BIDDEFORD — On the coast of Biddeford lays a rare, undeveloped coastal parcel, approximately 100 acres, that is home to nesting eider and bobolinks, deer and foxes and includes sandy beaches, rocky shores, wetlands and forest. It is believed to be one of the last unspoiled coastal parcels under single ownership between Kittery and Cape Elizabeth.

Most have never had the opportunity to traverse this property, which has been in the hands of private property owners, until now. On Wednesday, the 98-acre Timber Point property was conveyed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge.

Timber Point sits in the heart of the Gulf of Maine watershed, where the Little River meets the Atlantic Ocean. This mostly undisturbed habitat is in stark contrast with the oceanfront of houses that stretch in both directions for more than 50 miles along Maine’s southern coast, said Trust for Public Land spokesperson Matthew Shaffer.

“I think one either needs to drive or fly the eastern seaboard to really put this property into perspective,” said Wolfe Tone, state director for the Trust for Public Land. “Timber Point is classically Maine, with rocky oceanfront; a sheltered, sandy cove; and diverse habitat. ”¦ It’s the kind of place people want to experience when they come to Maine, particularly Southern Maine.”

Timber Point, and its accompanying Timber Island, has been on the Rachel Carson’s desired acquisition list for decades. The refuge only purchases property on its list from willing sellers.

In the mid-to-late 2000s, circumstances made it necessary for the Ewing family, which had owned the property for 80 years, to sell. After deliberations during family meetings, said Tone, the family decided to “give conservation a chance.” The family will retain 13 acres, including one of the only two houses on the property.

Purchase of the property was made possible by an initial $3 million award from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The support of Maine’s U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree was instrumental in the receipt of the award, said Tone.

Then a fundraising campaign, by partnering organizations the Trust for Public Land, the Friends of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, the Maine Coast Heritage Trust and the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust, raised the remaining $2.1 million of the $5.1 million purchase price by the deadline of Sept. 30. More than 700 individuals contributed to the campaign and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation contributed $200,000.

Timber Point will now be forever preserved and “will have significance for years,” said Tom Bradbury, executive director of the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust. “Securing its future was very important.”

The property is important to both Biddeford and Kennebunkport, he said. It lies across the Little River from Kennebunkport and is in the viewshed of Goose Rocks Beach. During low tide, visitors to Goose Rocks Beach often walk across the river to Timber Point.

“Timber Point is such a wonderful tract. The Ewing’s excellent stewardship means the rocky shore, fringing salt marshes, white pine stands, mixed deciduous forest, cattail marshes and shrubby wetlands still provide the coastal habitat that are lost in so many places in southern Maine,” said Ward Feurt, Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge manager.

The refuge’s main priority is to manage the property for wildlife habitat. The property’s 2.5 miles of coast is important for shorebirds’ undisturbed feeding and resting areas. Property habitats are home to breeding American woodcock, willow flycatcher, Eastern towhee, chestnut-sided warblers, gray catbirds and bobolink. Breeding scarlet tanagers, northern flicker and Baltimore oriole use the forested areas.

However, low-impact public access will be allowed.

“We look forward to building an interpretative trail on the island this summer, which will allow the public to watch and photograph wildlife and enjoy this great resource,” said Feurt. “The property will be open to deer hunting under state regulations. Future plans include water access for car-top kayak and canoe launching.”

“Wolfe and I were there yesterday,” said Bill Durkin, president of the Friends of Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. “It was so exhilarating just being out there. We saw a snowy white owl take off over the ocean. There are not too many snowy white owls.”

Soon, he said, “The no trespassing signs are coming down, and the Rachel Carson signs are coming up.”

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.