Attendees
Present: Emma Ellsworth/Chair, Sasha Dyer, John Hitt, Deborah Rocque, Matthew Sisk, Eve Schlüter/Director (Acting), Tom O’Shea/Commissioner/DFG, Nicole McSweeney/Assistant Director of Outreach and Education, Todd Richards/Assistant Director of Fisheries, Michael Huguenin/Assistant Director of Wildlife, Emily Myron/Assistant Director of Land and Habitat Conservation, Trina Moruzzi/Assistant Director of Operations, Joe Rogers/Conn. Valley Wildlife District Manager, Jason Zimmer/ Southeast Wildlife District Manager, Todd Olanyk/Central Wildlife District Manager, Andrew Madden/Western Wildlife District Manager, Christine Smith/ Assistant General Counsel/DFG, Jennifer Sulla/General Counsel/DFG, Nicole Keleher/Habitat Restoration and Management Program Manager, Marianne Piché/Habitat Biologist, Rebecca Quiñones/Conservation Science Program Manager, Jonathan Brooks/Habitat Biologist, Martin Feehan/Deer and Moose Project Leader; Public: David Morin
Acceptance of the minutes of the May monthly business meeting
Mr. Sisk moved to accept the minutes of the May business meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Dr. Laroque. The vote in favor was unanimous.
Chair's comments
Chair Ellsworth stated that the search for the Director of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife is moving forward. Three candidates have been invited to come in for a second interview, which will take place in July. The final two candidates will be presented to the full board for final selection and appointment to the position.
Chair Ellsworth reported that elections for vice chair will be on the agenda for the July board meeting and that the elections for the full slate of officers are held annually at the October board meeting.
Related to the pending legislation to modernize the hunting laws, Chair Ellsworth stated that there are serious considerations related to the impacts on forest health, climate change, and biodiversity of wildlife lands when deer browse goes unchecked. Managing deer herds has effects on the growth of vegetation, which in turn impacts the biodiversity of many species, including plant, insect, mammal, and riparian. She provided an overview of her interactions with other agencies and interested parties in the Wachusett/Quabbin area and encouraged the public to reach out to their legislative representatives to encourage them to pass the proposed laws.
Related to nominations for the Francis W. Sargent Conservation Award, Chair Ellsworth nominated former Board member Ernest W. Foster IV. She reviewed Mr. Foster’s lengthy contributions in leadership and advocacy in other wildlife organizations, his ongoing mentorship in hunting and conservation activities, and notable actions during his tenure on the Board. She also reviewed past dates and recipients of the Sargent Award.
Ms. Dyer moved to support the nomination of Ernie Foster, IV., for the Francis W. Sargent Conservation Award. Mr. Hitt seconded the motion and the vote in favor was unanimous.
Chair Ellsworth asked for board members to start thinking about what the Board’s priorities and missions might be moving forwards for the upcoming year. Are there personal interests and skills in each member’s professional background that could help to further the work of MassWildlife and its staff. She stated that future meetings of the Board will include fleshing those out and addressing those concepts more fully.
Director’s updates
Director Schlüter reported that the 2026 trout stocking finished at the end of May with over 427,000 trout stocked across the state, and she thanked the dedicated Hatchery and District staff for all their hard work. She also reported that Outreach and Education staff have designed new informational signs to be installed at MassWildlife’s hatcheries that are open to the public so visitors will be able to learn more about MassWildlife and the process of growing fish. These will be installed in the coming months. This is especially important at the Sandwich hatchery, which welcomes thousands of visitors every year. The Director also highlighted that funding from the DFG Biodiversity Grants helped support this effort.
The Director reported that spring has proven very busy for routine calls, including for the Large Animal Response Team, which was dispatched for a bear relocation on the campus of UMass Amherst. She noted that spring surveys and monitoring have begun, such as to band bald eagles and peregrine falcons, and for the protection of rare species such as nesting turtles and piping plovers. Director Schlüter also reported that staff have offered a variety of fishing classes to the public and are continuing to expand the recently introduced Hooks and Books program through public libraries. The Fisheries and District staff have also updated GoFishMA, a web resource for fishing, and are adding new information about water bodies using publicly accessible bathymetry data, with data available for 310 ponds currently and 15 additional to come soon.
The Director stated that on May 27 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a public notice in the Federal Register proposing reforms to the management of National Wildlife Refuge System and the National Fish Hatchery System (NFHS) lands. These proposals will result in the opening or expansion of more than 1,450 opportunities for hunting and fishing, increasing the acreage available for hunting to over 92 million acres nationally. She reported that the NEAFWA had sent a letter in support of the proposed changes, a copy of which was provided in the members’ meeting packets. Director Schlüter stated that MassWildlife staff has begun collaborating with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff to better align state and federal regulations related to hunting and fishing, and explore opportunities to expand access, streamline regulations, support recruitment, and simplify public land use.
The Director stated that she and Assistant Director of Fisheries Todd Richards attended the NEAFWA Landscape Conservation Committee meeting in Connecticut. The committee, which is made up of representatives from the entire Northeast region as well as other invited guests, reviewed the progress of the committee’s and states’ work, and decided upon strategic next steps for advancing landscape conservation in the Northeast region with a particular emphasis on SWAPs and regional plan implementation and connectivity.
She reported that she, along with Board member Deb Rocque and Western District Manager Andrew Madden, attended a listening session on outdoor recreation in the South Berkshire region. It was a similar event to the one held in Franklin County on 413 day earlier this year. She was happy to facilitate the discussion on access, trails, and partnership opportunities. There were participants representing outdoor recreation businesses, tourism and hospitality, land and trail organizations, health and wellness providers, workforce and housing partners, accessibility and inclusion organizations, and regional intermediaries. She stated it was another great event and produced a lot of good feedback. She looks forward to continued engagement with MassWildlife’s sister agencies and these groups in the future.
And lastly, Director Schlüter reported that the FY 2025 MassWildlife Annual Report is now complete and online after a redesign to make it more useful for promotion and outreach. Unfortunately, the printed copies were being delivered after the meeting so the members will receive theirs in the mail. A link to the online version would be sent to the members to view in the meantime.
Commissioner’s updates
Commissioner O’Shea reported that organizational meetings and other activities in June are mounting as it is the end of the fiscal year for many agencies.
The Commissioner recently attended an event at the Ecotarium in Worcester, which was a celebration of the Community Biodiversity Grant Program at which a declaration from Governor Healey was read that establishes a Biodiversity Day in Massachusetts. Its intent is to celebrate biodiversity in all neighborhoods across the Commonwealth. The Community Biodiversity Grant deadline is June 24 and applications are being received. He reported that the City of Boston is creating a biodiversity plan for which the Department has provided feedback.
Related to the hunting legislation that has been filed by Governor Healey, the Commissioner reported that those sections were recently removed from the FY 2027 supplemental budget by the Ways and Means Committee. He went on to report that amendments have been filed in the Environmental Bond Bill by house members, so there is energy still moving the changes forward and legislative actions yet to be taken. He further stated that the Lands team has reached a landmark 3,400+ acres of land in conservation that have been acquired so far, which includes land protected in partnerships with Mass Audubon and other conservation partners.
The Commissioner encouraged the Board members to talk about and consider what priorities should be focused on in the upcoming year. He suggested one action would be for members to be champions for projects and initiatives in their external lives and spheres of influence. Considering all of the work going on in the agency, what ones would they want to engage in? He stated that since they are in the midst of hiring a new Director for the agency, this also presents a good time as there is a transition taking place in the next few months. The Commissioner reported that capital projects like the McLaughlin Hatchery modernization and the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Marine Fisheries Habitat Project in Salem are well underway, and he closed by thanking the staff involved in those projects for seeing them through.
2025-2026 deer review (Martin Feehan)
Assistant Director of Wildlife Mike Huguenin introduced Deer and Moose Project Leader Dr. Martin Feehan, who provided his annual review of the deer population in the Commonwealth. He explained that the purpose of the annual review is to provide Board members and the public information about overall wildlife health and to provide staff with opportunities to make changes to proposed regulations when needed. Dr. Feehan also reported that he would report the ADP allocations for the coming year.
Dr. Feehan discussed the importance of deer management and the negative impacts on ecosystems and agriculture of overabundant deer, which reduces biodiversity, stops forest regeneration, and increases the proliferation of invasive plants. He also reported the positive impacts of deer management to human health and safety, increased recreational opportunities, and the 4.4 million meals that are provided through harvesting deer every year. He stated that harvest-based management is the most efficient method for controlling deer abundance, noting that every state in the country relies on hunter harvest to control deer numbers. He also highlighted the incredible safety record of deer hunting in Massachusetts, reporting that no nonhunters have been killed by hunting and no nonhunters have been injured by archery hunting.
Dr. Feehan reported that the 2025-2026 season was a record year, even in the context of new records being set regularly as deer densities are rising statewide. They include records in each of the zones and the statewide total exceeding previous records set in the last 3 years.
- Total statewide harvest: 16,681 deer (+11%)
- Archery season harvest: 7,283 deer (+4%)
- Antlerless harvest: 8,171 antlerless deer (+13%)
- Zone records: 4N (+19%), 9 (+12%), and 14 (+15%)
- Harvest increased in 14 out of 15 zones
- Deer donated to Hunters Share the Harvest: 437 deer (+111%)
- Meals distributed through Hunters Share the Harvest: 55,000+ meals (+84%)
A graph Dr. Feehan displayed showed changes over time in the statewide deer harvest. The buck harvest numbers have grown significantly in zones 9-14 while they have been fairly flat with only modest recent growth in zones 1-8. This graph was paired with another showing declining hunter participation overall to emphasize the increasing success rates of individual hunters. He reported that 2025-2026 was a successful winter deer season on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Preliminary results show that the fall harvest is plateauing while the winter season totals brought the combined harvest to new highs with a record total season (1,003 deer) on Nantucket and the second-highest season (935 deer) on Martha’s Vineyard. He attributed the increased harvest to increases in non-resident hunters on the Islands, the deer abundance and densities in those zones, and the recent changes in how additional ADPs can be purchased by successful hunters.
Dr. Feehan reported that the antlerless deer permit (ADP) allocations will remain the same for the 2026-2027 seasons but that there are a few zones he is watching carefully in case adjustments are needed in the coming years. He stated that deer harvests are often impacted by weather events and, depending on the pending legislation for hunting law changes, there could be future record years. In addition, there are approved regulations designed to increase the harvest that are awaiting promulgation, including to allow MEP and MassWildlife staff to substitute confirmation numbers for metal seals; to allow the use of only synthetic or other non-deer-based lures; to create a winter deer season in WMZs 9, 10, and 11; to extend the youth deer hunt to include the preceding Friday; and to change the start of the archery season to the Monday following the youth deer hunt.
Dr. Feehan reported another increase in the number of processors and distribution partners for the Hunters Share the Harvest (HSH) program in 2025-2026. He stated that to date over 100,000 meals have been provided by 18 participating processors and more than 25 distribution partners. He highlighted a partnership with the Nantucket Community Food Hub, which has benefited from a $6.5 million investment by the Nantucket Land Bank and Nourish Nantucket. Dr. Feehan reported that the hub opened in December 2025, just in time to help process the Nantucket harvest that saw 6% of all deer harvested donated to the HSH program. The hub is also likely to become a USDA-inspected facility, which could be used to process livestock raised on the island. Dr. Feehan closed his review with thanks to all the hunters that donate their harvest and make HSH possible.
After a brief discussion, Ms. Dyer moved to endorse the 2026-2027 ADP allocations based on the presentation. Mr. Sisk seconded the motion and the vote in favor was unanimous.
Goals for upland habitat management on MassWildlife lands (Emily Myron and Nicole Keleher)
Assistant Director for Land and Habitat Emily Myron began her report by stating that MassWildlife’s goals for upland habitat are designed to provide healthy, diverse habitats so that all plants and animals have a place to live. She reviewed MassWildlife’s mission to emphasize that the agency is about all wildlife and is at the forefront of conserving the Commonwealth’s biodiversity. Ms. Myron noted that an important way staff work to fulfill the agency’s mission is through the upland habitat restoration and management projects the Habitat team undertakes. She reminded the meeting that the Healey-Driscoll Administration has made nation-leading commitments to addressing both the biodiversity and the climate crises, and MassWildlife is proud to play a key role in advancing both of those efforts.
Assistant Director Myron reported that MassWildlife staff manages the lands in its custody in accordance with upland habitat goals that were approved by the Fisheries and Wildlife Board in 2006, but a lot of important things have happened since those goals were set. In particular, she noted that the Habitat program at MassWildlife has grown: MassWildlife stewards more land; staff have more resources available and more science and data to drive decision-making; and MassWildlife has a newly updated State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP), which identifies rare and declining species, also known as Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The SWAP also assesses natural communities and habitats across the Commonwealth that are important for biodiversity, and it sets priority conservation actions, including restoration priorities, for the next decade.
With all of this in mind, Ms. Myron reported, staff are nowrevisiting MassWildlife’s habitat management goals. She noted that a bedrock strategy in biodiversity conservation is land protection – everything else builds from that. MassWildlife strategically acquires and permanently protects lands that provide a wide variety of important habitats and recreational opportunities. Unfortunately, despite the tremendous gains MassWildlife, other state agencies, partners, and municipalities have made in land conservation, we are still seeing concerning declines in the state’s biodiversity. That is why it is important that we not only protect these lands, but that we also restore and manage them for healthy, functioning ecosystems.
Ms. Myron reported that MassWildlife owns in fee and manages about 162,000 acres as wildlife management areas, about 126,000 of those acres are uplands, or areas that generally remain dry, and these include many of our forest types, various shrub communities, grasslands, and heathlands, and they are the focus of her report to the Board.
Because these lands are under MassWildlife’s control, they can be managed pursuant to its mission and provide a type of insurance policy in its long-term conservation efforts for all wildlife. She noted that MassWildlife takes a strategic and science-based approach that prioritizes both protection and restoration, stressing again that land protection alone isn’t enough. In today’s human-altered landscape, some habitats need active restoration and management to remove invasive species, restore natural processes, mitigate changes to water quality and quantity, and improve climate resilience.
Ms. Myron stated that MassWildlife takes its responsibility for stewarding these important places very seriously, and all values of the land are considered when making management decisions, including the additional benefits associated with wildlife-dependent recreation, public access to nature, and climate-change considerations. Sites where staff choose to do restoration and management are thoughtfully chosen and management actions are recommended based on the unique characteristics of each site and how they fit into the broader landscape context.
Ms. Myron then asked Nicole Keleher, MassWildlife’s Habitat Restoration and Management Program Manager, to briefly discuss the four broad categories of habitats that make up MassWildlife’s upland goals: grasslands, shrublands, young forests, and mature forests. Ms. Keleher introduced the gradient of habitat types and seral stages (or age classes) of forests on MassWildlife lands, noting that grassland habitats are more open canopy, and mature forest tends to have a more closed canopy, though there can be trees in more open woodlands that are quite old. The presence of these habitat types across the landscape is heavily driven by the state’s land-use history. Before discussing each of the habitat types separately, Ms. Keleher stressed the importance of having them all on the landscape. We need a dynamic upland habitat mosaic with these habitat types in proximity to one another so that species can move across them and utilize them during different life stages. For example, the wood thrush establishes its breeding territories in mature forests but then requires open habitats for food as it prepares for migration. The state needs them all if we are to be in service of all wildlife.
