Top
Newsletter Spring/Summer 2009
In This Issue
A New Addition!
Updating and Improving BwH Outreach Materials
Data Additions and Updates
About BwH
Beginning with Habitat (BwH) provides objective and comprehensive plant and wildlife habitat information to equip local decision-makers with the necessary tools to make informed and responsible land use decisions that mesh wildlife habitat conservation with future growth needs.
Click Here and Join Our Mailing List
Contact Us
Recent Presentations
Alfred/Shapleigh,
Brunswick Topsham Land Trust, Cornish, Eliot, Etna, Freedom, Maine Land Trust Conference, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Poland, Society of American Foresters, South Berwick Rod and Gun Club, Southwest Harbor
Upcoming Presentations
May 20- Alfred/Shapleigh Conservation Commissions
 
For the most up-to-date schedule, visit the BwH website.
Map Updates
Between January '09 and May '09 BwH maps were updated for the following towns/regions: 
 
Albion, Bangor, Benton, Biddeford, Buckfield, Burnham, Carmel, Chester, Clinton, Cornish, Corrina, Cumberland, Damariscotta, Deer Isle, Detriot, Dexter, Eddington, Etna, Freedom, Freeport, Jay, Jefferson, Lincolnville, Lowell, Manchester, Mount Desert, North Haven, Northport, Orland, Parsonsfield, Poland, Saco, Sanford, Skowhegan, Stonington, Surry, Thorndike, Troy, Unity, Veazie, and Wallagrass.
  
   To view these maps, visit the BwH website or contact us.
focusareaFeatured Focus Area
 
From West Quoddy Head to the Cutler Ecological Reserve, the Bold Coast Focus Area features a tremendous density  and variety of natural communities. Follow the link above to learn more.
 
BwH Focus Areas of Statewide Ecological Significance are natural areas that contain unusually rich concentrations of at-risk species and habitats. These non-regulatory areas are intended to build awareness of these exceptional areas and provide momentum for strategic conservation efforts. To date 140 Focus Areas have been identifed by BwH. 
Focus Area Descriptions Moved
Can't find the BwH Focus Area descriptions? They have moved, along with the Maine Natural Areas Program website. Click here for their new location.  We are in the process of updating the focus area descriptions. New descriptions will be posted once complete. In the meantime, contact us if you need a description.
BwH Map Viewer and Biodiversity Encyclopedia Available Soon!
The BwH Map Viewer and Online Biodiversity Encyclopedia are nearly complete! Keep an eye out on the BwH website for their launch later in the summer. The Map Viewer will improve access to BwH information, display the most up-to-date data, provide simple mapping tools, and link to the Online Biodiversity Encyclopedia, a source of additional conservation information. 
AlwivesGreetings! 
 
With new data available, new projects underway, and new babies to welcome, spring time has been busy and exciting for Beginning with Habitat! Read on... 
BwH Welcomes a New Addition! 
 
Congratulations to Steve Walker, BwH Program Manager, and his wife, Jackie Sartoris, on the birth of their son, Luke Sartoris Swift Walker, on April 2nd. Luke is a budding naturalist and is already birding by ear! Welcome Luke and congratulations to the Walker Sartoris Family!
 Steve and Luke
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Back to top
Modeling Local Conservation Focus Areas: Developing an Easily Replicable Approach for Identifying Local Conservation Priorities

Beginning with Habitat (BwH) has identified conservation focus areas that are of statewide ecological significance in Maine. There are, however, many areas in the state that, although they may not rise to the level of state significance, are of tremendous ecological importance locally. Additionally, many Focus Areas of Statewide Ecological Significance have been designated at such a large scale that it is often difficult for local conservation partners to best prioritize between parcels when considering open space investments. Identification of local focus areas of ecological significance is an important step in strategic conservation planning at the local level. Local focus areas help clearly define local conservation priorities, provide easy to visualize, location specific objectives, and build public support for local conservation efforts. By explicitly defining where conservation should occur, communities are in a much better position to ultimately realize their conservation goals.
 
More and more towns and organizations are asking for assistance from BwH with the identification of local focus areas. Information on local focus area identification is provided in the BwH Toolbox, however, the program is also working on developing a GIS approach to modeling local focus areas that towns and organizations will be able to utilize in the near future. 
 
