Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine, Winter 1985-86

~AINE

FISH AND WILDLIFE WINTER 1985-86

$1.75

Red FOX

Photo © Leonard Lee Rue 111

NIAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE Governor Joseph E. Brennan

VOL. 27, NO. 4

WINTER 1985-86

Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Glenn H. Manuel, Commissioner Norman E. Trask, Deputy Commissioner Frederick B. Hurley, Jr., Director Bureau of Resource Management Peter C. Brazier, Director Bureau of Administrative Service John F. Marsh, Director Bureau of Warden Service

Advisory Council

Features Warden K-9s: On The Right Track

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by Deborah S. Palman

Where Do Those Regulations Come From, Anyway?

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by Norman E. Trask Francis D. Dunn, Patten Chairman Nathan Cohen, Eastport Rodney W. Ross, Brownville Marc Plourde, Eagle Lake Carroll York, ~st Forks Lawrence Hawkes, Lincoln F. Paul Frinsko, Portland Asa 0 . Holmes, Belfast

Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine W. Thomas Shoener, &litor Thomas J. Chamberlain, Managing &litor Thomas L. Carbone, Photo &litor

The Wanderer Is Coming Home!

Made In Maine

by Paul E. Rivard and Marilyn Norcini

Nongame Wildlife Poster Western Mountain Tracts

by John W Forssen

All photographs in this issue were made by the Public Information and Education Division unless otherwise indicated.

A Brilliant Deduction

by Alan E. Hutchinson

MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE (ISSN 0360-005X) is published quarterly by the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 284 State St. Station 41, Augusta , ME 04333, under Appropriation 4550. Subscription rate: $7.00 per year.

No stamps, please. Second class postage paid at Augusta, ME 04330. Š Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and WLldlife, 1985.

Pennission to reprint text material is granted , provided proper credit is given to the author and to the MAINE FISH AND WILOIFE. Clearance must be obtained from artists, photographers, and non-staff authors to reproduce credited \\Ork.

CHANGE OF ADDRF$8: Send both old and new addresses to Circulation Section, MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE Magazine, 284 State St. , Sta. #41, Augusta, ME 04333. Please allow six weeks for change to take effect. Your post office cannot forward copies unless you provide forwarding postage.

POSTMASI'ER: Send address changes to Circulation Section, MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE Magazine, 284 State St. , Sta. #41 , Augusta, ME 04333.

The Depanment ci Inland FtSheries and Wlldli1i: receives federal . funds from the U.S. Department of the Interior. Accordingly, all department programs and activities must be operated free from discrimination in regard to race, color, national origin, age, or handicap. Any person who believes that he or she has been discriminated against should write to The Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington , D.C. 20240.

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.by Richard B. and Elizabeth A. Bennett Chipman

12 16

is 22

Departments FROM THE FLY TYING BENCH:

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The Black Stone Fly

FISH AND WILDLIFE BRIEFS

24

FIELD NOTES

28

KID-BITS

30 THE COVER

The Knife-edge, Mt. Katahdin , Baxter State Park. Photo by Henry Hilton

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ll~llll)l~N Il--f)S OnThe RightTrack (Editor's Note: Due to the expense in¡ volved, both of time and money, Wardens Patman and Hanrahan are the only two currently involved in the Warden Service K-9 program. Acquisition and training of a dog must be accomplished at the warden's expense, which is considerable!

The K-9 program began in 1980, and has involved, in addition to the current two K-9 teams, Warden Bill Allen and K-9 Satan and Warden Jim Ross and K-9 Caesar. Our thanks to these two teams for their past work in this program.)

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HE WARDEN SERVICE K-9 teams (myself and my K-9 Labrador retriever Raven , and Warden Bill Hanrahan and K-9 Trampas, a Doberman) answered 37 requests for services during 1984. Following are only a few examples, chosen primarily to illustrate the versatility of K-9 teams.

February 25: I confronted three subjects who were ice fishing on a closed pond. While I was gathering up their fish and writing out a summons, one of the trio began threatening me - but one of the other two convinced him that Raven, who was with me, could and would make things pretty difficult. I experienced no more trouble.

