Search Results

Delta Wind Birds Co-Hosts Regional Shorebird Conservation Workshop for Wildlife Biologists and Landowners

This article was originally published by Delta Wind Birds on October 14, 2015. Access the original article here. Managers of public and private lands from six southeastern states gathered this week in Lambert and Isola, Mississippi, for workshops highlighting land management to support migrating ‘shorebirds’ passing through the Delta. Delta Wind Birds, a local nonprofit organization promoting shorebird conservation, partnered with Manomet, a nonprofit focused on bird conservation, education, and business sustainability, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture, to host the workshop. Shorebirds are a family of birds including sandpipers and plovers, which are often associated with sandy beaches and barrier islands. However, these birds rely on other habitat types, like inland wetlands found...

Bled, scraped and starved to death: Exploding tick numbers threaten this New England beast

This article is written by Darryl Fears was originally published by the Washington Post on October 7, 2015. Read the original article here. Fair warning: What you’re about to read will make your skin crawl. Right now, in the woods of Maine and New Hampshire, tens of millions of winter ticks are pouring out of eggs and climbing up stalks until they reach an ideal peak — about the height of a moose. If a moose happens by — male, female, calf … winter ticks don’t care — they climb aboard. Other types of ticks, such as wood ticks and deer ticks, grab a bite and drop off. Winter ticks are much greedier. They hang on for the entire winter, fattening up on blood until...

Manomet lands $288,000 NOAA grant for clam farming work

This article was published by the Island Institute on September 29, 2015. See the article here. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded Manomet a two-year, $288,000 grant to help Maine towns set up softshell clam farms. The grant comes from the NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service Saltonstall-Kennedy Grants Program, which funds projects that address the needs of fishing communities, optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries, and increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable. Maine’s $18 million (in 2013) softshell clam (Mya arenaria) industry is the state’s third most valuable fishery, after lobster and elvers (glass eels). Softshell clam harvesting has been a mainstay of coastal communities for centuries, but with the warming waters in the Gulf of Maine in...

NOAA Awards Manomet $288,000 Grant to Help Maine Coastal Towns Pioneer Softshell Clam Farming

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded Manomet a two-year, $288,000 grant to help Maine towns set up softshell clam farms. The grant comes from the NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service Saltonstall-Kennedy Grants Program, which funds projects that address the needs of fishing communities, optimize economic benefits by building and maintaining sustainable fisheries, and increase other opportunities to keep working waterfronts viable.   Maine’s $18M (2013) softshell clam (Mya arenaria) industry is the state’s third most valuable fishery, after lobster and elvers (glass eels). Softshell clam harvesting has been a mainstay of coastal communities for centuries, but with the warming waters in the Gulf of Maine in recent years, the invasive European green crab (Carcinus maenas) is decimating clam...

American Oystercatcher: Why would a bird need a business plan?

This article was originally published by the National Fish and Wildlife Service. Access the full article here. Just a few years ago, the future looked bleak for the American oystercatcher. The charismatic shorebird, easily recognized by its long, red-orange beak and striking, red-rimmed yellow eyes, was once fairly common along the Eastern Seaboard. But by 2008, a mere 11,000 remained, scattered along the country’s shoreline between Maine and Texas. Biologists were projecting a 12 percent drop — maybe more — in oystercatcher numbers over 10 years. Coastal development, human disturbance and predation at fewer remaining nesting sites had taken a toll. Profound threats loomed, including coastal sea level rise and contamination of the species’ primary food source, its namesake bivalve. “They were...

Manomet Researchers Set to Embark on Largest Breeding Shorebird Survey

The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge is thought to support one of the largest and most diverse populations of breeding shorebirds in the Western Hemisphere. However, there has never been a complete survey to measure breeding populations there—until now.   This May, Manomet’s Stephen Brown and Brad Winn will join five scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to immerse themselves in this immense wetland wilderness and implement the largest survey of breeding shorebirds ever conducted. The full survey will take two seasons to complete and is part of the Program for Regional and International Shorebird Monitoring (PRISM) which plans to cover all prime shorebird habitats in the North American Arctic.                  An aerial shot...

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation 2014 Annual Report: Long-term Investments Reverse Population Decline

This is a segment of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's 2014 Annual Report. Access the full report here. Just a few years ago, the future looked bleak for the American oystercatcher. The charismatic shorebird with a red-orange beak and striking, red-rimmed yellow eyes was once fairly common along the Eastern Seaboard. But by 2008, less than 11,000 remained, scattered along the shore between Maine and Texas. Biologists were projecting a 12-percent drop in oystercatcher numbers over 10 years. Coastal development, human disturbance and predation at nesting sites had taken a toll. More threats loomed, including sea-level rise and contamination of the species’ primary food source, its namesake shellfish. “They were not quite on the brink of extinction, but they were...

South Jersey volunteers work to save horseshoe crabs at East Point Lighthouse

This article was originally published on NJ.com  on March 29, 2015. The article was written by Caitlyn Stulpin . View the original article here. On the northern side of the Delaware Bay, down the winding back roads of Cumberland County, the East Point Lighthouse stands proudly where it's stood for more than a century, guiding boats and mariners involved with the oyster trade. The lighthouse has served as a landmark, a guide and an icon for Maurice River, but lately, it's served as the focal point of an issue in the community. Just beyond the iconic lighthouse sits a heavily-used boat ramp. Due to strong currents and rough weather, a one-foot gap has formed between the piling as the concrete of the ramp. While the gap...

Nothing Rotten About Deadwood

This article was originally published by Northern Woodlands in The Outside Story on March 9, 2015. The article was written by Joe Rankin. View the original article here. A guy down the road has been working in his woods for the last couple of years. He’s cleaning them up. And I mean cleaning. He cuts the underbrush. Takes out the dead trees, the downed logs, the dead branches. Okay, I confess. The neatnik in me is envious. Part of me would like my 70 acres of woods to look like a park. But that’s the problem. A park is not a forest. And the forest is more than the trees. It’s an entire suite of complex systems, merging and interacting. An ecological orchestra in the woods. Dead...

Workshop on Alewives Inspires Hope Within Downeast Fisheries Community

Optimism filled the room last month during a Downeast Fisheries Partnership (DFP) workshop on alewives—an unassuming little fish unknown to the average consumer, but possibly the key ingredient to the revival of fisheries in Eastern Maine.   Alewives live in the ocean, but spawn in freshwater and are an important component of the nutrient cycle that connects terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Also known as ‘river herring,’ alewives have been a staple of the economic and cultural fabric of Downeast Maine, for hundreds of years. However, as one participant remarked during the workshop, “Kids in East Machias don’t even know what alewives are anymore.”   The workshop was full of enthusiastic visionaries who represent different facets of the community, including...