Recent News

How Beavers Change Forests: New Understandings

August 20, 2020 — cfergus

From New York Almanack

Aside from humans, perhaps no other species can modify its surroundings for its own purposes as much as beaver.

Throughout much of North America, these busy critters take down trees and dam streams to create waterways safe from predators and to lay up enough woody food stores to last the winter.

Deadly Rabbit Virus Spreads in U.S.

July 17, 2020 — cfergus

By Genevieve Rajewski in Tufts Now

An emerging virus threatens both wild and pet rabbits in the United States. The fatal virus—which causes an Ebola-like disease called rabbit hemorrhagic disease—already has been reported in the western and southwestern United States.

New England Cottontails in NH Studied With Genetic Monitoring

April 23, 2020 — cfergus

As conservationists create hundreds of acres of young forest each year to provide food and cover for New England cottontails, it’s becoming increasingly clear that humans will need to help these native rabbits find and occupy new areas. One way to do that – and to boost numbers and health of small populations that already exist in the species’ six-state range – is to release captive-bred rabbits into habitat sites.

Burning Wood Can Be a Clean Source of Power

April 03, 2020 — cfergus

New study shows high demand for biomass power could lead to better forest management.

By Jess Shankleman for Bloomberg Green

Burning large amounts of wood from forests can cut greenhouse gas pollution—but only alongside policies that encourage new trees to quickly absorb carbon dioxide.

Ruffed Grouse Decline Linked to Loss of Young Forest

March 17, 2020 — cfergus

By Ad Crable in Bay Journal

(While this report focuses on states in the Chesapeake Bay drainage, it also applies to New England and other parts of the East. The following is a condensation of a longer article.)

The ruffed grouse, a strikingly beautiful bird that symbolizes wildness, is in trouble across its native range, including states in the Chesapeake Bay drainage.

Saving Maine’s Endangered Wildlife a “Complex Dance”

March 16, 2020 — cfergus

By Aislinn Sarnacki, Bangor Daily News

Maine is home to 51 animals that are currently listed as Endangered or Threatened by the state or federal government. On that list, you’ll find the puffin, the New England cottontail rabbit, the spotted turtle and a fish called a swamp darter — just to name a few.

Partners Review Progress in NEC Restoration

February 17, 2020 — cfergus

By Charles Fergus, in WMI’s Outdoor News Bulletin

Scientists, foresters, and communications specialists from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Connecticut joined with colleagues from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Wildlife Management Institute at the annual New England Cottontail Technical Committee meeting.

A Clear-Cut Discovery in MA – Uncommon Cottontails!

February 04, 2020 — cfergus
This article is reprinted with the permission of MassWildlife magazine. At the bottom of this webpage, readers can download a PDF of the article as it appeared in the magazine.

Faces of Conservation

Jim Kelly actively manages his family’s forests and fields in Sheffield, in western Massachusette. His goal has been to improve forest habitat while providing for forest products, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and enhancing habitat for wildlife.

How Thoughtful Forestry Can Help Birds

December 17, 2019 — cfergus

By Michael Mauri in the Greenfield Recorder

A recent study in the journal Science documented a huge decline in birds across the U.S. and Canada (the study and related materials are at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website).

According to the comprehensive study, our overall bird population has declined by nearly a third since 1970 — an estimated loss of three billion birds!

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