Natural Features
The woodland area described on this website is the southwestern section of the thousand acre "comonage" granted by the Pejepscot Proprietors in 1719. It is being allowed to return to a natural state. Trails offer a wealth of natural beauty for photographers as well as a place of enjoyment for those who simply want to walk.
Although part of Brunswick was heavily forested in 1719, much of the area had not yet recovered from the devastating forest fire of the late 1600's. McKeen wrote that the first settlers gathered great pieces of Beech heartwood charred by that fire to use as firewood. The sandy plains were the site of frequent fires, both wild and set. They became known for large flights of Passenger Pigeons and for blueberries. The pigeons vanished years ago, but blueberries still grow on the sandy ridge of the Pitch Pine Barren. Once common along coastal plains, pine barrens are now one of the rarest natural communities in the State of Maine. White pine has started seeding into the barrens in an attempt at natural succession. Forty-one species of trees and shrubs have been listen for the Commons.
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