Attention hunters: Apply for ADP before July 16
The deadline for applying for an Antlerless Deer Permit is July 16. Click here to learn how to apply.
MassWildlife staff among wildland firefighters deployed to Quebec
On July 5, two members of the MassWildlife prescribed fire crew, Connor Fleming and Ben Mazzei, departed for Quebec, Canada to help battle some of the more than 70 wildfires that have continued to burn since the beginning of June. Fleming and Mazzei join 14 other wildland firefighters from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
The crew will travel to Quebec, where they will be assigned to one of many ongoing fire incidents throughout the province. The 16 Massachusetts firefighters will be joined by four firefighters from Connecticut and one from Vermont. They will engage in direct fire suppression, working on the fire line for about 14 days—building fire breaks, securing fire perimeters, containing fires, and protecting structures.
“We thank Ben and Connor for their dedication to prescribed fire and for supporting this international wildland fire effort,” says Caren Caljouw, MassWildlife's Prescribed Fire Program Manager. "We are proud to provide assistance to our Canadian neighbors and know the experience gained by our staff will translate directly to improving MassWildlife’s prescribed fire program and strengthening our wildlife conservation efforts.”
Rising temperatures, drier conditions due to years long droughts, and a lack of rain and snowfall, all caused by climate change, are fueling increased fire activity, making fire season last longer and its effects more severe. These conditions have made wildfires over the last few years more extreme and active than in the past. The fires in Quebec are just the latest in a series of wildfires burning across Canada this year, including those in Nova Scotia, which resulted in major smoke impacts across the northeastern United States.
“These wildfires are continuing to rage, burning millions of acres of land and blowing smoke into Massachusetts that’s polluting our air,” said DCR Commissioner Brian Arrigo. “I’m proud that we are sending another crew of well-trained and dedicated firefighters to help our friends and partners in Quebec battle these intense blazes and stop further destruction of forests.”
“Fueled by climate change, wildfires are negatively impacting public health, forest health, carbon sequestration and biodiversity here in Massachusetts and throughout North America,” said DFG Commissioner Tom O’Shea. “We are extremely grateful to the dedicated staff from DCR and DFG who have volunteered for this important and difficult assignment.”
Massachusetts, along with the other New England states and New York, established the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact—also called the Northeast Compact—in 1949. The Compact provides a means for member states to cope with wildland fires that may become too intense for a single member state to control. Currently, the Northeast Compact members include seven states—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York—and five provinces—Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland-Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. The Compact also includes the Fire Department of New York City, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. National Park Service.
Rare caterpillar found after decades of habitat restoration
You could call the frosted elfin picky. These small, brown butterflies will only lay eggs on two types of plants: sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis) and yellow wild indigo (Baptisia tinctoria). The frosted elfin, designated as a Species of Special Concern in Massachusetts, is only found at about two dozen sites across the Commonwealth. Unlike wide-ranging butterflies such as the monarch, frosted elfins live in localized colonies and most individuals never leave the habitat occupied by previous generations. Thanks to decades of effort by MassWildlife to propagate sundial lupine and restore wildlife habitat, staff are pleased to announce the recent discovery of a frosted elfin caterpillar at Montague Plains Wildlife Management Area (WMA), approximately one mile away from the nearest known population.
Montague Plains WMA is located in Montague, Massachusetts. The area contains the largest inland pine barrens habitat in the Commonwealth and is characterized by an open tree canopy and lots of shrubby undergrowth. The deep, coarse glacial sands that underlay the area give rise to its unique features and the specialized plants and animals that live there. Periodic fires are necessary to maintain many pine barrens plants. When MassWildlife acquired the bulk of Montague Plains WMA in 1999, decades of agricultural plowing and subsequent abandonment, along with wildfire suppression, had almost completely inhibited the unique characteristics of pine barrens habitat. Only a few scattered patches of unplowed land contained remnants of a more diverse habitat and native plants.
One of the primary threats to the frosted elfin is habitat loss. Prescribed fire promotes the growth of lupine and wild indigo and maintains the open habitat needed by both the frosted elfin and its food plants. For the past two decades, MassWildlife has been actively working at Montague Plains to restore and maintain pine barrens habitat through prescribed fire, tree cutting, and mowing.
“The unique barrens habitat at Montague Plains WMA is considered regionally and globally rare, making our restoration efforts at this site especially important for rare animals and plants that require this special habitat type,” says Brian Hawthorne, MassWildlife’s Habitat Program Manager. “It is incredibly rewarding to see decades of effort paying off.”