BwH has been working with the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) and several others to model local conservation focus areas in southern Maine. PREP is a collaborative watershed program based in New Hampshire that protects, restores, and monitors the health of the Great Bay Estuary and the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary. Driven by its commitment to maintaining ecosystem integrity at a watershed scale, PREP (formerly the New Hampshire Estuaries Partnership) expanded its focus from just the New Hampshire portion of the Great Bay Estuary watershed to also include the Maine portion of the watershed. This portion involves the watershed areas of the Salmon Falls River, Great Works River, Piscataqua River, and Spruce Creek and includes the Maine towns of Acton, Berwick, Eliot, Kittery, Lebanon, North Berwick, Sanford, South Berwick, Wells and York.
 
A comprehensive, science-based land conservation plan that identifies and prioritizes local focus areas of ecological significance and offers strategies for maintaining diverse wildlife habitat, abundant wetlands, clean water, productive forests, and outstanding recreational opportunities into the future has been developed by PREP for the New Hampshire portion of the Great Bay Estuary watershed. PREP engaged BwH and several others to revise and update this estuary plan to identify local focus areas and to prioritize actions intended improve water quality and protect and restore important habitats throughout the Maine portion of the watershed. Together, the local focus area identification and prioritized actions will serve as a valuable guide, tool, and information resource for landowners, communities, land trusts, and public agencies that are interested in land conservation. This approach to local focus area modeling is based on the best available data and includes input from a range of stakeholders including citizens, scientists, conservation organizations, and natural resource agencies. 
 
The process of local focus area modeling will result in an approach that is not only consistent with the PREP approach completed in New Hampshire, but will also result in a model for identifying local conservation priorities that can be replicated easily by BwH and partners throughout the state as more and more towns are asking for a process to identify local priorities beyond BwH's statewide focus areas. BwH staff and partners will be able to run the model with specific criteria pertinent to each town or region and to identify areas of high importance based on those criteria. Ultimately, the process will be available to enhance a town or organizations strategic conservation planning efforts. The eventual model output will certainly not replace Maine's BwH Focus Areas of Statewide Ecological Significance, but will enhance their utility for local decision making efforts.

Back to top
BwH to Update and Improve Program Outreach Materials
 
AlwivesUpdating BwH's Planning Guide and Website
Although the program's goals and approach have remained constant, Beginning with Habitat (BwH) has grown and changed considerably since it was initiated in 2000. New data has been included on the BwH maps, new tools and services provided, and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's State Wildlife Action Plan (WAP), has been produced to more comprehensively guide to state's wildlife and habitat conservation efforts. BwH was made the core strategy of the WAP and is now the plan's primary means of local outreach and implementation. Key to BwH success on the ground and to the implementation of Maine's WAP is consistent, compelling and effective messaging and up-to-date outreach materials. While considerable improvements to BwH have been made, our outreach materials have not been updated since 2003.
 
Thanks to a recently awarded grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, BwH will be updating its planning guidebook, website, and other outreach materials to better reflect the program's evolution and current opportunities, to reflect WAP priorities and the role of the WAP's BwH approach in conserving Maine's fish and wildlife resources and in sustaining Maine's highly valuable "Quality of Place", including securing future outdoor recreation access, supporting local agriculture, providing for climate change resiliency, and ultimately shaping towns that maintain the Maine charm so vital for capitalizing on future economic opportunities. New materials will outline a clear step-by-step process for utilizing BwH in creating a local conservation blueprint that helps to preserve habitat as well as town character.
 
Suggestions? If you have any suggestions for how BwH outreach materials can be improved to best meet your needs please let us know. We'd like to hear from you. Follow the link to contact us.
 
 
AlwivesUpdating Maine's Conservation Priorities: A Citizen's Guide to Maine's Most Ecologically Significant Places
BwH partners have recently completed the designation of 140 Beginning with Habitat Focus Areas of Statewide Ecological Significance (See BwH Newsletters Fall 2008: New and Amended Focus Areas Mapped in Coastal Maine and Winter 2009: Working Together for Maine's Wildlife).  
 
In an effort lead by the Maine Natural Areas Program (MNAP), BwH Focus Area descriptions are being developed for the most recently designated sites in coastal and northern Maine and the descriptions developed in the southern and central part of the state, written nearly a decade ago, are being updated and improved. The enhanced descriptions will include a map and images, provide an overview of the focus area, highlight access opportunities on public lands where available, describe ecological services and economic contributions, and provide specific conservation considerations for landowners and municipal and conservation planners. See "Featured Focus Area" in the sidebar to check out the new format.
 
Focus area descriptions can be downloaded from the Maine Natural Areas Program website. (note the new web address) and will be posted as the new descriptions become available. Contact us if you need assistance.
 
