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Information Resources

Governor Patrick, Secretary Bowles, Commissioner Griffin and DFG staff at the Jamaica Pond fish stocking event
Governor Patrick, Secretary Bowles, Commissioner Griffin and DFG staff at the Jamaica Pond fish stocking event

News and Press Releases

January 12, 2011

Environmental Officials Launch Outdoor Recreation Mobile App Contest

The Get Outdoors Massachusetts Mobile Apps Contest is open to the public and seeks participation from application developers to create mobile apps that feature Massachusetts outdoor and natural resources. The contest begins January 12, the submission deadline is March 30, and registration is free. Entrants will compete for prizes including the opportunity to showcase their work to local technology executives. EEA will announce the winners on April 18.
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December 23, 2011

DFG and Land Trust Partners Complete Commonwealth's Largest Conservation Restriction on Private Land

Conservation restriction on nearly 3,500 acres of W.D. Cowls' Land in Pioneer Valley maintains a sustainable working forest, conserves vital wildlife habitat and ensures public recreational access.
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September 19, 2011

Mass. Environmental Officials Reschedule Informational Meeting to Outline Commonwealth's Plan to Clean Up PCBs in Housatonic River

Massachusetts environmental officials have postponed the original informational meeting scheduled for next week and will, instead, host a public information session on October 12 to outline the Commonwealth's proposed plan to remediate PCB contamination in the Housatonic River in western Massachusetts and accept comments on the plan. The meeting will be held from 6:30-8 p.m., at Lenox Town Hall, 6 Walker Street.
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September 13, 2011

Mass. Environmental Officials to Host Informational Meeting to Outline Commonwealth's Plan to Clean Up PCBs in Housatonic River

Environmental officials from the Patrick-Murray Administration will host a public information session this month to outline the Commonwealth's proposed plan to remediate PCB contamination in the Housatonic River in western Massachusetts and accept comments on the plan. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, from 6:30-8 p.m., at Lenox Town Hall, 6 Walker Street. Officials from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) will be on hand to discuss the Commonwealth's proposed remedy for the Housatonic's "Rest of River" segment.
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July 28th, 2011

State and Local Wildlife Officials Celebrate Land Acquisition in Newbury

Officials from the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) and the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board were joined by conservation partners today to celebrate the recent addition of a 24.5-acre parcel to the Commonwealth's Martin Burns Wildlife Management Area (WMA).
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July 21st, 2011

Governor Patrick signs legislation naming the Stephen Drawbridge Wildlife Management Area

Governor Deval Patrick yesterday signed Senate Bill 326 renaming the Barre Falls Wildlife Management Area, the Stephen Drawbridge Wildlife Management Area. The management area is being named after Stephen Drawbridge, who served as senior forester for the Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Fish and Wildlife at the Ware River Watershed from 1978 until his death in 2002.
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February 14th, 2011

DFG Officials present 2010 Sport Fishing Awards

The first youth ever named Massachusetts freshwater Angler of the Year was among those honored at this weekend’s Department of Fish and Game (DFG) ceremonies recognizing those who reeled in the biggest fish of 2010 from Massachusetts lakes, ponds, streams, and coastal waters.
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October 5th, 2010

DFG celebrates new 278-acre Wildlife Management Area in Ashfield/Hawley

Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin today joined with state officials, conservation organizations and community leaders to honor Calvin and Annette Farrell, formerly of South Easton, for a generous bequest, which made possible the acquisition of a 278-acre tract of wildlife habitat in the towns of Ashfield and Hawley.
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September 27th, 2010

DFG celebrates the addition of 165 acres to the Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles today joined with Commissioner Mary Griffin and representatives of conservation organizations to celebrate the completion of four land protection projects that preserve 165 acres of critical habitat in Lancaster and Bolton. These new acquisitions enlarge the Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area to 1,320 acres, link the property to the 1,667-acre Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge and protect an additional 1.7 miles of frontage on the Nashua River.
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July 30th, 2010

DFG celebrates conservation of 485 acres of land in Berkshire county

Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Mary Griffin today joined conservation partners to celebrate the completion of three land conservation projects protecting 486.5 acres of land in Egremont, Mount Washington and Sheffield. The partners - including The Nature Conservancy, the Berkshire Natural Resources Council (BNRC), the Sheffield Land Trust, and the Egremont Land Trust - worked with state officials to protect an 85.5-acre property in Sheffield and Egremont, a 319-acre property in Mount Washington, and 81.5 acres in Egremont.
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January 28, 2010