April 28: Warden Bill Hanrahan and K-9 Trampas were working on a brook closed to smelting. Early in the evening, they approached a subject who was taking smelts; the smelter ran.

Bill and Trampas pursued him and began to catch up, but Bill 2

tripped and fell. Realizing that the subject was going to escape, he yelled, "Stop or I'll send the dog!"

Although Bill didn 't really intend to use Trampas, the bluff worked, and the subject stopped immediately.

Later that night, Warden Hanrahan confronted five other suspects for illegal smelting. When the subjects indicated that they doubted Hanrahan could arrest them all, Bill called Trampas to his side and put him on guard. The five said they had seen the dog in action before, and quickly calmed down .

September 30: Warden Hanrahan and Trampas went to the scene where three children had been missing for five or six hours.

Although previous searchers had pretty well contaminated the area, Bill started with a scent article from one of the missing children. Trampas tracked about two miles into the woods, and promptly overtook the lost trio.

October 2: Trampas did another successful scent discrimination track, this one to locate an elderly woman missing two or three hours.

Trampas found the woman despite the fact that 20 firemen had left scent and cross-tracks all over the area from a grid search before Trampas arrived.

October 4: Warden Gary Sargent, my dog Raven, and I were assisting Warden Norman Moulton at the scene of an out-of-season doe kill.

The complainant told us he had

seen two men running from the place where he found the doe (he was bird hunting.) Raven worked the area for more than 30 minutes, but he kept indicating to us that the only human scent in the area was on the road where we had talked to the complainant.

Raven and I worked the area and found the complainant's empty shotshell; he had told us he had shot at a bird before finding the doe. While we examined the shell, Norm checked the shot which had felled the deer; both were 7 1/2 shot, and the shell had been discharged about 15 feet from where the doe was found . When confronted with all this, the complainant admitted that he had shot the deer himself, mistaking the movement for that of a bird.

October 29: Raven and I searched about 50 acres of blueberry fields looking for a large buck that Warden Phil White thought had been shot by night hunters.

We didn 't find the animal, but did find the remains of a deer killed that summer; Raven also showed a lot of interest in a particular spot where the big buck had been dropped.

After Raven had worked the area, all night hunting there came to a halt. Phil theorized that the poacher, who was hunting the area on foot, was afraid Raven would track him to his house.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

by Deborah S. Patman

ii

November 8: Warden Mike Morrison requested assistance from Raven and me, and from State Police Sgt. Lloyd Williams and his K-9, Moose, at a residence where two subjects had escaped with parts of an illegal deer as wardens attempted to search the building.

Although the tracks were several

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

hours old and thoroughly contaminated, Raven and I were able to find a track and follow it into the woods to a duffle bag filled with about 60 pounds of deer meat.

Having this evidence in hand, the wardens summonsed the owner of the residence.

The author Is a warden specialist dealing with the Maine Warden Service K-9 Unit.

LTHOUGH ALL K-9

handlers try to teach their fellow officers , and the public, not to contaminate crime scenes, or places where a missing person was last seen, nearly every scene is "dirty" by the time the K-9 teams arrive.

Because of this, the K-9 Unit has placed much more emphasis on scent discrimination in training.

The refined training techniques and actual field practice that the K-9s and their handlers have experienced over the past few years have paid off, and are continuing to do so, with a high success rate on tracking tasks which many other K-9 handlers wouldn't even attempt! Although bloodhounds are generally recognized as the best scent discriminators, Bill Hanrahan's Trampas has certainly demonstrated that his nose has the same incredible sensitivity!

As time goes on, we hope that other members of the Warden Service will join the K-9 Unit, adding their skills and those of their dogs to our ranks. There are many ways in which K-9s can be useful, and we have only begun to find out what they all are. • 3

''Where Do Those Regulations Come From, Anyway?''

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by Norman E. Trask Deputy Commissioner Inland Fisheries & Wildlife 4

I N THE NEARLY THREE YEARS that I have served as deputy commissioner for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and prior to that while working as a game warden, one of the things that has bothered me a great deal is public perception of the process whereby we adopt rules.

