News from MassWildlife's Habitat Programs

MassWildlife’s Habitat Programs are active in all areas of the Commonwealth. A sample of habitat-related publications and media stories are listed below.

2026

• Southern pine beetles: On Saturday, January 17, BiodiversityWorks Director, Luanne Johnson, Wildlife Technician, Silas Beers, and I ventured off to the mainland to attend a Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife southern pine beetle (SPB) event in the Mashpee Pine Barrens...

2025

• Healey Driscoll administration awards $325k to restore critical wildlife habitat: The Healey-Driscoll Administration offered $325,000 in grants to restore approximately 520 acres of wildlife habitat across Massachusetts in 2025. Funding supported prescribed burns, invasive species management, and forest care in Cape Cod & Islands, Sheffield, and Sudbury
• Teaming up for New England cottontail conservation: Private landowners play a vital role in creating young forest habitat for declining native wildlife.
• Native grassland restoration on Wildlife Management Areas: Many grasslands and agricultural fields managed by MassWildlife have been undergoing dramatic changes. Abandoned pastures, hayfields, and cornfields are being restored to native warm-season grasslands.
• Frost bottoms in the summer?: Despite their chilly-sounding name, frost bottom habitats are bustling with activity during the warmer months. Learn why MassWildlife thinks they are so special.
• Busy biologists in Buzzard's Bay: Buzzard's Bay watershed has one of the most diverse landscapes in Massachusetts. This summer, MassWildlife carried out a range of conservation projects, including terrapin counting in, botanical and habitat work, prescribed burns, herring passage monitoring, and stream surveys throughout the region.
• Blazing a path for wildlife: For thousands of years, fire has shaped Massachusetts’ landscape and has benefited wildlife by altering different elements of their habitat. Other management techniques such as mowing, plowing, planting, or herbicide treatments may be used to achieve some habitat goals, but there is no substitute for the unique effects fire produces.
• Where do turkeys gobble?: Massachusetts boasts a rich variety of habitats, each region with its own unique character. Yet despite these differences, wild turkeys can be found throughout the Commonwealth.
• Who benefits from habitat restoration?: Over the past year, MassWildlife implemented restoration work on ~2,700 acres of habitat within Wildlife Management Areas across the Commonwealth. When habitats are restored, everything starts to thrive—from the smallest wildflower to the local economy; even you can benefit from a healthy habitat.

2024

• Game of fire: Prescribed fire improves habitat for game species, like white-tailed deer and wild turkey, so they can thrive in all stages of their lives. Learn about the incredible benefits of fire to game species and the hunters that pursue them. 
• Great Marsh project wins leadership award: An ambitious marsh restoration project supported by MassWildlife and a group of conservation partners was honored by the Environmental Business Council of New England.
• Mussel movers: Prepping for dam removal: MassWildlife worked with partners to safeguard freshwater mussels at the site of a dam removal project on the Quinapoxet River by relocating them to upstream habitats. 
• Protecting habitats 2,500 acres in 2024: Land acquisition staff from the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and MassWildlife collaborated on 26 projects during 2023-2024 fiscal year  protecting nearly 2,500 acres of forests, grasslands, water frontage, and inland water access points.
• Upcoming dam removals will benefit ecosystems and people: MassWildlife plans to remove 7 dams within Wildlife Management Areas in Athol, Sutton, Brookfield, Hardwick, Windsor, and New Braintree. 

2023

• Rare but resilient listed moth found in Hardwick: Discovery of the orange sallow moth at Muddy Brook WMA is the most recent example of animals and plants responding favorably to MassWildlife’s habitat restoration work.
• Rare caterpillar found after decades of habitat restoration: MassWildlife staff recently discovered a frosted elfin caterpillar at Montague Plains WMA. Along with other promising findings, this exciting news is further evidence that restoration at this site is benefiting a host of common and rare species. 

2022

• Burning for success MassWildlife fire crew builds capacity habitat resiliency: A summary on the history of MassWildlife’s Prescribed Fire Program.

2021

• A new view of prescribed fire: MassWildlife safely conducted 17 prescribed fires spring 2021 to improve wildlife habitat. Unmanned Aircraft Systems (aka UAS or drone technology) were used to monitor habitat conditions before, during, and after fires.
• 'Painting with fire': Prescribed burn helps preserve wildlife, mitigate drought conditions: Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, and EEA Secretary Kathleen Theoharides joined MassWildlife for a prescribed fire at the Birch Hill Wildlife Management Area in Winchendon. (WBZ CBS Boston, April 2021)
• Prescribed fire season is here: MassWildlife kicked off the 2021 prescribed fire season by conducting successful prescribed burns at Frances Crane WMA and Penikese Island (MassWildlife Monthly newsletter,April 2021).
• Volunteers help clean up Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area: The New England Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers coordinated with MassWildlife to clean-up Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area.

Older

• A prescription for fire by Alex Entrup, Massachusetts Wildlife, 2018.
• A safe place for wildlife to thrive: Chris Buelow and Jason Zimmer take us on a tour of the Frances Crane WMA. WCAI Radio, July 2014.
• Birds and the bees thrive at Montague Plains: MassWildlife Monthly newsletter, September 2020.
• Building local by Rebecca DiGirolomo, Northern Woodlands, 2015.
• Carbon and conservation on MassWildlife forest lands by John Scanlon and Brian Hawthorne, Massachusetts Wildlife, 2019.
• Carbon-storage on MassWildlife lands
• Demographic response of a shrubland bird to habitat creation, succession, and disturbance in a dynamic landscape by Michael Akresh, David King, and Robert Brooks, Forest Ecology and Management, 2015.
• Faces of conservation, a clear-cut discovery—Uncommon cottontails! Massachusetts Wildlife, 2019.
• Flexing freshwater mussels by Peter Hazelton, Massachusetts Wildlife, 2020.
• Habitat restoration benefits wildlife and local hospital: MassWildlife Monthly newsletter, August 2020.
• Habitat saving our rare habitats: WCAI Radio, February 2015
• Hamant Brook: Restoring a landscape for trout and turtles by Caleb Slater, Massachusetts Wildlife, 2018.
• Hugging baby trees by Marianne Piché, Massachusetts Wildlife, 2015.  (Update: New England Cottontail Conservation​​​​​) in Massachusetts Wildlife, 2019.
• Kent's Island open for outdoor recreation and wildlife habitat restoration: MassWildlife Newsletter, 2019.
• Landscape-scale conservation by Michael W. Nelson and Chris Buelow, Massachusetts Wildlife, 2020.
• Management milestone for wildlife achieved in Hardwick: MassWildlife Monthly newsletter, May 2020.
• Managing a small woodlot​​​​​​ by Bill Davis, Massachusetts Wildlife, 2017.
• Ruffing it in Massachusetts: What makes good grouse habitat?: MassWildlife Monthly newsletter, October 2020
• The working forest and hunters: A symbiotic relationship by Tom Wansleben, Massachusetts Wildlife, 2013.
• Tight-knit grasslands by Karro Frost and Robert Wernerehl, Massachusetts Wildlife, 2020. 

Videos

Check out MassWildlife's Habitat management and land protection Youtube playlist to see footage from projects and presentations by our staff.