CREA’s Ecology Center is located at the 230-acre Cathance River Nature Preserve in Topsham. Learn more about CREA’s beginnings and its relationship to the Preserve here.
The Cathance River Nature Preserve and trails are open to the public every day from dawn to dusk.
The CREA Ecology Center hosts open house hours every Sunday from 12-2 PM except during heavy rains. We have lots to browse through and some child-friendly activities to do on-site or take with you. Come visit!
We have an impressive 
array of native Maine mammals and birds on display and a nice collection of Maine minerals. The answers to many of your natural history questions can be answered within our extensive library and we have wonderful children’s books featuring nature themes.
During your visit, feel free to check out the features that make the Ecology Center so sustainable – solar panels and batteries, solar heater, wood pellet stove, and more! Our volunteers are available to guide you through our off-grid facility, provide trail maps and suggested hikes on the Preserve, and answer questions.
In the winter months, snowshoes are available to loan during the Sunday open house hours to explore the Preserve trails. Youth and Adult sizes are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The Preserve is on privately-owned land that is protected by a conservation easement. Please respect the landowner’s prohibition on pets, hunting, camping, fires, biking, and motorized vehicles at the Preserve.
Please “leave no trace” of your visit; stay on marked trails; pick up any trash; pack out everything you bring; return any logs or rocks to their original location. Please do not remove items from the preserve. Thank you and enjoy your visit!
Ecology Center Beginnings
Construction began on the Cathance River Ecology Center in September 2005. Groundbreaking was celebrated with a dedication to CREA co-founders John Rensenbrink and John Wasileski.
We are forever grateful to the following donors who made this project a reality:
- John Wasileski (Developer of Highland Green) who donated the frame of an antique 24′ x 36′ post and beam barn;
- Harry C. Crooker and Sons Inc. of Topsham (site work);
- Day’s Concrete of Monmouth (foundation); and
- Hancock Lumber (building materials).
We are equally grateful to the following organizations that made construction of the Ecology Center possible with significant gifts:
- State Farm Insurance
- The Alfred M. Senter Fund
- Davis Conservation Fund
- Merrymeeting Bay Trust
- Highland Green
Ecology Center’s Sustainability Features
Learn about the ecology center’s “green” features, its story, and current use in the following video.
Learn more about the Ecology Center’s green features here. Green features include:
- Built around a re-purposed post and beam barn
- Eight solar panels producing 1.4 kilowatts, with 16 batteries for storage
- Exterior solar thermal sheet for warming the interior
- Chairs made of 100% recycled plastic and metal
- Entrance ramp made of TREX wood (recycled plastic and wood)
- Walls of American non-toxic clay plaster
- LEED-certified cotton batt insulation (85% old blue jeans)
- Wind turbine
- Weather station to gauge solar radiation
- LED lighting
- Forest Sustainability Council (FSC)-certified wood
- Biomass wood pellet stove (low emission)
- Marvin Energy Star-certified windows
- Low VOC sealants
- Benches and conference table made from reclaimed/repurposed lumber