Most of the activities of hunters, fishermen , and trappers in this state are regulated by our agency through the rulemaking process to establish the dates of hunting and trapping seasons, to set trapping seasons, to set bag limits on fish and game species, to restrict numerous lakes and ponds to fly fishing only, and to regulate the trapping of beaver on a town-by-town basis. The list goes on and on!

The thing that bothers me about public attitudes towards the rulemaking process is that many sportmen feel it's a waste of time for them to get involved. Several times I have read articles or statements by noted Maine outdoor enthusiasts that declare the rulemaking process a "farce." Indications have been that the Fish and Wildlife Department already has its mind made up before it sets up public hearings, and that the department doesn't listen to the desires of the public. That attitude, although shared by many, does not fairly assess either the workings of our agency or the rulemaking process itself. Perhaps a brief explanation of the process and how it works will open people's eyes somewhat to what actually takes place - and why.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT Any of you who have been to any of our public hearings in the last couple of years have probably heard about the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and how it works.

The APA is a complex law which dictates the guidelines which must be followed by all state agencies in adopting rules. The APA spells out very clearly that before we can initiate a new rule or a change in an existing rule, we must have a specific proposal all formulated and available for anyone who wishes to look at it.

A proposal for a change in the rules or regulations (the two words are used interchangeably) can come either 1) from our own staff, or 2) from the public in the form of a petition. A petition can be submitted by one or more people. It doesn't have to be in any special form or format, but it should state clearly and precisely the change that the petitioners wish to see implemented. Any such petition should be directed to the commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Any time the commissioner receives a petition to change a rule, he must take some action on it within 60 days. The commissioner may, after conferring with his staff, proceed in one of three ways: deny the petition, stating his reasons for the denial; or initiate the change without a public hearing (sometimes done with minor or non-controversial proposals) or, as is usually the case, schedule a public hearing to listen to comments from interested people. If, however, the petition contains the certified names of 150 registered voters, he must start the rulemaking process and set up a public hearing. Also, any time the commissioner initiates a rule change without a public hearing, five or more people may request a hearing during the required 30-day comment period; a hearing must then be held.

Whichever route is taken to initiate a change in the hunting, fishing, or trapping rules, the specific proposal must be advertised through the Secretary of State. The first time the general public will become aware of a proposed change will probably be when it appears in a legal notice in the newspaper, sometime between 17 and 24 days prior to the hearing date. There are times when various newspapers will announce public hearings editorially; we are required by law, however, to advertise these hearings in the legal section. Hearing advertisements are printed on Wednesdays in five of the daily newspapers across the state: the Kennebec Journal, the Central Maine Morning Sentinel, the Bangor Daily News, the Lewiston Daily Sun, and the Portland Press Herald. Rulemaking proposals may also be listed in other newspapers, but they will definitely be listed in these five if the proposal is of statewide significance.

The legal ad contains the specific proposal, or a summary of the proposal, and if you know what you're looking for, you can usually tell by the notice whether the proposal originated 1) in-house (from a member of our staff) , in which case the announcement will read, "The Commissioner proposes to adopt . .. ," or 2) if the proposal is the result of a public petition, when the advertisement will say, Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

"The Commissioner has been petitioned to consider ..."

The legal advertisement will tell the time and the place of the hearing, advise who you can contact for more information, and indicate on which day the comment period will end. A comment period of at least 10 days is required following any public hearing. Written comments on any proposal may be submitted to the commissioner at any time during the comment period, and all such comments become part of the official record, receiving the same consideration as testimony received at the hearing.

Following the comment period on rulemaking proposals, copies of all written comments and transcripts of the public hearings are sent to the members of the Fish and Wildlife Advisory Council for their review prior to any final action.

The advisory council is a group of eight people appointed by the governor for three-year terms. These eight individuals are situated throughout the state, each representing one of our wildlife management units.

The purpose of the advisory council is to advise the commissioner on matter concerning administration of the department. Although the advisory council is not a rulemaking body, it must give its consent before the commissioner can adopt or amend any rule. In other words, the council has veto power over the commissioner's ability to implement rule changes.

The comissioner and his advisory council meet periodically to discuss department activities and to act on pending rulemaking proposals. These meeting are advertised through legal notice in the newspaper in the area where the meeting is scheduled to be held. Advisory council meetings are open to the public and the public is allowed input; council meetings are not public hearings, however.

p

UBLIC IMPROVEMENT does make a difference! To prove a point, let's follow a fictitious proposal through the process.

Let's assume that a group of citizens submit a petition to the commissioner requesting that Noname Pond be open to fishing for brook trout during the month of October. The number of names on the petition indicates considerable public interest in extending the fishing season on this pond , and the commissioner decides to set up a public hearing on this proposal. The legal ad in the newspaper reads :

"The Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been petitioned to consider opening Noname Pond to fishing for brook trout during the month of October.

A public hearing on this proposal will be held at the Augusta Civic Center at 7:00 P.M. August 5, 1985.

Deadline for comments on this 5

issue is August 16, 1985. For more information, contact the Director, Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, telephone 289-3651."

At the public hearing, the regional fisheries biologist explains that Noname Pond is a 197-acre pond with a selfsustaining population of wild brook trout. The bag limit on brook trout in the pond was recently reduced to two fish due to increased fishing pressure. Mature trout congregate at the mouths of two tributary streams during early October in preparation for spawning. He explained that opening the pond to fishing during October would, in his opinion , be devastating to the native brook trout population at Noname Pond.

After the biologist makes his presentation, the commissioner, who is running the hearing, asks for public comments on the proposal, giving the various interest groups an opportunity for input. (Trout Unlimited may comment, the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine and the local rod and gun clubs may state their concerns, and private camp owners and sporting camp operators will undoubtedly be well represented.) Let's assume that, of the 70 people in attendance at the hearing, 20 show concern for the resource and ask that the pond be kept closed. However, 50 people, for various reasons, support the proposal. They indicate that our department has a history of being ultraconservative, and they strongly encourage us to open the pond to October fishing.

A decision must now be made. Put yourself in the place of the commissioner. What would you do?

I know what I'd do! I'd leave the pond closed to fishing in October! Why? Because the number one obligation of our department is to the resource. In this particular case, we would be derelict in carrying out our statutory mandate if we opened Noname Pond to fishing in October, knowing full well that a wild brook trout population would be adversely affected. I'm sure that most of you will agree.

But, what do you think will be the reaction of the 50 people who favored opening the pond to fishing in October and left the public hearing knowing that a large majority of the public in attendance favored the change? Do your suppose that those people might feel that the public hearing process is a farce?

The point I'm trying to make is that the resource must come first, regardless of public sentiment. That is the reason you have a fish and wildlife department - to insure that the resource is not over-utilized or otherwise abused. If we, as the agency designated to manage and protect your fish and wildlife, are not going to try to do the job we have been assigned, we might as well eliminate our staff of professionals , save our sportsmen thousands of dollars in salaries, and let hunters, fishermen , and trappers do as they wish with the resources, the same as was done 100 years ago.

Obviously, no one wants that to happen, and everyone realizes that without proper management and enforcement, 6

we soon wouldn't have anything left. However, as you can see from the fictitious situation that I explained, it is often very difficult to protect the resource and, at the same time, satisfy the wishes of the public.

The commissioner, in the situation involving Noname Pond, did not go along with what was proposed in the petition. He kept the pond closed to fishing during October; in so doing, he went against the wishes of a large majority of those who got involved on that particular issue. Does that mean that public hearings are a waste of time, and, as has often been stated, that the department has its mind all made up ahead of time? Absolutely not!

Many proposals involve social issues which would have no biological impact on the resource one way or the other.

As a rule in these instances, public sentiment is what determines the outcome; those who speak the loudest get what they want. However, I think it's important to remember that sometimes those who show up at public hearings and speak the loudest are not necessarily sportsmen. Rather, they often represent the interests of landowner, utilities, or even hunting groups.

I

THINK THAT'S WHY IT is especially important that sportsmen and sportsmen's groups get involved in the rulemaking process . If sportsmen's groups can't get large numbers of people from their organizations to attend a public hearing on an issue of particular interest to them , then they should at least send representatives to testify on their behalf, and/or send written comments to the commissioner and his advisory council.

I think there is another very important reason why sportsmen must get involved in the rulemaking process. As stated earlier, before we initiate the rulemaking process - before we set up a public hearing - we are required by the Administrative Procedure Act to have a specific proposal all formulated in black and white. We cannot simply say that we are going to have a public hearing to listen to testimony about what we should have for a deer hunting season in 1985. The law requires that we state exactly what we propose to establish for a deer hunting season. The law also says we must be consistent with what we have proposed, except as necessary to address public concern brought out at the hearings and during the comment period. That being the case, the rule which is eventually adopted may not be exactly the same as what you saw advertised in the newspaper.

Many times, people read the proposal in the newspaper, have no problems with it, and therefore don't bother to show up at the public hearing or otherwise make their feelings known . As a result, the only people who do show up at the hearing are those who want something different from what is proposed, and they are going to do their best to try to convince the commisssioner to make some change

(continued on page 32) Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

~

the Fly Tying Bench

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THE BLACK STONE FLY

NYMPH #3

by John McLeod instance. When a trout or salmon goes for one of these, he means business! As the old saying goes, "Big bait, big fish! " I have included two patterns in this issue: the pictured one is for tying on a regular bend-down hook, and the alternate is tied on a larger keel hook (the point bends up see photo 9 for finished example).

ABOUT THE FLY Stone fly nymphs inhabit fast, well-oxygenated waters flowing over rocky bottoms; they dwell in the bottom rubble for up to three years before emerging.

The species dorsata is the largest of four members of the genus Pteronarcys found in Maine. Dorsata nymphs are slate colored, almost black, and grow up to two inches long during their three-year growth cycle.

Although Maine's dorsatas don't trigger the kind of hatches that the Western stone flies do, they can still provide some very exciting nymph fishing when they migrate from primary currents to shallows to emerge into adult stone flies. For emergence, the nymphs attach themselves to stones, bridge abutments, etc. - above water level.

Finding split open nymph skins in such places is a dead giveaway that stone flies have been emerging.

Look for the stone fly migration beginning in late May or early June, when water temperature is between 55 and 60 degrees, in~either the early morning or early evening hours. At such 'times, Maine's trout and salmon cruise the very shallow water, waiting to intercept these huge nymphs. , ut don't limit yourself to fishing these nymphs only durin their migrations. There's something about a nymph maybe its siz.e - which produces catches all year long. Try fishing them deep through fast runs or pocket water, for

THE PATTERNS HOOK: Mustad #9575, siz.es 2-10 / For alternate, Mustad #79666, sizes 4-10 THREAD: Flat waxed black nylon for both patterns TAILS: Black goose biots for both patterns UNDERBODY: Lead wire / For alternate, lead wire and fly line, wrap lead wire only on hook shank BODY: Black Mohlon for both patterns RIBBING : Transparent black Swannundaz.e, 1/ 32" (#81) , for both patterns THORAX: Cream or beige chenille palmered with black saddle hackle / For alternate, off-white rabbit fur dubbing mixed with antron WING CASES: Swiss straw/ For alternate, pheasant body feathers dyed dark gray or black ANTENNAE: Two black stripped goose biots for both patterns (same material used for legs on alternate pattern)

1

By compressing the lead wire with flat-nosed pliers, a nicely flattened body <top view> can be created. Note: the width can be increased even more, simply by tying in a piece of fly line on either side of the body. After flattening, saturate the body with tying cement or five-minute epoxy.

cover the hook shank with thread to give the lead wire a rough surface to cling to. wrap the lead wire tightly around the hook in close parallel wraps, then secure by covering the lead with another layer of thread.

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0 Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

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3

Dub a small ball of Mohlon at the bend of the hook. Tie in the goose biots, one on each side, just ahead of the Mohlon; this will spread the tails into the proper "V" shape <see inset>. Be sure to keep the tails short.

Apply some cement to the thorax and wind the chenille back to the body, then forward again. Tie off.

Now wind the saddle hackle three turns through the thorax. Tie off.

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Tie in the swannundaze underneath the body, and the Mohlon on top. coat the body with cement and wind the Mohlon a little over halfway up the hOok shank. secure.

Trim the hackle off the top of the thorax, then bring the Swiss straw over the chenille and hackle to form the wing cases. Tie off, then complete your black stone fly nymph with a neat head.

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9

Tie in the Swiss straw on top of the shank, up against the finished body.

Now tie in the black saddle hackle as shown, then attach the chenille at the front of the thOrax.

Finished versions of both patterns don't really look that different from one another. But they're both stone fly nymphs, and they're both effective!

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8

Wind the swannundaze over the Mohlon to create a segmented body. secure and trim.

Here's a photo of the keel-hook version, tied using the alternate materials. I don't believe there is any difference in hooking ability because of the keel hook. Try taking this fly for a slow walk on the bottom in the shallows. Just the thought of it makes me smile!

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to Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

aine Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund PROJECT REPORT

The Wanderer Is Coming Home!

Equipped with •potting acope and binoculan, two people make their way to a amall cliff-side blind. In the foreat canopy 350 feet below them, a red-eyed vireo calla for attention with Its monotonou aong. The birders pay little attention becaUN they are looking for another bird thla morning - the peregrine falcon. It 18 the sky above the canopy and the cliff face before them that holcla their attention.

Suddenly. with an audible "'wbooah,an Immature falcon (practicing for the day when It will make lta ftnt attempt at lfN prey) swoope down &om above toward a leaf Boating on the early momlng breeze. Grasping the leaf In Its talona, the falcon Oles to the west, doaet, punuecl by a •lbbng prompting an aerial game of tag. The two young falcom twist and dive, acreechlng and tbruatlng with talons In a spectacular dlaplay of maneuverability.

The two lucky birders watching &om the blind are actually back site attendants working to re-estabhab the peregrine falcon In Maine, a project supported by Maine'• Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund. The voluntary contrlbatlons to thla fund, by Maine tupayera, emure that peregrine falcons like the two described abcne will once again reside In Maine, where their aerial mastery will be enJo,ed by all, not just a fortunate few.

Dwight Chapman photo

by Richard 8. Chipman and Elizabeth A. Bennett Chipman This sleek, sharp-eyed peregrine, about two months old, is only two weeks out of the hack box. Note the leg bands. Photo by Dwight Chapman.

This wooded campsite, about onequarter mile from the hack box site in Amherst, was home to the observers for about 10 weeks.

Photo by Tim Bowman.

The authors are both students at the University of Maine at Orono. Richard Is studying wildlife management, and his wife, Elizabeth, Is In the school o/ environmental education.

This report concerns vet another project funded by Maine's Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund; check the chickadee on your tax return this year!

The hack boxes are watched closely. Above, two watchers train their glasses on the Baxter State Park hack site from a distance of about so yards, partially hidden in their blind some 800 feet above the tree line. Right, a hack box waits for avian action; this box is in a typical site, one which has proven successful in previous usages. Photos by Tim Bowman.

WHAT IS A PEREGRINE?

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is a crow-sized bird with a 36- to 44-inch wingspan. The Latin word peregrinus means "coming from foreign parts" or "wanderer." The North American peregrine was called the "greatfooted hawk" by naturalist John James Audubon .

The peregrine belongs to the fam ily Falconidae , a group of birds with pointed wings, longish, narrow tails, and strong, rapid wingbeats. Falcons are also distinguished from other birds of prey by a toothlike projection near the tip of the upper half of the bill, called the tomial tooth. An adult peregrine is slate-colored on the back with a barred breast, while immature birds are brown and heavily streaked below. The dark stripe found on the cheek, sometimes called the bird's "moustache," is another distinctive identifying mark.

Size is the only noticeable difference between sexes, with females averaging about 32 ounces and males ranging from 20 to 24 ounces.

Peregrine falcons are powerful hunters who feed on a wide variety of small birds. They have been referred to as "duckhawks," but that name is somewhat misleading; small ducks are occasionally taken , but

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pigeons, seabirds, songbirds, and shorebirds are more likely targets.

The peregrine falcon has long been admired by man for its graceful and awe-inspring aerial displays.

Peregrine generally take their prey in flight, coming down from high above. The long "stoop" (dive) made while hunting is one of the most spectacular aerial maneuvers made by these or any other birds.

During these long dives, peregrines may reach speeds of 180 miles per hour, making the among the fastest animals in the world.

True to its name, "the wanderer" has virtually worldwide distribution .

Twenty-two races have been recognized in various parts of the world, including all the continents except Antarctica, and the major islands except New Zealand and Iceland.

Peregrines typically inhabit cliff faces or rocky ledges near marshes, lakes, rivers, or fields over which they hunt. Marine and estuarine habitats also provide optimal nesting and foraging areas for the falcons.

Peregrines have also been known to nest in urban areas where the sides of tall buildings or bridges serve as cliff faces .

The nest itself is usually no more than a small scraped-out hollow in

the gravel, sand, or loose soil of a ledge - no additional nesting material is brought to the site. Three or four eggs - reddish, marked with brown spots - are laid, then incubated for 30 to 36 days. The male participates in the incubation process, as well as helping with the feeding chores once the young hatch.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PEREGRINE IN MAINE?

Prior to the mid-1950s, peregrine falcons bred from Hudson Bay to the southern United States. In the 1950s and 1960s, the population of the eastern peregrine falcon (F.P. anarum) was decimated by pesticides. Chemical pesticides (particularly the chlorinated hydrocarbon DDT) caused thinning of eggshells, resulting in eggs breaking during incubation and eventual desertion of the eyries (nests).

The Federal Pesticides Control Act now aids in protecting peregrines and other wildlife from the effects of pesticides. Additional factors in the decline of the eastern peregrine population include shooting, natural predation, egg collecting, human disturbances, and a decrease in optimal nesting habitat.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

Although Maine had a documented breeding pair as late as 1962, the state's peregrine populations suffered the same fate as peregrines in other eastern states.

Historically, Maine had 10 to 15 breeding pairs of peregrine falcons; now, because of the decline in the eastern peregrine population, opportunities to see wild peregrines in Maine are non-existent, except along the coast during fall migration.

WHAT'S BEING DONE? An endangered species is defined as one that exists in such low numbers, or at such a small number of locations, that it is in danger of extinction.

The subspecies of peregrine that nests in Maine is now classified as endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act of 1973. In 1975, the Eastern Peregrine Recovery Team was created to develop a management program to re-establish the peregrine falcon as a nesting species in the East. They decided to accomplish this by introducing young falcons, produced in captivity, to the wild . With money from the new Nongrame Wildlife Fund, Maine became a partner in this peregrine reintroduction program in 1984.

Young are produced by captive adults and released into the wild by a methods called "hacking." Hacking is a process that was developed by falconers centuries ago to allow natural physical conditioning of young birds of prey removed from

the nest before they are able to fly.

The bird develops naturally and begins flying, but returns daily to the site for food supplied by the falconer. The bird eventually begins making its own kills, and spends more and more time away from the site. At this point, the falconer would retrap the bird and tame it for sport.

This hacking method has been successfully adapted for use in the release of captive bred peregrines into the wild, and is currently being used in Maine. In the version of the hacking process used for the reintroduction program, however, the last step, recapture, is omitted.

The peregrines are raised at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York. At about four weeks of age, the peregrine chicks are transferred to a release site, where they are placed in a protective plywood enclosure -a "hack box."

Release sites in Main~ were chosen according to four major criteria: 1) isolation from human disturbance; 2) security from other predators (great horned owls, foxes, red-tailed hawks);

The young peregrine chicks are fed by human hands for a time, in preparation for foster parents and eventually hacking and release.

Photo courtesy Cornell Laboratory of ornithology.

3) protection from the elements; and 4) an adequate food supply. Maine's rocky coast and interior mountains provide sites that meet these criteria.

Two persons are stationed at the hack site for the duration of the release period. Their responsibilities include feeding the falcons and making daily observations of movement and hunting behavior.

At the age of 40 to 45 days, the young birds are released from the box. They remain in the vicinity for several weeks after release, perfecting their flying and hunting skills. Eventually, the falcons become independent and supplemental feeding is no longer necessary. They ultimately leave the site to become part of Maine's wildlife community.

