augusta, Maine. 58 pp.

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