Androscoggin Lake 
Leeds, Wayne, Monmouth 
Description 
The western shore and islands of Androscoggin Lake support a diverse assemblage of 
rare animals, rare plants, and exemplary natural communities. The most extensive areas 
are along and around the stream that connects the lake to the Androscoggin River. The 
stream is bordered by an extensive hardwood floodplain forest. This floodplain features 
black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), a tree that is uncommon in Maine. The forest is a mosaic of 
intergrading types: classic mature silver maple forest with a sparse shrub layer and dense 
ferns, mid-successional red maple alluvial 
swamp, a riverbank levee with mature black 
gum, and areas of slightly higher elevation red 
oak floodplain forest. Most of the floodplain 
shows some evidence of cutting, and much of 
the area was grazed in the 1800s. On the 
shore south of the floodplain forest is an area 
of outwash plain pondshore vegetation. This 
very rare community type is mostly confined 
in Maine to York and southern Oxford 
Counties, typically on sandy pondshores 
where the water level is not regulated and 
rises and falls during the season. Because the 
hydrology of Androscoggin Lake is somewhat 
different, with a spillway that somewhat limits 
the lowering of water levels, the pondshore 
community here lacks the classic strong 
zonation of other known examples in Maine; 
however, it does contain many of the 
characteristic species, including two rare 
plants. 
The islands in Androscoggin Lake are also of 
interest. Lothrop Island is well known as an eagle nesting area (since at least the 1960s). 
As declines in Maine eagle population continued in the 1960s and 1970s, it was the last 
site occupied in Androscoggin County and the entire Androscoggin River watershed 
when it too became vacant after 1972. After a 17-year absence in the region, nesting 
eagles reoccupied Lothrop Island in 1990Ñthe first setting to re-attract eagles in 
Androscoggin County and the entire Androscoggin River watershed. It has been 
regularly used by nesting eagles since, and boasts productivity higher than the statewide 
average. Herons and osprey also nest on the island: at one time, there were more than 40 
pairs of great blue herons and up to three osprey nests. Their numbers have diminished 
somewhat since the eaglesÕ return, but the site remains one of the best assemblages of 
these three birds in Maine. Elsewhere on the lake, ospreys and herons have also nested 

on Norris Island, Blodgett Island, Androscoggin Island, and Philbrook Head. The Dead 
River outlet of the lake is a key foraging area for all of these species. 
Lothrop Island is also home to several rare plants: Indian grass, New Jersey Tea, Fall 
Fimbry, and Dwarf Bulrush. Its black sand beaches are of geological interest. 
Androscoggin Island supports an additional population of New Jersey Tea. 
Androscoggin Lake is the only place in the state where the cat-tail sedge, Carex typhina, 
has been collected, but the exact location is not known and the record dates from 1940. 
South of the lake itself is high-quality stream-wetland complex along Bog Brook. This 
large peatland (about 900 acres) has formed in the basin around Bog Brook, which flows 
generally northward though the fen. Parts near the stream have been flooded during 
periods of unknown duration; there are extensive streamside meadow with mixed tall 
sedge fen vegetation. Farther back from the stream, the peatland surface rises slightly 
and the vegetation changes to shrub-heath fen or mixed wooded fen. The peripheral parts 
of the peatland are vegetated mostly by red maple woodland fen, with considerable black 
spruce and northern white cedar mixed in. Peat depths average about 2 m. 
West of the peatland, at the Curtis Homestead Conservation Area, a few small individuals 
of sassafras were recently found. Sassafras is very common, even somewhat weedy, 
south of Maine, but it is very rare in the state. This location is in fact a significant 
northward range extension for this plant, and it will be interesting to see if the plants 
develop into a reproducing population. 
Rare Species and Natural Communities Summary Table 
Common Name Latin Name EO Global State 
Rank Rank Rank 
Outwash Plain Pondshore C S1 
Hardwood Floodplain Forest B S3 
Unpatterned Fen Ecosystem B S4 
Sassafras Sassafras albidum E G5 S2 
New Jersey Tea Ceanothus americanus E G5 S1 
Indian Grass Sorghastrum nutans E G5 S1 
Fall Fimbry Fimbristylis autumnalis E G5 S2 
Dwarf Bulrush Lipocarpha micrantha B G4 S1 
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias C G5 S4B 
Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus G4 S4B 
Other Resources Mapped by MDIFW 
Wading Bird Ð Waterfowl Habitat is mapped all along the floodplain peninsula and on 
the adjacent shores both north and south. 

Protection Status 
The Curtis Homestead is owned by the Kennebec Land Trust, which is also pursuing 
conservation action elsewhere in the Androscoggin Lake area. The vast majority of the 
land, however, is privately owned. 
Conservation Considerations 
Appropriate conservation strategies include tree growth and open space treatments, 
conservation easements and fee ownership. Forgoing additional tree harvests in the 
floodplain forest (including the red oak terrace areas) is an important step to retaining the 
ecological values of this area. 
Monitoring for invasive exotic plants such as barberry and Japanese knotweed (two 
species that have been known to degrade floodplain forests), and for purple loosestrife in 
the open wetlands, would help identify problems as soon as they arise, when control 
might be possible. 
Lands where timber harvest or development continues should include effective buffers 
around all wetlands and shorelines. While different species can have different buffering 
requirements, wider buffers provide better protection for riparian and wetland-dependent 
species. The state minimum shoreland zoning standards specify a minimum 75Õ buffer in 
which very little harvest or clearing is allowed, with less stringent restrictions within 250Õ 
of the wetland border. Better protection will be afforded to the wetlands and ponds if as 
little alteration as possible occurs within 250Õ of the wetland/upland border. Any timber 
harvesting within and adjacent to wetlands or adjacent to ponds should be implemented 
with strict adherence to Shoreland Zoning guidelines and Maine Forest Service Best 
Management Practices.