By Public Relations Specialist Katie Yates Maine has the highest population of black bears in the eastern United States. The population is currently stable and appropriate for what the landscape can support, but black bears do not have any natural predators in Maine. Unchecked populations could easily grow exponentially, eventually leading to unsustainable numbers of […]
By Natural Resource Manager Jack Chappen Here at MDIFW’s Lands Program, we are tasked with creating, maintaining, and improving wildlife habitat on the state-owned Wildlife Management Areas for the benefit of Maine’s fish and wildlife populations. One of the most effective tools we have to accomplish this is a conventional timber harvest. It may seem contradictory […]
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Department and Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry know that during these challenging times, everyone wants to get outside and recharge. One challenge we all face right now is how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly during this civil state of emergency. Here are a few reminders on […]
By Regional Wildlife Biologists Kendall Marden One of Maine’s most underappreciated natural resources is public land. Many folks from the western U.S. are used to having access to millions of acres of public land. On the contrary, accessing private land in the west is a challenge and often involves paying for that privilege. We are lucky in […]
By Regional Wildlife Biologist Shawn Haskell A year ago, some meteorologists examined intercontinental atmospheric and oceanic trends and predicted another cold and snowy winter for northern New England. This was a few weeks after the 80-degree weather we had in early September of 2018. For Aroostook County at least, they nailed it. Our snow period […]
By Wildlife Biologist Carl Tugend There are about 150 species of waterfowl worldwide, with 34 of these species utilizing habitats in Maine, including dabbling ducks, diving ducks, sea ducks, and geese species. The species present in Maine provide opportunities for the state to help preserve unique waterfowl habitats and also allow for sport hunting of […]
By Wildlife Biologist Kelsey Sullivan As a result of recommendations in the recently completed Big Game Species Plan, the Department has been working to generate a data rich method of estimating the size of our wild turkey population to best inform hunting season regulations at the wildlife management district (WMD) level. To achieve this goal, […]
By Fisheries Biologist Kevin Gallant Having the ability to age a fish is a valuable tool for fishery managers. Stocked fish often have clipped fins that tell us what age they are (by knowing the year the certain fin was clipped). With wild fish (and unmarked hatchery fish), we have a few other options to […]
By Regional Wildlife Biologist Chuck Hulsey Over the next couple of weeks little puff-ball feathered creatures will heed their mother’s calls and leap from where they just hatched, to the world below. Wood ducks, hooded mergansers, and American goldeneye are the best known of Maine’s cavity-nesting waterfowl. Natural tree cavities near or over water are […]
By Fisheries Biologist Tim Obrey The Moosehead Lake Region, as designated by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, is big…some might say wicked big. It stretches from Dover-Foxcroft in the south to Allagash Lake in the north, Rainbow Lake to the east and the thriving metropolis of Skinner to the west. The land […]
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