Welcome to the Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary

The Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary is a non-profit organization that protects land and water, conducts environmental research, and provides education programs in our local watershed and beyond.

Located in the historic Maine coastal village of Somesville, on Mt. Desert Island, the Sanctuary protects and conserves over 250 acres of forested and wetland areas surrounding Somes Pond, and provides public access to these areas via well-maintained trails.  We provide a variety of year-round natural history and conservation programs for local citizens, visitors, and schools. The Sanctuary’s headquarters building overlooks Somes Pond from the south shore and offers a great setting for education programs, workshops, and trainings. It is a popular meeting space for other organizations including our local school district and Acadia National Park.

We study all of the common loons who nest on all the lakes of Mt. Desert Island, maintain fish passageways between Somes Harbor and Somes Pond and Long Pond, monitor the annual alewife (river herring) migration, sample and protect lake water quality, staff a Courtesy Boat Inspection station at Long Pond to help educate boaters about checking their equipment to minimize the likelihood of introducing aquatic invasive species, and many other projects.