Ms. Keleher stated that the suppression of natural disturbances, like fire and floods, as well as development and fragmentation, have made open habitat types, like grassland, shrublands, barrens, and young forests, rare in the state. She reported that the newly updated SWAP shows that 45% of our species of greatest conservation need require or use open habitats at some point in their lifecycle. These include birds, plants, reptiles, butterflies, moths, beetles, and more. She also reported that these trends are consistent with national trends. In fact, at the end of last year, the American Bird Conservancy, along with NatureServe and others, developed a watchlist of bird habitats, and they identified that early-successional habitats in the East were among the most threatened bird habitats in North America. It follows that open habitat makes up very little of MassWildlife’s upland portfolio, but it is critically important to maintain our biodiversity. Grassland habitat can be found at sites like Frances Crane in Falmouth and Bourne, and the Southwick and Leyden wildlife management areas (WMA), and these sites support some of the richest suites of specialized and imperiled species in Massachusetts. Many grasslands require ongoing management to maintain the habitat type; without management, woody species grow, close the canopy, and shade the groundcover.
Ms. Keleher turned to the next goal, focused on shrublands, which are dominated by low woody vegetation, with varying amounts of herbaceous plants, including grasses and flowering plants, and sparse young tree cover. These areas provide foraging and nesting sites for many pollinators; nesting and basking habitat for reptiles; and breeding sites for songbirds, including many declining shrubland birds. Shrubland habitat can be found at Wayne F. MacCallum WMA, which is behind MassWildlife’s Field Headquarters, as well as Southampton and Stafford Hill WMAs.
Ms. Keleher then reported that young forests are the third habitat type and are those forests that are less than 20 years of age and occur where a natural or human-induced disturbance has resulted in the removal of a closed tree canopy. Young forests may occur within any forest type and are characterized by regenerating stands of young trees, accompanied by shrubs, grasses, and flowering plants. These areas provide particularly important cover and food for migrating, breeding, and fledgling songbirds and foraging habitat for large mammals as well as for the winter survival of the New England cottontail. Young forests can be found at Fox Den WMA in Western Massachusetts and Birch Hill WMA in Central Massachusetts.
Ms. Keleher next reported that mature forests are mostly closed-canopy forests with scattered older and larger trees, some small gaps and openings in the canopy, well-developed organic soils, and large woody material in various stages of decay. Mature forests will look different depending on the site and the dominate tree-cover type: a dense, highly shaded hemlock forest is very different from a mixed Northern hardwoods forest. She stated that mature forest may require active management to protect native species and keep these sites on their developmental trajectory, though the most common reason for intervention is to reduce the impact from invasive species. As a forest matures into older growth, it will increase structural complexity that can create microhabitats and niches for invertebrates, animals, plants, and lichen to inhabit.
Eventually, she reported, MassWildlife will have even older forests across the landscape. Old growth forests are stable systems that usually have complex composition and physical structure: supporting large, mature trees; openings with regeneration and young tree growth; and a component of standing and fallen dead wood. Ms. Keleher reported that MassWildlife does not currently have any old growth on its WMAs, but that isn’t surprising: old growth forests are rare in Massachusetts, while they provide unique characteristics for sustaining forest biodiversity.
Ms. Keleher displayed a graph based on national Forest Inventory and Analysis data showing that 80% of forests across Massachusetts are 50-100 years old, meaning that both younger and older forests are rare across the landscape. She noted that MassWildlife is not working to have the same amount of these habitat types; the goal is to balance these across the landscape in a dynamic mosaic of all habitat types. While open habitats are important, as she had just discussed, it is equally important to maintain older forests on the landscape, and she reported that a tool managers can use to do this is by designating forest reserves.
Assistant Director Myron took up the narrative and referred back to the presentation about forest reserves to a joint meeting of the Fisheries and Wildlife Board and the DCR Stewardship Council the previous month. She reiterated from that discussion that forest reserves are formally designated landscapes where natural processes, including small and large-scale natural disturbances, such as wind and ice storms, determine changes in the long-term structure, composition, function, and dynamics of the forest ecosystemwithout deliberate human intervention, unless managers are confronted with a specific, unacceptable risk to human safety or forest health. She reported that MassWildlife staff worked alongside DCR and EEA to develop criteria and guidance for establishing forest reserves and for what kind of activities are allowed in those reserves. Reserves will generally be managed passively without attempts to alter ecosystem process and function or shape structure and composition. However, human-induced changes to the climate and the introduction of exotic and invasive plants or insect pests can significantly alter natural processes, and negatively impact carbon storage, biodiversity, and forest resilience. In the face of these impacts, certain activities, like invasive plant control, will be allowed as standard practice, and others, like restoring rare species habitat or implementing prescribed fire, are subject to approval by MassWildlife leadership and require consultation with the Forest Reserves Science and Technical Advisory Committee. She also explicitly noted that forest reserves will remain open to low-impact recreation, including hunting, fishing and trapping.
Ms. Myron reported that the process by which reserves will be formally designated is part of the Mass Ready Act, which is currently being taken up by the state legislature. Assuming the final language is similar to that which was proposed, the Board will ultimately review and approve any forest reserve designations on MassWildlife land. In that case, the plan is to start bringing proposals forward in the coming fall or winter. By designating some of its lands as reserves, MassWildlife is committing to a long-term, passive approach for those designated lands in hopes that they will continue to mature and continue developing toward old-growth characteristics.
Assistant Director Myron stressed that these upland systems are dynamic, and staff are thinking over long periods of time during which habitats shift across the landscape in response to disturbance and the lack of disturbance.
Ms. Myron then noted that the restoration discussed to that point supports the state’s native biodiversity, but there are also added benefits, including for outdoor recreation. She stated that maintaining a mosaic of upland habitats on public lands provides rich opportunities for hunting, birding, and general wildlife viewing. Many restored and managed sites become hotspots for recreation, and they provide unique experiences not available on other protected lands.
She emphasized that habitat restoration work also promotes resilient systems. Protecting wildlife lands ensures they can also provide a myriad of benefits, including clean air, clean water, flood storage, and carbon storage and sequestration. Managing them to restore ecological processes across a complex mosaic with diverse species compositions and age classes makes them more resilient to natural disturbance events so that they can continue to provide these services into the future. Ms. Keleher also stressed that MassWildlife’s ongoing land protection efforts and upland carbon storage and sequestration have continued to grow the pool of carbon on our lands, vastly exceeding the small amounts of carbon initially released from management on a small portion of our lands. In fact, MassWildlife’s revised goals overall will decrease the amount of actively managed land across the landscape and increase the acreage of mature forest and reserves, tipping this carbon budget even further toward carbon storage. All of the habitat types discussed, from forests to grasslands, contribute to the critical natural climate solution that natural lands represent.
Ms. Myron then displayed MassWildlife’s proposed updated management goals, by habitat category, and contrasted them to the existing goals.
| Habitat Category | Existing Goals (2006) | Proposed Goals (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Grassland | 1-2% | 2% |
| Shrubland* | 8-9% | 8% |
| Young Forest* | 10-15% 30% managed in place | 10% 50% managed in place |
| Forest Reserves | 7% of upland forests designated | 20% of upland forests designated |
*Includes barrens
She reported that the proposed upland habitat goals will change the total acreage of anticipated management compared to the 2006 goals. Grassland and shrubland goals remain unchanged and most of those sites will be managed in place, meaning that once managers have established a healthy grassland, they will continue to maintain it through periodic mowing and/or prescribed fire. Staff have reduced MassWildlife’s young forest goal and increased the amount of management that will be done in place. This means that, moving forward, 50% of young forest management will be recurring on the same footprint; these areas will have periodic management to maintain young forest conditions at the same site. The other 50% will not undergo repeated management but will age and develop, and work will be done to create young forest characteristics at other sites. This ultimately leads to a total decrease in acreage that was projected to be impacted under the 2006 goals. Ms. Keleher reported that the vast majority of MassWildlife’s lands will be in mature and maturing forest at any given time, and staff also propose designating 20% of existing upland forests as forest reserves, which would more than double MassWildlife’s current acreage of reserves.
Ms. Myron then compared MassWildlife’s goals to where its lands are today.
| Habitat Category | Existing Goals (2006) | Proposed Goals (2026) | Current Status (on WMAs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grassland | 1-2% | 2% | 1.5% |
| Shrubland* | 8-9% | 8% | 6% |
| Young Forest* | 10-15% 30% managed in place | 10% 50% managed in place | 3.7% 30% managed in place |
| Forest Reserves | 7% of upland forests designated | 20% of upland forests designated | 7% of upland forests designated |
*Includes barrens
She pointed out that MassWildlife has not yet reached either the 2006 goals or the proposed goals. MassWildlife leadership has worked hard to grow the habitat program, and Ms. Myron expressed great pride in all the hard work the Habitat team has done across Massachusetts to move the needle on ensuring a suite of diverse habitat types on the landscape. She also noted that the Habitat program is already very close to reaching the grassland and shrubland habitat goals, and this is partially because the Lands Committee often buys land that already has grassland on it, or has shrublands on an abandoned agricultural field, and requires less intervention. However, she stressed, the Habitat program needs to place more focus on the young forests goal, which requires more expensive upfront work, and she noted that in recent years much of MassWildlife’s young forest work has been focused on barrens restoration.
Assistant Director Myron reported that the revised goals will allow the Habitat program to drive toward both MassWildlife’s biodiversity and its climate commitments. The program is aligning with biodiversity conservation goals by protecting the most important habitats through both active and passive management techniques for species and climate resilience, restoring 75% of the most important habitats, and maintaining habitat diversity. MassWildlife also continues to utilize climate-oriented management strategies and has addressed the Climate Forestry Committee’s recommendations, including by managing in a way that balances the multiple values of forests, managing most of our upland habitat as aging forests, reducing early-successional habitats, and increasing forest reserves on both public and private lands.
She encouraged the members and the public to continue to learn more about the importance of upland habitats, the species they support, and the Habitat team’s work to restore them through MassWildlife’s website, the BioMap pages, and the State Wildlife Action Plan. She also announced that members of the public are being encouraged to provide feedback on the proposed habitat goals. There is a form that is available until July 31, 2026, at 5:00 p.m., which can be accessed through the habitat goals webpage. She reported that staff will review all feedback received and report to the Board in the fall with a comment review and final recommendation, then ask for a vote to approve MassWildlife’s revised habitat goals.
In the discussion that followed the presentation, Director Schlüter stated that the goals are designed to create a strong balance of habitats across the landscape given the climactic and structural shifts that are happening. She stated that the goals match resource availability and the tempo component of what is naturally happening and take into account the goals in other reports and research, stressing that MassWildlife’s is also an adaptive approach. She also stressed that the staff provides technical support and expertise to other landowners to further statewide habitat goals.
Confirm the July business meeting date and time, July 8, 2026, at 1:30 p.m., at the MassWildlife Field Headquarters and on Zoom.
After a brief discussion, the members confirmed the July business meeting on July 8, 2026, at 1:30 p.m., and the August business meeting on August 5, 2026, at 1:30 p.m., both being held at the Field Headquarters and in a Zoom webinar.
Members’ comments
Mr. Sisk reported on his attendance at the Biodiversity Days at the Ecotarium. He also stated that there is a Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Advisory Committee meeting in July and invited other board members to attend.
Ms. Dyer reported on communications from constituents about bears in their neighborhoods and the responsibilities of humans when bears are attracted to our properties.
Adjourn
There being no further business, Mr. Sisk moved to adjourn. Ms. Dyer seconded the motion. The vote in favor was unanimous, and the meeting adjourned at 12:00 p.m.
List of documents presented to the Board in its June business meeting packets
June agenda
Draft May meeting minutes
June report from the Massachusetts Environmental Police
Copy of letter from the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service providing comments on the “National Wildlife Refuge System; 2026-2027 Station-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations”