Archive for December, 2006
Posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 by Maine Sportsman
Lt. Gordon Manuel Wildlife Management Area
One of the five state wildlife management areas within this region is the Lt. Gordon Manuel Wildlife Management Area, in the towns of Hodgdon, Cary, and Linneus, in Southern Aroostook County. The Lt. Gordon Manuel WMA encompasses 6,488 acres and is composed of forested land (85 %), fields (2%), and wetlands (13%). The initial acquisition centered around an existing dam site on the South Branch of the Meduxnedeag River in the town of Hodgdon Mills and the associated wetlands that were to be restored when the dam was replaced. The majority of the uplands are located west of the wetlands associated with the South Branch of the Meduxnekeag River. The uplands consist of active agricultural land; abandoned, reverting old fields; cedar lowlands; spruce-fir flats; and hardwood stands.
The Lt. Gordon Manuel WMA was primarily purchased for the management of waterfowl, with secondary management directed toward Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock. Many of our other wildlife species (consumptive and on-consumptive) are direct beneficiaries of management toward these species. A timber harvest operation on the Lt. Gordon Manuel WMA was initiated for wildlife management in the fall of 2003, focusing on Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock as our two “featured species”. Three types of harvests were completed. The first was “Grouse Management Blocks”. Two grouse management areas equivalent to 80 acres of 4-acre clear-cut blocks in predominant poplar forest types were harvested to create interspersed, early successional stages. Poplar is a very fast growing species and is a critical food source for grouse during late fall and winter. These clear-cut blocks adjacent to residual mixed-wood create an age class diversity offering ideal, brood rearing, and loafing habitat within the first 3-6 years. Blocks of more mature poplar adjacent to these clear-cut blocks offer ideal feeding, and escape cover and create a mosaic of habitats necessary for the life stages of this bird. Another wildlife advantage with this type of harvest in poplar stands is the creation of excellent early critical habitat for woodcock the first fifteen years in the form of feeding, nesting, brood, and escape cover.
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Tags: Aroostook County Hunting Report • Categories: Hunting Reports
Posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 by Maine Sportsman
National Wild Turkey Federation Super Fund Project at Page Farm Parcel
Wild Turkey habitat management is a popular activity for landowners in this region of the state. Recognizing the winter bottleneck for wild turkeys at the edge of their known range, landowners in this region of the state of Maine have turned to conservation organizations like the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Regional Wildlife Biologists of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, (MDIFW), for technical advise to enhance their property for wild turkeys.
The Maine Chapter of the National Wild turkey Federation has spent over $63,000 on habitat improvements in the state of Maine. These projects have consisted of:
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Tags: Penobscot Valley Hunting Report • Categories: Hunting Reports
Posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 by Maine Sportsman
Beech Management
As the days begin to shorten and the greens of summer transform into the brilliant shades of autumn, many of our species of wildlife are busy locating, consuming, or stashing ample food in preparation for another Maine winter. One such food which is tiny in stature but certainly not in importance, is the small nut produced by the American Beech tree (Fagus grandifolia). Every other autumn just like clockwork, many of the mature beech trees in the Moosehead Lake Region release thousands of these small food packets from their spiny armor to fall to the ground. Although the bulk of these nuts are expelled from the canopy in October, insect damage or extremes in weather can start this process early in September and continue as late as November.
During that special time of year when the nuts hit the ground, northern hardwood stands containing beech become magnets to a variety of wildlife including white-tailed deer, black bear, ruffed grouse, blue jay, red squirrel, chipmunk and other small mammals. In addition, mammalian predators such as pine marten and fisher frequent these areas to capitalize on the concentrated prey as well as the nuts themselves. But, among all the “critters” that seek out this important food source in the north, none appear to be so closely linked to the frequency of beechnut production as our black bears. Thirty plus years of research conducted by our Department on transmitter-equipped bears have clearly shown that nearly all of the reproductive-aged female black bears produce cubs during the winter following an abundant autumn nut crop. Conversely, almost no female bears produce cubs during the off year.
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Tags: Moosehead Region Hunting Report • Categories: Hunting Reports
Posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 by Maine Sportsman
Woodcock Habitat Management
MDIFW maintains Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) throughout the state with the intent of providing high quality wildlife habitat, allowing recreation for the public, and to demonstrate the benefits of specific habitat management techniques. The western mountain Region is home to six WMAs, and all but the Strong WMA are dominated by wetland habitats. Management activities on those areas focus on the maintenance of a diverse complex of wetland habitats, providing important nesting and staging areas for waterfowl and wading birds.
The landscape at the 90-acre Strong WMA is much different, containing a mixture of upland hardwoods, old fields, and low-lying alder patches. This combination of habitats offers the regional staff the opportunity to actively manage for woodcock, a migratory species that spends the spring, summer and fall in Maine. In order to prosper, woodcock require a diversity of young, vigorously growing habitats, which are most often located on moist soil. We use habitat management techniques that focus on retarding forest succession to provide woodcock with the right combinations of these habitats. This land management strategy also benefits ruffed grouse, as well as a suite of species relying on early-successional habitats.
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Tags: Western Mountains Hunting Report • Categories: Hunting Reports
Posted on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 by Maine Sportsman
Downeast Deer Habitat Management
Despite more than 20 years of conservative hunting regulations, downeast deer populations continue at a depressed level from the benchmark period of the 1950′s. While it is probably not realistic to expect a full return to those days of yesteryear, which were characterized by the peak period of farm abandonment that produced ideal habitat conditions against a backdrop of relatively small scale logging operations, limited access, and the post-World War II era, the general lack of population response has been a source of concern for the public and the Department alike. It should be noted that lower deer populations are not exclusive to the downeast region. Much of the northeastern fringe of deer range including northern Maine and the Maritime Provinces, an area generally characterized by northern spruce-fir forest type, have experienced deer population declines over this same period. It would seem, then, that habitat is a major, underlying factor in addressing this issue.
Many potential causes have been targeted by a frustrated public including commercial timber harvesting, chemical spraying by the blueberry and forestry industries, poaching of one form or another, predation by coyotes, black bear, and other predators, lack of fawns, unprecedented back road development and the resulting access, and the list goes on. Certainly, some of these issues have an impact and were closely examined by two different Department committees that explored alternative management strategies. But habitat, both quantity and quality, is the common thread which incorporates most of these concerns.
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Tags: Downeast Hunting Report • Categories: Hunting Reports
