Staying Connected: Check out the new information and tools available to help you identify, maintain, and restore the essential wildlife (and people) habitat connections in your community.

We've all heard the Maine colloquialism "You can't get there from here." Unfortunately, for too many species, this is no joke. Every year thousands of animals are unable to cross roads or are killed in collisions with cars. Road crossing structures such as bridges and culverts block fish from important sections of stream, too, preventing fish and aquatic species from getting where they need to go. Over time, this loss of habitat connections can result in decreased populations of species that require large territories and even cause some species to become locally or even regionally extirpated as they lose access to key habitat components. Climate change is making the ability of wildlife to find suitable habitats more important than ever. Lost habitat connections can also result in degraded recreational values including limited access points and declines in hunting and fishing opportunities. By maintaining a network of interconnected habitat blocks and waterways we can protect a wide variety of Maine's species. And, at the same time we can protect the hunting, fishing, hiking and other outdoor recreation opportunities that we all hold dear.

Take a look at the new information and tools available to help you maintain a network of interconnected habitats and waterways in your community.  

Habitat Connections included on Beginning with Habitat Maps-Data depicting habitat connections is now available. Using a predictive computer model, Beginning with Habitat has identified where connections between blocks of undeveloped habitat likely remain and where likely road crossing locations for wetland species are located. This information is intended to help you determine where wildlife are crossing roads in your community and to identify opportunities for maintaining existing connections. Check out the new Beginning with Habitat Map 3: Undeveloped Habitat Blocks and Habitat Connections. Habitat connections are displayed on this map along with undeveloped habitat blocks, conserved lands and aerial imagery (formerly shown on Map 5). The habitat connections information is also available as a GIS dataset. Contact us if you would like this information.

Eastern Brook Trout Habitat now on Beginning with Habitat Maps- Maine holds some of the best remaining habitat for Eastern brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) anywhere. Eastern brook trout, a popular sport fish and important economic engine in Maine, need unobstructed access throughout stream systems to reach preferred habitats. To help you to identify where high value areas for Eastern brook trout are and to help you prioritize aquatic habitats for protection, data depicting the location of surveyed streams and ponds with Eastern brook trout have been added to Beginning with Habitat Map 1: Water Resources and Riparian Habitats. This data is available as a GIS dataset as well. Contact us.  

Improving Road-Stream Crossings-Wherever a road crosses a stream, a bridge or culvert made that crossing possible. Most bridges allow streams, and the wildlife that they support to pass freely under them, but incorrectly sized, poorly placed, or damaged culverts can prevent fish and wildlife from accessing important habitat. Check out the information in Stream Crossings- New Designs to Restore Stream Continuity to learn more about the how you can improve the road-stream crossings near you.  

Stream Barriers Survey- To identify barriers to fish and to identify restoration opportunities, extensive surveys of road-stream crossings and dams have been underway in Maine since 2007. In each of the past five summers, crews have been assessing potential barriers in the Penobscot, Kennebec, Saco, Casco Bay and Sheepscot River watersheds. Additional survey work has been conducted in the St. George, Kennebunk, Machias and Narraguagus watersheds. Currently, data from these surveys is being combined into one statewide barrier database, which will be accessible to landowners, land managers and planners across the state helping them to improve access to aquatic habitats for all species that rely on unobstructed stream access. For more information, contact Alex Abbot at alexoabbott@hotmail.com. 

Maine Audubon Wildlife Road Watch- Calling all Citizen Scientists! Maine Audubon needs your help! Do you see wildlife when you are out driving, biking or walking on Maine's roads? Why not record what you see to help biologists and transportation planners better understand how and where wildlife get across roads?

Maine Audubon's Wildlife Road Watch is a web-based interactive map that allows participants to record their roadside wildlife sightings. Visit www.maineaudubon.org/wildliferoadwatch to learn more.  The information gathered by the Maine Audubon Wildlife Road Watch will be used to help make traveling on Maine's roads safer for wildlife and people. Participants can get a snazzy bumper sticker too!

This project is a Maine Audubon partnership with Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, Maine Department of Transportation, and the Road Ecology Center at UC Davis in California.  

Protecting Maine's Unique Ecological Areas: Land for Maine's Future Board funds several projects in Beginning with Habitat Focus Areas.

In July, the Land for Maine's Future Board selected 22 land protection projects that will conserve 76,000 acres of undeveloped land in Maine. Fourteen of these projects are located within Beginning with Habitat Focus Areas of Statewide Ecological Significance. Focus Areas are identified by biologists and ecologists as having unusually rich concentrations of at-risk wildlife species and habitats. The following selected projects will contribute to the protection of some of Maine's most unique natural areas.

• Kennebec Estuary Focus Area- Marsh Field Farm, Androscoggin Greenway, Dresden Archaeological Site, and Kennebec River Estuary Phase II Projects
• Alder Stream Focus Area- Varnum Farm
• Camden Hills Focus Area- Bald & Ragged Mountain Hart Project and Camden State Park Inholding
• Mt. Abraham-Saddleback-Crocker Mountains Focus Area- Crocker Mountain and Orbeton Stream Projects
• Fourth Machias Lake- Machias River Phase III: Washington Bald Mountain
• Unity Wetlands- Sousa Property
• Pleasant Bay Focus Area- Pleasant Bay Wildlife Management Area
• East Branch-Seboeis River-Wassataquoik Stream-Varnum Farm Conservation & Recreation and Seboeis Lake South Projects 

New Important Plant, Animal and Habitat Reports Live Next Week:

Together with Beginning with Habitat, the Maine Natural Areas Program has recently created reports listing the important plants, animals and habitats potentially present in each of Maine's organized towns. The reports list the following:

• Rare, threatened, and endangered plants
• Rare, threatened, and endangered animals
• Rare and exemplary natural communities
• Significant Wildlife Habitat, Essential Wildlife Habitat, and Significant Vernal Pools
• Bird species of greatest conservation need
• Fish species of greatest conservation need
• Other species of greatest conservation need (e.g., insects, other invertebrates, amphibians, and mammals)

While Beginning with Habitat furnishes towns with maps showing important mapped habitats and rare species occurrences, until now we have not had a mechanism to provide just a list of these and additional features. Habitat and species occurrences that have been mapped and represented on Beginning with Habitat maps are listed in these reports as are features that have not yet been mapped, including likely occurrences of species of greatest conservation need (species with small or declining populations as identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan).

These reports are intended to be used by planners, land trusts, and educators to supplement Beginning with Habitat maps, aid in conservation and development planning and help meet State Wildlife Action Plan needs.

Visit http://www.maine.gov/doc/nrimc/mnap/assistance/sgcn.htm to download a report for your town.