March 7, 2013

17 Godfrey Drive
Suite 2
Orono, ME 04473
(207) 866-3344

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Map of the state of Maine, pictures of Scarborough Marsh (Credit: USFWS), Piping plover (Credit: USFWS), Canada lynx (Credit: USFWS), and sketch of New England and Eastern cottontail rabbits by Mark McCollough, USFWS.

All images credit USFWS; sketch of New England and Eastern cottontail rabbits credit Mark McCollough, USFWS

Welcome to the Maine Field Office Web site

Our goal here is to provide you with information about what your U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Ecological Services Maine Field Office
is doing for you and for the fish and wildlife in our area of responsibility, the State of Maine.

Our mission is to work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife and plants
and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

Maine hosts exceptional biodiversity due to a number of factors, including diverse geographic and geologic features located in a transition zone between boreal and temperate habitats and species assemblages. At 33,315 square miles, the State is nearly as large as the rest of the New England states combined. Maine is over 90 percent forested (17.7 million acres) and is the most extensively forested State in the United States. Over 94 percent of the State's forest lands (16.7 million acres) are privately owned. The largest tracts of undeveloped forestland in the eastern United States are found in the western, northern, and eastern areas of the State. Maine also contains some of the most significant grassland, barrens, and agricultural lands in the Northeast. The State covers a wide range of latitude (320 miles north to south), with natural communities and plants characteristic of southern Appalachia found in the south transitioning to boreal communities in the north and subarctic communities at the highest elevations.

News and Updates

Freeing Maine’s Penobscot River

Success! Josh Royte of The Nature Conservancy holds up a juvenile alewife at a project improving fish access. Credit: USFWS

“We are the river,” says a tribal leader. Read why so many are seeking to restore this namesake river, Atlantic salmon and the circle of life in central Maine’s landscape.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to adopt FERC's evaluation of dam removals in Penobscot River restoration

UPDATE: On Sept. 7, 2012, the Service noted its intent to proceed with providing funding to the Penobscot project. This follows an evaluation of its impacts on the human environment and is explained in the Service's "finding of no significant impact." (pdf)

The Service announced August 3 that the agency will adopt the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) existing environmental assessment for the Veazie, Great Works and Howland Projects to surrender their licenses. Surrender of the licenses involves removal of Veazie and Great Works Dams and construction of a nature-like fish bypass around the Howland Dam, which are key elements of the Penobscot River Restoration Project. The public can comment on this through August 20, 2012, by visiting: http://www.regulations.gov and searching docket number
FWS-R5-ES-2012-N098.

Federal Register announcement (PDF) and Web.
Final environmental assessment (PDF) and Web at the docket number.

Wildlife agencies announce request for lynx permit

Credit: USFWS

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) has applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a permit to authorize incidental take of federally protected Canada lynx resulting from the State regulated trapping program. The Service invites the public to comment on MDIF&W's draft incidental take plan, a requirement for the permit. The Service also invites comment on its draft environment assessment for MDIF&W's application.

Learn more.

Atlantic Salmon Recovery Meeting

The first Atlantic Salmon Recovery Meeting will be held January
11-12, 2012, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bangor.
For more information click on the PDF.

Atlantic Salmon Recovery Plan nearing completion

As with any big multi-party endeavor, the Atlantic salmon recovery plan has taken some months to complete. We have worked among our agency and with the NOAA-NMFS staff here in Maine and at their Northeast Regional Office to develop a plan that provides background and context for the actions we believe are essential to be taken to recovery the Atlantic salmon in the Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment.

Last updated: March 7, 2013