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Aroostook
National Wildlife Refuge
97 Refuge Road
Limestone, ME   04750
E-mail:
Phone Number: 207-328-4634
Visit the Refuge's Web Site:
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  Overview
Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge
Aroostook NWR is located on part of the former Loring Air Force Base, in Limestone, Maine. It was established in 1998, when 4,700 acres were transferred from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge also administers some 2,400 acres of wetland conservation easements throughout Aroostook County. In a portion of Maine where the landscape is dominated by agricultural crops such as potatoes and broccoli, Aroostook NWR protects valuable wildlife habitat. The variety of habitat types attracts a diversity of wildlife species.

Visit the Friends of Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge Web site.


Getting There . . .
Heading north on I-95 from Bangor, ME take exit 62 Houlton, ME. Turn left on Route 1 north. In Caribou, take Route 89 West toward Limestone. Turn left onto Loring Commerce Road and proceed for approximately two miles. Ahead will be a set of railroad tracks; cross the tracks, and bear right at the fork. The refuge office and Visitor Contact Station is on the right.

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Wildlife and Habitat
The refuge includes valuable wetland and forested habitat for declining populations of the American woodcock, several important species of waterfowl including the American Black Duck, many species of Neotropical Migratory Birds, and resident wildlife.

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History
Aroostook NWR is located on part of the former Loring Air Force Base, in Limestone, Maine. It was established in 1998, when 4,700 acres were transferred from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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    Recreation and Education Opportunities
Environmental Education
Interpretation
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Wildlife Observation
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Managment Activities

The primary emphasis of the refuge is forest and grassland management. Currently, the refuge has an aggressive habitat restoration program demolishing buildings, removing railroad track and fencing, as well as other remnants of the former base infrastructure. The refuge is also actively restoring several wetland types, including a 2.1 mile stream restoration project with the U.S. Air Force.

The refuge conducts several baseline inventories for nesting neotropical, breeding and grassland nesting birds, frogs and toads, vernal pools, and dragonflies and damselflies. These surveys will guide the refuge in management and public use decisions. Prescribed burn is used as a tool to maintain habitat, as well as to reduce the buildup of fuels and the risk of wildfire. The refuge uses prescribed fire to maintain approximately 400 acres of grassland.