Top
Newsletter Winter/Spring 2010
In This Issue
Sagadahoc Region Conservation Workshop
Home Rules, Home Tools Workshops
Habitat Conservation in the Face of Climate Change
Southern Maine Land Conservation Plan
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
Upcoming Presentations
March 10- West Bath, SRRRI 
 March 31- Falmouth, MeACC
April 6- Wells, MeACC
May 1- Topsham, MLTN
May 6- Biddeford
 
For the most up-to-date schedule, visit the BwH website.
focusareaFeatured Focus Area
The Upper Saco River Focus Area is home to numerous rare species and natural communities and includes the most extensive and best remaining floodplain ecosystems in New Hampshire and Maine. 
 
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. 
Opportunities on the Horizon   
 
SRRRI Marsh
Beginning with Habitat is involved in several great workshops coming up. Join in to learn about rural resource conservation in Midcoast Maine, be inspired by the unique conservation tools implemented by Maine towns, find out about a regional land conservation plan in Southern Maine and learn about species vulnerability due to climate change.
 
Read on for more information on these interesting workshops and training opportunities!
Sagadahoc Region Conservation Workshop: Tools, Techniques and Local Maps 
 
What:
Workshop to present tools, techniques and local maps to enhance natural resource protection in the Sagadahoc Region
When: Wednesday, March 10, 6:30 to 8:00 pm
Where: West Bath Fire Station, 192 State Road, West Bath
For Whom: Local officials, town committee members, land trust representatives and interested citizens
 
The Sagadahoc Region Rural Resource Initiative (SRRRI) Steering Committee and Midcoast Council of Governments will be hosting a workshop to present the SRRRI Conservation Blueprint. The SRRRI Conservation Blueprint includes a series of maps and a guidebook that can be used to help guide growth in the Sagadahoc Region in a way that maintains quality of place. It is intended to assist people working in the twelve municipalities of Arrowsic, Bath, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Brunswick, Georgetown, Harpswell, Phippsburg, Richmond, Topsham, West Bath, and Woolwich with their efforts to strategically preserve open space and protect natural resources and working landscapes. The SRRRI Conservation Blueprint builds off of Beginning with Habitat's mapping and technical assistance program. The new guidebook and natural resource maps will be distributed at the workshop and practical steps towns can take to protect water resources, riparian habitat, large undeveloped blocks, rare habitats, exemplary natural communities, farmland and trails will be presented. The workshop is free and refreshments will be served.
 
Sagadahoc Region Rural Resource Initiative (SRRRI) is a collaborative project comprised of representatives of twelve municipalities, land trusts, environmental organizations, state agencies and Bowdoin College. Motivating this cooperative effort is the shared belief that the region's natural assets and its vibrant communities, large and small, make it a desirable place to live, work and do business. The shared vision of SRRRI is to serve as a unified voice promoting natural resource protection and land conservation in each of the twelve participating communities. The SRRRI Steering Committee has been working together to learn about and implement techniques for preserving rural working landscapes, wildlife habitat and other natural areas.
 
For more information contact: Midcoast Council of Governments 207-443-5790 ex. 10, [email protected]
Case StudiesHome Rules, Home Tools Workshops: Locally Led Conservation Achievements
 
What: Workshop and training to strengthen the capacity of municipalities to protect and preserve their natural resources and "quality places"
 
When/Where:
Falmouth, March 31st, 4-6:00 pm
Wells, April 6th, 4-6:00 pm
Ellsworth, April 13th, 4-6:00 pm
Waldoboro, April 27th, 4-6:00 pm
 
For Whom: Conservation commission members, elected and appointed town officials and others interested in the work of conservation commissions
 
The Maine Association of Conservation Commissions, together with Beginning with Habitat, has developed a set of case studies that highlight successful local conservation achievements and describe effective approaches that Maine towns have taken to develop and implement habitat friendly tools. Featured in the case studies are Falmouth's open space plan, the Wells Land Bank, Kennebunkport's Lawns for Lobsters initiative, Rockport's efforts to protect Clam Cove and "quality of place" and Brunswick's Rural Brunswick Smart Growth project. The tools and approaches detailed minimize habitat fragmentation, protect high value habitat and water quality, and generate support for municipal acquisition of open space. The case studies showcase some of the roles municipalities can play in protecting and preserving Maine's natural resources. We hope they inform and inspire work in your town!
 
A series of regional workshops (see above) have been designed to provide training in how these, and various conservation planning tools developed by Beginning with Habitat, can be used in your community.
 
For more information, to download the case studies or to register for the workshops, please visit the Maine Association of Conservation Commissions website at www.meacc.net
Habitat Conservation in the Face of Climate Change
 
What:
Maine Land Conservation Conference
When: Saturday, May 1st
Where: Mt. Ararat High School, Topsham
For Whom: Land trust members and staff and others
 
Climate change has the very real potential to change our landscapes as well as our plant and wildlife habitats. Land trusts are working to figure out how to take into account not only what is important to conserve now, but also what is important to conserve because of its future conservation values.
 
A number of Beginning with Habitat steering committee partner organizations have been working with the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences to develop a climate change vulnerability assessment to better evaluate threats to Maine's 213 Species of Greatest Conservation Need as identified in Maine's Wildlife Action Plan, many of Maine's threatened and endangered plant species and key habitat types. This assessment will be drawing on the collective expertise of ecologists throughout the region to score the relative vulnerability of species and their habitats to a range of expected climate change related forces. Results of this assessment will be used this spring to update Beginning with Habitat outreach efforts and targeted technical assistance. This workshop in May will focus on how to integrate some aspects of climate change into conservation planning, and will present some tools to help do so. 
 
Southern Maine Land Conservation Plan: Tools for Local Focus Area Conservation
 
Beginning with Habitat has been working closely with the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) and several others to develop a comprehensive, science-based land conservation plan for the Maine portion of the Great Bay Estuary watershed including the Maine towns of Acton, Berwick, Eliot, Kittery, Lebanon, North Berwick, Sanford, South Berwick, Wells and York. The conservation plan identifies and prioritizes local conservation focus areas and offers strategies for maintaining diverse wildlife habitat, abundant wetlands, clean water, productive forests and outstanding recreational opportunities into the future. 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 strategic land conservation.
 
Several workshops will be held throughout the region during the spring and summer of 2010 to present the conservation plan, the co-occurrence model used to identify focus areas, and the prioritized strategies for conservation. Stay tuned for workshop dates and locations.
Beginning with Habitat Partners
Beginning with Habitat Partners