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Shenandoah National Park Ground Water
Two significant publications (DeKay 1972, Plummer et al 2001), fully cited below, provide both general descriptions of groundwater conditions throughout the park as well as specific conditions in the Big Meadows area. Groundwater withdrawal and condition are of particular interest because of relationships between high elevation ridge tops that tend to receive more moisture but that do not accumulate the water, presence of visitor use facilities along the crest of the ridge with associated high demand for potable water and withdrawal problems, and potential exposure to pollutants.
Maine ocean islands provide the only nesting sites for Atlantic puffins in the United States. Eastern Egg Rock in the midcoast region, Seal Island and Matinicus Rock at the mouth of Penobscot Bay, and Machias Seal Island and Petit Manan Island off the downeast coast provide habitat for more than 4,000 puffins each summer.