The Woods Hole Research Center, with support from the Wells Reserve, has just put up a series of web pages focused on the loss of open space in southern Maine. Their intent is to slow the pace of development and sprawl that has been rapid in our region over recent decades. The site includes sections on farms and forests, housing density, and impervious surfaces. By showing maps and graphs of both past and projected change, the real and potential landscape changes become easier to grasp.

Here is one look at our region, demonstrating the shift from a rural character in 1950 to a more densely developed landscape in 2000: