Waterfowl Nest Boxes: Getting By With A Little Help From Our Friends

By Chuck Hulsey, Regional Wildlife Biologist When you see a wooden box on a post over shallow water, with a hole in the front, you know that it is a nest box for wood ducks.  Did you know Maine has other duck species which need tree cavities in order to nest and rear young? Though developed for wood ducks, they are commonly used by Hooded mergansers and American goldeneyes. “Wood duck boxes” may be the most recognizable wildlife management technique of all. According to the Ducks Unlimited website: “In 1937, the U.S. Biological Survey (now the U.S.

IFW Fisheries Biologists Improve Downeast Fishery

[caption id="attachment_1304" align="alignright" width="519"] A nice Molasses Pond brown trout that was caught this winter.[/caption] by Greg Burr, Regional Fisheries Biologist, Downeast Region

  In the fall of 2010, fisheries biologists scientifically sampled Molasses Pond, a 1,252-acre water

Butch Vickerson Recognized For Work at Maine Wildlife Park

By Lisa Kane, Maine Wildlife Park Supervisor and Curt Johnson, Wildlife Park Superintendent On Friday, January 29, Commissioner Chandler Woodcock presented recently retired Butch Vickerson, a Correctional Trade Instructor with the Dept. of Corrections, with a Commissioner’s print.

CANCELLED Ice Fishing Derby to Benefit Camp North Woods Planned for March

DUE TO UNSAFE ICE CONDITIONS, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR 2016! Join us on March 12 at Range Pond State Park for a fun day on the ice! New to ice fishing? Not a problem! Department staff and volunteers will be on hand to provide instruction. You can still enter the derby for a chance to win some great prize!All proceeds will help fund scholarships for Camp North Woods. Derby tickets are just $10 for adults and $5 for children 15 and under.

Upcoming Game Cooking Workshops

Foodies Gone Wild…Game! Southern Maine Community College (SMCC), in partnership with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW), bring exciting and delicious courses to the table.  Each will offer a cooking demonstration and tasting with SMCC culinary faculty Geoffrey Boardman and information and educational discussion with IFW experts in the field. Saturdays, 9 a

Biologists Keep An Eye On Smelt In Moosehead Lake

[caption id="attachment_1276" align="alignright" width="598"] These three different-sized smelt represent three different age classes.[/caption] How can one tiny fish be the key to so many larger fish? The rainbow smelt may be diminutive in size but its impact is huge.

Maine Warden Service: Notes from the Field

Maine Warden Service Notes From the Field: January 2016 Division A: Game Warden Tony Gray observed a fishermen catch and kill a short lake trout on South Pond in the town of Bryant Pond. South Pond is a general law pond and lake trout are required to be 18 inches long. The fishermen had caught and killed two fish; the lake trout in violation was 13 inches long.

Ice Fishing for Brook Trout in Central and Southern Maine

By Jason Seiders, Regional Fisheries Biologist, Belgrade Lakes Region The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife stocks thousands of brook trout each year to provide ice anglers with an opportunity to catch Maine’s heritage fish, without needing to stray too far from home.

Thin Ice Conditions Continue Statewide

The Maine Warden Service is reminding anglers, snowmobilers and others who enjoy winter recreation on Maine’s lakes and ponds that ice conditions on many waterways throughout the state right now may not be safe to hold themselves or heavy equipment and vehicles. “I can’t stress enough the importance of checking ice conditions right now,” said Game Warden Colonel Joel Wilkinson, “Folks really need to take the time to drill test holes as often as they can and

Check The Chickadee On Your 2015 Tax Form!

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife conserves all of Maine’s wildlife for current and future generations.  Hunting revenues provides funding for the management of game species such as deer, turkey, and bear, but funding for lesser known nongame species that can’t be hunted or trapped has been difficult to find. Protecting these valuable species is vital as they comprise