As part of the restoration process, biologists located a few small remnants of sundial lupine at Montague Plains WMA and adjusted management actions to favor lupine growth. Staff also collected seeds from lupine and from little bluestem grass in the area and gradually worked to expand existing patches of these valuable native plants. Thanks to careful restoration work, the original ¼-acre remnant of little bluestem near one of the lupine patches has expanded to cover nearly 20 acres.
Multiple biological surveys at Montague Plains WMA have shown that habitat restoration efforts are working. There is now an abundance of barrens plants including wild lupine, New Jersey tea, scrub oak, and low-bush blueberry. Uncommon and rare moths, butterflies, native bees, and reptiles—like the eastern hognose snake and eastern box turtle—are benefiting from this vibrant growth. Birds like the whip-poor-will, eastern towhee, prairie warbler, American woodcock, and ruffed grouse are making homes here and their numbers are increasing. More common species like black bear, white-tailed deer, and wild turkey are also taking advantage of the plentiful food and other habitat features created.
MassWildlife awarded $773K to address wildlife diseases
The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) was recently awarded $773,300 in Zoonotic Disease Initiative grant funds from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These funds will be used over a 3-year period to develop a wildlife health and public outreach program for Massachusetts and to research wildlife diseases and prevent their spread within the Northeast region. Under the direction of MassWildlife, the new MassWildlife Health program will be guided by an interagency task force of subject area experts and cooperating partners, including the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Department of Agriculture, Cornell University, UMass-Amherst, University of New Hampshire, Tufts University, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and USDA Wildlife Services.
Zoonotic diseases are defined as those that can be transmitted between wildlife and humans. This federal funding provides grants to states, Tribes, and territories to address wildlife disease outbreaks before they become pandemics. The highest priority for the initiative is to increase organizational readiness and ensure there is a network of partners across the nation who are prepared to respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks. Strengthening partner capacity for wildlife health monitoring will allow for the early detection of diseases.
“Recent disease issues like Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in birds and white-nose syndrome in bats have highlighted the need for building capacity within MassWildlife and other groups in the region to respond quickly using the latest science and best practices,” said Mark S. Tisa, Director of MassWildlife. “This funding will help us formalize working relationships with our partners to conduct surveillance and improve public outreach.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s One Health approach to zoonotic diseases includes working closely with experts who specialize in public, animal, and ecosystem health to develop comprehensive plans and appropriate responses to zoonotic disease events. This funding will provide critical financial resources to agencies like MassWildlife who can help prevent and combat global pandemics before they start.
Grants awarded under the Zoonotic Disease Initiative will be used to establish and enhance the capabilities of Tribal, state, and territorial fish and wildlife agencies to effectively address health issues involving free-ranging terrestrial, avian, and aquatic wildlife. Authorized under the American Rescue Plan (2021, H.R. 1319, Section 6003.3), the Initiative will provide up to $9 million in funding to strengthen early detection, rapid response, and science-based management research to address wildlife disease outbreaks before they cross the barrier from animals to humans and become pandemics. Click here to learn about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Zoonotic Disease Initiative.
Shad stocking underway on the Taunton River
American shad are fish that migrate from oceans to rivers every spring to spawn. They were once abundant in large Massachusetts rivers like the Taunton, but now only a small portion of their historical population remains. To help increase their numbers, MassWildlife, the Division of Marine Fisheries, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have begun stocking larval shad.
Fish, like American shad, that spend portions of their lives in both the ocean and freshwater rivers, are known as diadromous fish. Special techniques are needed to restore these migratory fish so that they become connected to a certain freshwater location. Tiny shad, just a few hours old and still attached to their egg sacks, are stocked in the Taunton so that they can “imprint” on the unique characteristics of the river. This will aid in their navigation back to the Taunton when they return as adults after spending 3–5 years in the ocean. Approximately 2 million larval shad will be stocked in the Taunton River each year over the next 5 years.
The Division of Marine Fisheries and MassWildlife began monitoring shad populations in the Taunton using beach seines and electrofishing methods in 2017. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began stocking in 2022. Monitoring will continue over the next several years to document population changes in response to the stocking effort. The goal of this partnership is to restore a strong, self-sustaining shad population, and to open the fishery to recreational harvest in the future.
Taunton River once teemed with river herring, shad, and other diadromous fish. However, during the industrial revolution these populations plummeted due to pollution, overfishing, and the construction of multiple dams that blocked passage of migratory fish. Today, water quality improvements and an increase in habitat quality and quantity through dam removal have allowed for the opportunity to bring back this historically important fishery.
This shad restoration effort is part of a larger conservation story for the Taunton. Recent dam removals on Mill River—a tributary of the Taunton—and water quality improvements have led to a rebound in the number of river herring in that system. The once diminished river herring population, which includes both alewife and blueback herring, is thriving and the Taunton is now home to one of the largest river herring runs in the state. River herring numbers in the Mill River have increased from 1,000 fish in 2013 to over 31,000 fish in 2021.
MassWildlife, the Division of Marine Fisheries, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will continue this collaborative restoration and monitoring work in the Taunton with the goal of returning the American shad population closer to historical levels. To learn more about the history and current state of migratory fish in Massachusetts, read Migrating Fish, Changing Rivers. This article, written by MassWildlife Fisheries Biologist, Steven Mattocks, was published in Massachusetts Wildlife magazine in 2022.
Protect your poultry from predators
As backyard chicken farming has increased in popularity across the Bay State, conflict with wildlife has also greatly increased. The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) and the Environmental Police receive calls daily about predators taking chickens or breaking into coops. Any poultry that is unprotected, including free range chickens, are viewed as part of the natural food chain and will make an easy meal for predators like coyotes, black bears, foxes, fisher, birds of prey, and more. Read below for tips on how to protect your poultry from predators.
Fencing
- Poultry should be contained within predator-proof fencing. Remember, chicken wire is designed to keep birds in, but won’t always keep predators out. Use a sturdy fence that is at least six feet tall.
- Properly maintained electric fencing is the only way to protect chickens and other poultry from bears. Electric fencing is easy to set up and safe around people and pets. Basic electric fencing kits can range from $180 to $600. You can also read MassWildlife’s Electric Fencing Guide to Prevent Bear Damage to learn how to build your own electric fence.
- An outward overhang fence design or free spinning PVC pipe on a tight wire at the top of a fence can prevent some predators, like coyotes, from climbing over a fence.
- If you plan on moving your birds from one location to another, consider a portable electric fence design.
- For predators that can dig beneath fences, like foxes and coyotes, bury fencing at least 1 foot into the ground.
Enclosure Design
- Make sure your coop is sturdy and has doors and windows that can be closed tightly and securely.
- Protect poultry from aerial predators, like hawks and owls, by providing overhead cover. Crisscrossing overhead wires can also help to disrupt the flight patterns of raptors. Covering poultry runs with plastic netting or well-supported welded-wire fencing will reliably prevent attacks from above.
- Raising coop enclosures off the ground can prevent predators from sneaking in beneath the enclosure.
Additional Tips
- Store feed in a lockable and secure area. Use tight-fitting galvanized trash containers that will reduce attractive odors for wildlife like bears. Clean up any leftover food that may attract pests and predators.
- Provide adequate lighting and remove brush and large bushes from around the pen area perimeter.
- Noise making devices can scare off predators or alert you that something is in the area.
For more advice on how to prevent or address damage from wildlife, please contact your nearest MassWildlife District Office.
10 Tips for taking kids fishing
The only thing better than catching a fish yourself is helping your kids do the same! While a family fishing trip can be fun, young anglers may become bored or lose interest quickly. With a little preparation and some patience, your kids will be reeling in their first catch in no time! These tips will help you share your love of fishing with the whole family.
1. Teach them the rules. A fishing trip is a great opportunity to teach kids about conservation and the environment. Teach your children how ethical anglers follow the rules. Pick up a fish ID guide to show them the types of fish they might catch. Share the current fishing regulations and make sure you have your license. In Massachusetts, kids under 15 can fish for free and do not need a license. If you plan to help your kid cast or reel in their catch, you will need a fishing license to assist them. Click here to get your fishing license.
2. Get the right equipment. Start your kids out with a simple push-button spin-casting rod and reel combo that is light-weight. Leave the bait-casting and fly rods at home. With basic equipment, children will spend more time with their line in the water and less time dealing with technical problems. Rig up a basic hook, sinker, and bobber, and watch your kids light up as they see the bobber go under.
3. Practice at home. Get kids excited and ready for a fishing trip by practicing at home first. Let them get the feel for casting by practicing (without hooks) in your yard or in a park. This will help them develop timing and coordination in a low-stress environment. You can even put out targets so they can work on their aim.
4. Pick nearby locations. Go somewhere close to home. To avoid untangling line from trees, look for an open space with room for kids to cast. Find a great place to fish with our Go Fish Ma! interactive map—select the "Featured Sites" filter in the map for staff recommendations with easier access to the water. If you want to make a day of it, state parks often offer amenities like picnic tables, grills, and bathrooms.
5. Use good bait. While fishing isn't all about catching, kids have more fun when they get a few bites. Opt for bait instead of lures. Try using garden worms, mealworms, crickets, or small, dense pieces of food like cheese, chicken, hot dogs, or bread.
6. Target easy fish. Some adults care about catching big fish, but most youngsters are happy with anything at the end of their line. Forget about trophy fishing, and instead target panfish like pumpkinseed, bluegill, and yellow perch, which are plentiful, easier to catch, and require less technique. Panfish usually hang out in shallow, weedy beds next to the shoreline.
7. Make it fun (for them). Be patient, stay positive, and focus on creating an amazing experience. Keep trips short when kids are younger. An hour or two is enough to keep them wanting more. If they get bored, encourage them to explore the shoreline to look for critters or skip rocks. Kids care more about having fun with you than what they catch.
8. Keep them comfortable. Snacks, drinks, sunscreen, and bug spray keep kids happy. Make sure everyone is in appropriate clothing for the weather.
9. Be safe. A fun day fishing can be quickly ruined by injury. Consider using barbless hooks or using needle nose pliers to bend down barbs on your hooks. If kids are going to bait their own hook, teach them to be cautious. Even along shore, children should wear life jackets as they learn to fish. Polarized sunglasses help protect young eyes from the sun and from tree branches or hooks. Remember to pack a small first aid kit.
10. Keep going! As your kids practice and grow more comfortable, fishing trips will become more fun for them (and for you). Keep it interesting by switching up your routine with a new fishing spot or type of bait. As your children get older, they will become more independent and want to try learning new techniques. You can find online resources to learn new fishing skills here.
R3 Summit builds partnerships, promotes fishing and hunting
This June, representatives from nearly 30 organizations gathered at MassWildlife’s Field Headquarters for an R3 Summit. R3 is a national movement to Recruit, Retain, and Reactivate hunters, anglers, and shooting sports participants. The gathering allowed partners to collaborate on ways to support and grow outdoor recreation in Massachusetts.
The R3 initiative is a response to ongoing state and national trends. Participation in fishing and hunting peaked in Massachusetts in 1988. Since then, fishing has declined by 40% and hunting by 58%. These downward trends are occurring nationally as well, which has led to a movement to reconnect and introduce people to these outdoor pursuits and keep outdoor recreation relevant to future generations.
“Getting outside is critical to our well-being and improves our quality of life,” said Tom O’Shea, Department of Fish and Game Commissioner. “We are committed to working with partners to equitably connect more people with nature and to make the outdoors more welcoming and accessible to everyone.”
Historically, hunters were one of the first conservation groups in the U.S. to recognize the importance of protecting open space for wildlife species. Most state fish and wildlife agencies, like MassWildlife, are heavily dependent on the revenue from hunting and fishing licenses and dedicated federal funds to support their state’s conservation programs. Therefore, declines in hunting and fishing participation have a direct impact on conservation funding at a time when habitat and species conservation are more important than ever. Though numbers may be dwindling, hunters and anglers remain the backbone of numerous management and conservation efforts across the country through advocacy, funding, species management, and volunteer time.
“No single organization can provide all the resources needed to recruit, retain, and reactivate anglers, hunters, and shooting sports participants,” said Mark Tisa, Director of MassWildlife. “Building and maintaining strong partnerships brings a diversity of perspectives and builds more capacity to provide expanded R3 programming here in the Commonwealth.”
The Massachusetts R3 Summit brought together over 30 leaders in the outdoor community. Summit participants heard from state and national speakers about outdoor recreation participation trends, best practices for R3 efforts, and ways to improve educational programs that teach people how to hunt and fish. They also had the chance to collaborate on participation barriers and opportunities specific to Massachusetts.
“There are many groups here in Massachusetts working to teach and grow participation,” commented Keith Fritze, Massachusetts chapter president of the National Wild Turkey Federation. “The Summit allowed us to come together and think about how each of our organizations, each with our own areas of expertise, can combine efforts and work towards a common goal.”
MassWildlife has been working towards R3 goals for years—offering a variety of outdoor skills programs, improving resources to support new hunters and anglers, and expanding access to lands and waters open to hunting and fishing. The Summit, along with the release of the Massachusetts R3 Plan, mark a new chapter and a renewed commitment to building a strong outdoor coalition through collaboration and partnership.