Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

You're probably thinking "How hard can it be to breed rabbits?" If so, you might be surprised.

In Maryland, conservationists used controlled burning, forest clearing, and planting native vegetation to grow great bobwhite quail habitat on Nanticoke River Wildlife Management Area, where the quail population quadrupled over the last four years.

When windstorms or logging create small gaps in older forest, and these openings fill in with dense young spruce and fir, snowshoe hares find good hiding cover and food sources. The gaps also collect and maintain snow cover longer than more-open woods, providing settings where white hares blend in with the background and are less exposed to predators.

A strategically sited timber harvest increases sunlight that “turns up the temperature” on the ground, helping turtles successfully nest and lay eggs that will produce young.

Biologist Brehan Furfey hopes Vermont's network of protected lands will help the young lynx reach the state's Northeast Kingdom "where it will find more young forest habitat and plenty of snowshoe hares to eat."