Professional forestry mulching services in Cumberland, Maine

Serving Cumberland, Maine

Forestry Mulching in Cumberland, Maine

Lot, trail and brush clearing from Cumberland Foreside to Cumberland Center and West Cumberland, planned around the town's shoreland rules.

Veteran Owned

Erosion-Control Focused

Fully Insured

Clearing Land in Cumberland

The town describes Cumberland as three distinct areas. Cumberland Foreside is the coastal mainland, where residents reach the water at Broad Cove Reserve, a town property with a beach, a pier and walking trails. Cumberland Center sits roughly in the middle of town, and West Cumberland is centered on the Route 100 corridor in the northwest corner. Forest Lake, 198 acres, is shared with Gray and Windham. The town also has Twin Brook, a four-season park of more than 224 acres, and about 184 acres of woodland in its part of Knight's Pond Preserve.

With shore and woodland in one town, forestry mulching fits work from clearing a house lot and cutting a trail to pushing back brush along a field or yard edge. The mulcher grinds brush and small trees where they stand and leaves the chips on the soil, with nothing to haul off.

The Rules Where You Live

Cumberland's shoreland zoning ordinance, Chapter 226, covers land within 250 feet of great ponds, rivers, and the upland edge of coastal and freshwater wetlands, including all areas affected by the tide, plus land within 75 feet of streams. The town's shoreland zoning permit application, from the Code Enforcement Office, asks you to describe proposed work such as land clearing. The key clearing numbers:

A buffer strip of 100 feet along great ponds and rivers flowing to them, and 75 feet along other waters, tributary streams and the upland edge of wetlands.
In the buffer, no canopy opening over 250 square feet, and plants under three feet tall, leaf litter and the forest duff layer stay put.
Beyond the buffer, no more than 40% of the volume of trees 4 inches and up cut in any ten years.
Taken together, cleared openings for the house, driveway, lawn and septic area can't exceed 25% of the lot's shoreland area or 10,000 square feet, whichever is greater (except in the General Development District).

Coastal bluffs and steep slopes

Within the shoreland zone, Cumberland's Resource Protection district can include land next to tidal waters that is subject to severe erosion or mass movement, such as steep coastal bluffs. It can also take in areas of two or more acres with sustained slopes of 20% or more, and the 100-year floodplain along tidal waters. If your lot has one, start with the town.

We confirm with Cumberland's Code Enforcement Office what applies to your land before any work near the shore, a lake or a stream. This is general information, not legal advice.

Who to Call in Cumberland

Cumberland Code Enforcement(opens in a new tab)
Town Hall, 290 Tuttle Road
townofcumberlandmaine.gov
Cumberland Shoreland Zoning, Chapter 226(opens in a new tab)
The full ordinance, including the clearing rules in §226-39
ecode360.com
Shoreland Zoning Permit Application(opens in a new tab)
The town's form for work in the shoreland zone
townofcumberlandmaine.gov

Cumberland Questions

Do I need a permit to clear brush near the water in Cumberland?

Ask before you cut. Which work needs a permit depends on the shoreland district and the job, and the town's shoreland zoning permit application asks for a description of proposed work such as land clearing. The Code Enforcement Office at Town Hall is the place to start. We'll help you describe the work so you get a clear answer.

My Foreside lot sits on a bluff above the water. Can you clear it?

Carefully, and maybe not all of it. Steep coastal bluffs subject to severe erosion can fall in Cumberland's Resource Protection district. Along the shore, the buffer runs 75 feet from the upland edge of the coastal wetland, with no canopy opening over 250 square feet and the ground cover left alone. We'd start with the Code Enforcement Office.

I'm on Forest Lake. What can I cut near the water?

Forest Lake is a 198-acre lake shared by Cumberland, Gray and Windham, and Cumberland keeps a 100-foot buffer strip along great ponds. Inside it, there's no canopy opening over 250 square feet, selective cutting has to leave a well-distributed stand of trees, and the low plants stay. Where the shore is zoned Resource Protection, there's no cutting within 75 feet except to remove hazard trees. Past the buffer there's more room to work, within the 40% and lot-clearing caps. The town confirms what applies first.

How We Work

One machine, no hauling. The mulcher grinds brush and small trees into mulch that stays on site as ground cover.
Erosion control planned in. Near water and on slopes, we plan around Maine's erosion and sedimentation control practices and confirm the local rules before work begins.
A remote-controlled mulcher for steep slopes and sensitive spots, so the operator can work from a distance.

Cumberland Forestry Mulching Pricing

Most residential Cumberland projects fall between $2,000 and $3,000. Every lot is different, so the final cost comes down to how much you're clearing, the type of growth, the slope, and how close the work is to your house or the water.

Lighter jobs run less, bigger or tougher ones run more. Quotes are always free with no hidden fees, and you'll have the exact number before we start.