The Portland Press Herald describes conflict about the Morse River's meandering ways

The Portland Press Herald describes how scientists, officials and residents differ on what to do, if anything, about the Morse River, adjacent to Popham Beach State Park and part of the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area. The river channel naturally changes every 15 years or so and is now rapidly eroding the west side of the sandy beach, toppling hundreds of trees and coming within 75 feet of a new park bathhouse. Some want the Army Corps of Engineers to cut a channel through the offshore sand bars that tend to curve the river back to the beach. The park’s abutters, including Bates-Morse Mountain,  want nature to take its course. Altering the channel would violate the area’s very purpose as the research site used by Bates students and faculty, among many others. ”It could not serve as a laboratory that teaches us about natural processes,” says director Laura Sewall. View story from the Press Herald, Feb. 27, 2010.