Stories of Impact:
Tremont Harbor Master's Office

During the 2024 winter storms, Tremont’s town wharf was underwater and in peril of being lifted from its pilings. The dock is the site of the Harbor Master’s office, a critical piece of town infrastructure where Harbor Master Tyler Damon carries out his daily responsibilities, transacts with boaters, and ensures the safety of the town waterfront operations. Damon was in his office during the January 10th storm and witnessed firsthand to the vulnerabilities of the public wharf. He partnered with town manager Jesse Dunbar to prioritize the relocation of the office and take action.

Island Institute supported the town of Tremont in their climate change planning process, notably through a Fellow who worked with the town through Mount Desert Island’s Climate to Thrive organization. This work culminated with the passing of the town’s Community Resilience Plan, which maintains the town wharf infrastructure as critical to the community and at risk of more damage in future storms.

Jesse and Tyler approached the Town of Tremont with a request to allocate town funding for the construction of a new Harbor Master’s office—one that would be located outside of the flood zone but still on the premises. Realizing the urgency, and already bought into adaptation strategies, the town quickly voted in favor of the expenditure. Island Institute supplemented the funding with a grant.

Now that Harbor Master responsibilities can be carried out in the new location, the fishing fleet and others who use the public facilities are more sheltered from disrupted operations. The town can now ensure more safety and stability in the face of future storm surge events.