Wildlife Management Areas Provide Habitat Management Demonstration Opportunities

By Leigh Hoar, Lands Management Biologist Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s Wildlife Management Areas are held to provide a statewide, ecologically based system of land holdings for the protection and enhancement of important wildlife habitats that also provide opportunities for public recreation.  The focus is on habitat but recreation is a compatible use which serves also to demonstrate the benefits of habitat management for both game and non-game species.  IF&W is taking a proactive approach to making the public aware of management activities, where they occur, and the s

Meet Warden Dave Chabot and K9 Ruby

K9 Team Spotlight: Warden Dave Chabot and K9 Ruby

Warden Dave Chabot  began his career with the Maine Warden Service in 1997, first patrolling in Daaquam. Warden Chabot joined the K9 team in 2010 and now patrols with his K9 partner Ruby in the Greene/Turner area.

Invasive Species: More Than Just a Thorn in the Side

By Wildlife Biologist Joe Wiley Why should outdoorspeople care about invasive species? Because invasives dramatically affect our outdoor experience in many ways! First, invasive species outcompete native species. It’s not a fair fight since invasives have many adaptations that allow them to survive and outcompete the native species. Habitats are diminished by losses of diversity when invasives invade. For example, the bush honeysuckles leaf out much earlier than our native honeysuckle. They usually have flowered before most native shrubs leaf out.

Meet Warden Paul Farrington and K9s Koda and Yaro

K9 Team Spotlight: Warden Paul Farrington and K9s Yaro and Koda

Pollard Flat Wildlife Management Area

By Regional Wildlife Biologist Rich Hoppe The Pollard Flat WMA is one of many small tracts of land managed by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW).  Because of their small size many of these properties are relatively unknown to the general public; however in many cases they are very valuable wildlife habitats. Pollard Flat is located in the Town of Masardis, just off the Garf

Fisheries Biologists Embark On Intensive Sebago Lake Togue Study

[caption id="attachment_1803" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] IFW's Greg Massey hoists a 12.5 pound Sebago Lake togue.

Experience Unique Natural Diversity at the Mattawamkeag River System Wildlife Management Area

By Regional Wildlife Biologist Allen Starr Imagine an area that could provide an opportunity to hunt or view  any of Maine’s big game species, pursue a variety of small game (including waterfowl), search for a plethora of songbirds, access a large, scenic river for boating and fishing or visit rare and exemplary natural communities and ecosystems.  The Mattawamkeag River WMA, located in Drew Plant

Monitoring Maine's Waterfowl Production and Populations

By Scott McLellan, Regional Wildlife Biologist Waterfowl brood surveys have long been a traditional part of the work program for regional wildlife biologists and serve as a method to monitor annual nesting success and survival of hens and their young. In region E out of the Moosehead Lake area, 9 of these surveys are conducted in the month of June and then repeated one month later.  This schedule occurs annually on the same bodies of water in hopes to develop and understand trends in waterfowl production and populations.  Surveys occur either during the early morning or earl

Allagash Fishery Part of 50th Anniversary Celebration

[caption id="attachment_1758" align="alignright" width="329"] IFW Fisheries Biologist Derrick Cote is down in one of the chambers of the Churchill Dam fishway, scooping out fish to weigh and measure[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1766" align="alignleft" width="227"]

Echo Lake Togue and Salmon Continue To Thrive

[caption id="attachment_1745" align="alignright" width="568"] IFW's Tom Barrows holds a hefty 35-inch wild togue from Echo Lake in Fayette. The togue was measured, weighed and released.[/caption] The bios in Region B have been busy on central Maine lakes recently, keeping an eye on salmon and lake trout growth in Echo Lake.