 
Highlighting Effective Approaches for Municipal Level Habitat Protection
To strengthen the capacity of municipalities to protect and preserve their natural resources and "quality places", BwH has been working with the Maine Association of Conservation Commissions to develop a set of detailed case studies that describe effective approaches that various Maine towns have taken to develop and implement habitat friendly ordinances and policies. Case studies will highlight approaches that minimize habitat fragmentation and inefficient land use practices; protect wetlands, including riparian corridors and vernal pools; protect high value habitat, particularly areas identified by BwH; and/or generate support for municipal acquisition of open space and high value wildlife habitat. Case studies will be widely distributed to elected and appointed officials, conservation commissions and interested citizens and a series of regional workshops will provide training in how these, and other, BwH tools can be used in your community. These case studies and the subsequent outreach trainings will enhance the BwH Toolbox and the program's on the ground efforts and collaborations with local land use planners.
 
Back to top
BwH Data Additions and Updates
 
Significant Vernal Pools
Spotted SalamanderThe vernal pools in Maine are teeming with life right now with several varieties of frogs chorusing, amphibian eggs hatching, and other species of wildlife feeding on the rich pool resources. Vernal pools are naturally occurring shallow depressions that usually contain water for only part of the year, lack a permanently flowing inlet or outlet and lack predatory fish. They serve as essential breeding habitat for certain species of wildlife, including several species of amphibians which provide an important food source for many small and large carnivore species.
 
Because of their importance, starting September 1, 2007, "significant" vernal pool habitat (the pool itself and a surrounding 250 foot terrestrial habitat zone) was protected by law as Significant Wildlife Habitat under the Natural Resources Protection Act (NRPA). An activity in, on, or over these areas must avoid unreasonable impacts on the significant vernal pool habitat and obtain approval from the DEP, through a Permit by Rule or individual NRPA approval.
 
Not all vernal pool habitats are considered "significant". In general, a vernal pool habitat is "significant" if it has a high habitat value, either because (1) a state-listed threatened or endangered species, such as a spotted turtle, or a rare species, such as a ribbon snake, uses it to complete a critical part of its life history, or (2) there is a notable abundance of specific wildlife, such as blue spotted salamander, yellow spotted salamander, wood frog, or fairy shrimp.

Significant vernal pools are now included on the BwH maps and in digital data packages. The significant vernal pool data set provided through BwH includes the 250 foot critical terrestrial habitat zone surrounding the pools. These significant vernal pools were mapped and surveyed in the field by Maine Department of Environmental Protection staff, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife biologists, and consultants. The data does not include all vernal pools or significant vernal pools, but only reflects the current level of survey efforts. Significant vernal pools are being added to the database regularly as information is collected.
 
For more information on vernal pools and their regulations, visit the Department of Environmental Protection's NRPA pages
 
 
Undeveloped Habitat Blocks
BwH Updated Undeveloped Habitat BlocksLarger intact blocks of habitat are essential for keeping common species common and for supporting Maine's species diversity as well as for their contributions to open space and recreation, water quality protection, and natural resource based industry. The locations where undeveloped blocks remain in our towns are identified on BwH Map 3: Undeveloped Habitat Blocks. Knowing where these intact landscapes occur is the first step in their protection.
 
BwH's undeveloped habitat blocks data has been recently updated. This dataset represents areas in Maine that are not currently developed or directly adjacent to current development or roads. The block boundaries are based on public roads, impervious surface, and water feature datasets as well as land use/landcover data. The revised blocks reflect changes in the landscape and include an improved method for delineating block boundaries. Instead of buffering all development and roads by 500 feet, as done in previous versions, new blocks boundaries are based on differing buffers determined by development intensity and on traffic volume, speed limits, and width of roads. This improved data set will contribute to the BwH effort to model landscape scale connectivity (See BwH Newsletter Winter 2009).
 
Large Areas of Interior Forest
Based on the new undeveloped habitat blocks dataset, large areas of interior forest data has been recently updated as well. This forest blocks dataset represents large, contiguous forested areas in Maine that are at least 500 feet away from development and improved roads and at least 500 acres in size. Within blocks of undeveloped habitat (see above), large areas of interior forest are important for area-sensitive wildlife species associated with forested habitats. Each forested area may contain different stand types (coniferous, deciduous, mixed, forested wetlands). Clearcuts, partial cuts, and regenerating stands (managed forests) are mapped as forested areas assuming they will continue to be managed as such. This data set is also included on BwH Map 3: Undeveloped Habitat Blocks.
 
Beginning with Habitat Partners
Beginning with Habitat Partners