TREMONT — As sea levels creep upward, storms increasingly wash out roads and bridges, and summer temperatures rise, select towns along the Maine coast are preparing for a watery, hotter future. The buzzword for climate change preparation is “resilience,” and Tremont is on board.
“Sustainability is crucial, especially for our community, as the livelihood of so many in our small community of fishermen and lobstermen depend on the health and well-being of our ocean and the Gulf of Maine,” said Sarah White, a resident with hands-on environmental experience as a national park ranger, forest ranger and educator. “They are on the frontlines, and so I wish to support them in any way I can.”
White said this to researchers from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), who in August worked with the town on a climate vulnerability assessment funded, in part, by A Climate To Thrive. Tremont is the first of neighboring island towns to do this kind of assessment, prompted by a climate resolution the community adopted in 2021.
The resolution declared Tremont one of the state’s most climate-vulnerable towns, and a state Community Action Grant followed in 2022. Tremont and A Climate To Thrive reached out to GMRI for help assessing the town’s most climate-vulnerable areas and ways to address them.
“The vulnerability assessment for Tremont is part of a larger resilience plan that A Climate To Thrive is leading,” said Gayle Bowness, municipal Climate Action Program manager for GMRI. “We’ve had conversations with other towns on Mount Desert Island about vulnerability assessments.”
These assessments support communities as they picture their future under different climate scenarios, Bowness added.
“Climate vulnerability assessments collect data to help communities understand what’s at risk under various climate stressors such as sea level rise and extreme heat. It’s an important first step communities can take to build resilience to climate change,” she said.
Some coastal towns in Hancock County are doing just that. Stonington completed a coastal flooding study in 2020, prepared by environmental consultants GEI, and is addressing options for roads, pump stations and docks at risk from rising sea levels. On the Blue Hill peninsula, GMRI partnered with GEI to create a regional vulnerability assessment for Blue Hill, Brooksville and Surry.
Tremont is now waiting for the complete assessment report, Kevin Buck, a Select Board member, and Town Manager Jesse Dunbar said.
“I expect it will affect the town’s plans and may prioritize specific actions,” Buck said.
With a new comprehensive plan underway that includes climate change resilience as a high-priority item and a long-term goal, the assessment and the data within can help with priorities and plans. But first the town needs to see the report.
“The full report won’t be publicly available until late this year or early next, with the goal to have it passed by the Select Board in May 2024,” Bowness said, adding that the vulnerability assessment portion could be released sooner.
This was the town’s first partnership with GMRI. A second one may be coming soon. The Select Board voted in July that it would be participate in the Institute’s research project focusing on working waterfronts.
