Welcome

• The Pledge of the MITA Member
• Overview of the Trail

From the Executive Director - Summer 2010

Dear Member and Friend of MITA,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Online Guide to the Maine Island Trail.  The effort to create an online version of MITA’s traditional paper guidebook is an important milestone for the organization that would not have been possible without the financial support of the Maine Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks and Lands (which celebrates its 75th year in 2010), the Horizon Foundation, three anonymous donors, and YOU – our members.  

The Online Guide to the Maine Island Trail is your personal reference to the islands and mainland sites on the Maine Island Trail.  It is one of many benefits to Maine Island Trail Association (MITA) members.  The island owners have agreed to share these special properties with people who pledge, by joining MITA, to follow low-impact practices and support the well-being of these delicate places.

If you are not a current member, please explore the 10 public islands listed on the site for all users.   These islands are owned by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.  If you like what you see, please join MITA for online and in-person access to the 180+ other islands and mainland sites.   By becoming a member, you support responsible recreation on Maine’s wild islands and the caretaking and stewardship activities that makes it all possible. 

The online Guide has several obvious advantages over its paper counterpart.  Its contents can be updated in real-time, it can be searched instantaneously, it includes more content than a paper guide allows -- including current weather and tide information. 

We plan to host user-generated content in the next phase of development – so start writing island stories and taking photos now!  Also, consider a donation to MITA to support this process.

The online Guide was developed by Database Designs of Boston, MA with extraordinary support from MITA’s own Eliza Ginn and others on staff.  We also had help from our technical advisory committee and board. We welcome your feedback as we look to future phases.  

Meanwhile, enjoy the Guide, visit the islands, use your member discounts, become a Fan on Facebook, and consider volunteering in our stewardship activities this year. 

However you use your membership, we hope you enjoy a fabulous, safe boating season.  

Sincerely,

Doug Welch

On your first visit to the Online Guide as a MITA member…

Usernames & Passwords: Please change them to something you will remember using the "My Account" page.  MITA survives on the membership fees of people like you and our island owners entrust us to limit access to their properties to people who understand and practice low-impact visitation.  Please do not share your username/password with anyone!

Guide Home: On the left is a chart with blue outlines around each section of the trail.  Click on a blue section to navigate to it.  On the right is a table summarizing the entire Trail.  The blue flag indicates that the site has been updated since you last visited, the NAME of each island is clickable and will take you directly to that site.  The TYPE indicates if that place is a Region, Island, Mainland site, Pump Out Facility (icon), or Launch Ramp (icon).  The REGION indicates where a site is, the USE shows if a site is a regular camping site or a group site (with the number allowed at each group site in parentheses).  The rest of the icons shore more information about each of the islands, including trails, NO dogs, anchorages, privies and NO fires.

The search feature will return all references on the site to a given keyword. 

NOTE: The mapping and NOAA chart layering technology is cutting edge, and subject to the limitations of the original NOAA charts.  As such, you might see some odd chart views as the charts stitch together to provide a region or island view.  We are working on improvements with our vendor, but in the meantime, bear with us!  And of course the online tool - like the paper guidebook - is not designed for navigational use. It is intended to be a valuable information supplement to your navigational aids.   

Region Pages: Each region has an overview page with information specific to that bay or region.  Read about that region's history and use this page to identify where each island is in relation to other nearby islands and mainland features. The chart view can zoom in and out, and can toggle to and from a full screen view.  Note that the cursor’s decimal-based longitude and latitude coordinates are tracked at the lower right corner of all charts.

Each region page is also a menu specific to that area, with links to Current Conditions (which has tide chart and a link to the NOAA weather station closest) and IMPORTANT Safety Information specific to that region.

Trail Pages:  The guide home, charts, region, or search results pages will take you to specific sites on the Maine Island Trail.  You will see an interactive NOAA chart on the left and location and ownership information on the right.  A section titled Considerations lists important details specific to each site specified by the owner as a condition of the site being part of the Maine Island Trail.   

Planning Materials: The menu at the top of the page next to "My Account" has several links to help you in your planning. Stewardship describes the responsibility of every member and opportunities for people interested in becoming part of MITA’s volunteer corps.  This ensures that Trail islands remain pristine and accessible.  Traveling the Trail provides safety and access details that are critical for safe and appropriate use of the Trail.  Emergencies provides Regional Coast Guard and Hospital information.