Purchase of A.D. Makepeace land protects Red Brook watershed and improves habitat for 11 rare species

Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles today announced the purchase of 245 acres of land on Red Brook in Wareham and Plymouth that will protect one of the most diverse fish and wildlife habitats in the Commonwealth.
The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and its Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) acquired the land, commonly known as Century Bog, from A.D. Makepeace Company for $3 million. The acquisition - through conservation and ongoing ecological restoration - will protect the Red Brook watershed and protect habitat for 11 rare species, several fish species and other wildlife.
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December 15, 2009

The Division of Ecological Restoration Teams with Federal and Private Partners for Dam Removal, Habitat Restoration in Rowley

The Lower Ox Pasture Dam, situated on Ox Pasture Brook in the middle of the 2,000-acre William Forward Wildlife Management Area (WMA), is a six-foot high, 200-foot long earth and concrete dam. Positioned at the head-of-tide, the dam blocks tidal flushing as well as migratory fish passage. Over the course of the next two weeks DER will remove the dam in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Mass Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, American Rivers, Trout Unlimited, and the Northeast Massachusetts Mosquito Control and Wetlands Management District.
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December 15, 2009

The Department of Fish and Game Encourages Residents to Join the Commonwealth's 100th Christmas Bird Count

The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (DFG) invites residents throughout the Commonwealth to make the annual Christmas Bird Count a new outdoor holiday tradition, and help researchers study the long-term health and status of bird populations in Massachusetts.
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November 20, 2009

Patrick-Murray Administration Launches New Blog on The Great Outdoors

Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles announced today the launch of a new blog dedicated to engaging and informing Massachusetts residents and visitors about the Commonwealth’s outdoor activities and events, wildlife, state parks, and local agriculture.
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November 18, 2009

Division of Marine Fisheries joins multi-state coalition to protect fish habitat in the Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership (ACFHP) is a geographically-focused and scientifically-based effort to conserve aquatic habitat along the East Coast. Formed under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan, it includes the 16 Atlantic coastal states from Maine to Florida that have coastal river drainages, as well as federal agencies, tribes, local governments, and non-profit organizations. The partnership’s mission is to accelerate the conservation, protection, restoration, and enhancement of habitat for native Atlantic coastal, estuarine-dependent, and diadromous fish.
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October 30, 2009

Divison of Ecological Restoration, the Town of Plymouth, and Conservation Community Celebrate Partnership to Restore Former Cranberry Bogs in Plymouth

Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Commissioner Mary Griffin joined local, state and federal officials to kick off construction of the Eel River Headwaters Restoration Project, which will restore 40 acres of former cranberry bogs to a variety of native wetland types, including an Atlantic white cedar swamp and nearly 2 miles of cold water riverine habitat. Secretary Bowles also announced that the Riverways and Wetland Restoration programs at DFG and EEA’s Office of Coastal Zone Management have merged to create a new Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) at DFG.
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Newsletters

Calendars of Events

Publications

Maps

Note, all of these maps are in pdf format and require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader

  • Massachusetts Outdoor Recreation Map
    The new Massachusetts Outdoor Recreation Map, updated for the first time since 2005, shows conservation land managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. It also identifies all boat access, sport fishing piers, and shore fishing areas managed by DFG’s Office of Fishing and Boating Access, and lists hundreds of state properties and facilities and the types of recreational opportunities they offer. There is additional information about outdoor safety, outdoor ethics, licensing requirements for fishing and hunting, and web links to further information regarding recreational opportunities on state properties.
  • MassWildlife Wildlife Management Area Maps
    These documents include both maps and text describing vegetation, water, wildlife and special regulations if any apply.
  • FBA Maps of Fishing and Boating Access Sites.
    The Office of Fishing and Boating Access posts a table listing all of its facilities. Included in this table is descriptive information about the facility, a list of fish species typically fished for from the site, a link to maps of the site, and a link to a MassWildlife pond map if one is available.
  • MassWildlife Pond Maps
    These maps, in heavy demand by the public, have been scanned from the originals traditionally distributed by MassWildlife in hard copy format. Their singular feature is that they show depth contours for each pond, a feature in great demand by persons planning to fish in those ponds. They were recently updated with written descriptions describing the ponds themselves, fish populations and fishing opportunities.

Public Information Contacts

If you are seeking information about one of our agencies, you may save yourself time by going directly to the agency's web site and looking for information there. In that case, click below on the agency name. If you truly need to contact the agency via email, then click on the email contact given. They try to answer their email in as timely a fashion as possible, but it may take a few days before you hear back from them.