It's evening now, and at the blind the shadows made by the descending san are lengthening and creeping across the valley. The late afternoon breeze hu brought with It the falcons, returning &om a day away &om the attendants' seuchlng binoculars. Off to the west, close behind the birds, thunderclouds can be seen silhouetted In dull red by the setting sun.

All six birds releued at this site are now In view. f.ach bird Is going about Its own pre-roosting activity: preening, tallchulng, or taking a quick walk around the feeding area looking for any leftover scraps. The two attendants are happy to note that all birds have made It back to the area and seem strong and healthy.

When they are satisfied that all the birds have roosted for the night, they remove their equipment and head back to the tent to begin their own preroosting behavior: A large late supper and rewriting the day's field notes.

LITERATURE CITED Blood, D. 1973. "Peregrine Falcon; Hinterland Who's Who." Canadian Wildlife Service. Cat. No. CW 69/32.

1973.

Sherrod, S.K., W.R. Heinrich, W.A. Burnham, J.H. Barclay, and T.J. Cade.

1981.

"Hacking: A method for releasing peregrine falcons and other birds of prey." The Peregrine Fund, Inc. 1982.

Snyder, E.J., and R.8. Owen. 1983.

"An assessment of potential hack sites for peregrine falcons in Maine." A report to ME IFW, Augusta.

Tietjen, E. 1984. "Return Of The Falcon." Habitat Journal of the Maine Audubon Society. August 1984. pp 26-31.

11

Manufacturing in Maine from the smallest home industries, to proprietorships like the Thomas Bod Co. and John Hall's gunshop, to factory-based operation - the theme is fascinatingly treated in the Maine State Museum's latest, and largest, exhibit ...

Made â&#x20AC;˘

lil Top photo, above - The Thomas Rod company of Bangor built and repaired bamboo fishing rods. This display presents the shop as it appeared in the first half of this century. Included in the overall Made In Maine exhibit are some finished Thomas rods, as well as other Maine-made rods, flies, etc. Lower photo, above - John H. Hall made patent rifles in this Portland shop in the early 1800s. His innovation of interchangeable parts for breechloading firearms was a major contribution to American industrial production.

On October 20, after six years of planning, collecting, and construction, the Maine State Museum opened the most object-intensive and strongly thematic exhibit it has ever built. From the beginning, we based "Made in Maine" on an analysis of collections, space, and historical research. The exhibit is the single most important visual change in the museum, and essentially, it has redefined the museum for both the public and the staff.

12

Maine by Paul E. Rivard and Marilyn N orcini Photos by Gregory Hart

Thematically, the exhibition offers a broad view of 19th-century manufacturing activity in Maine, and uses a sizable complement of significant artifacts. In itself, such an exhibition may not be news. However, by taking a closer look at the planning and construction of "Made in Maine," we see a deeper restructuring of the museum's basic philosophy and a demonstration of how collectionsoriented planning can foster rather than handicap - the

development of themes, ideas, and educational strategies.

At work in Maine "Made in Maine" is publicly known by its primary visual and interpretive components - twelve work environments. The re-created historical environments present concise portrayals of the everyday work experiences of Maine's men , women , and children who manufactured products, mostly in the 19th century.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

Specifically, the work environments show: winding yarn and weaving tape in 1820, sewing clothes in 1880, making shoes in 1850, working metal in 1870, making furniture in 1820, making patent rifles in 1816, making bamboo fishing rods in the first half of the 20th century, fulling and dressing woolen cloth in 1830, woodworking by waterpower, 1820-1890, melting iron for casting in 1890, carding and spinning wool in 1850, and weaving cloth on po;er looms in 1890.

By selecting a few significant yet typical work environments, we represent a larger, more complex history of manufacturing in Maine.

One waterpowered woodworking mill environment, for example, symbolized the prevalence of mills in the state; one textile factory environment symbolizes all factory production in the state. Cabinetmaking and blacksmithing represent all genres of shop production, which historically included coopering, wheelmaking, and others, which we do not present in the exhibit. Overall, we have attempted to be comprehensive without being encyclopedic.

In the museum , the work environments function as historical period room settings or anthropological habitat groups. The environments are full-scale , three-dimensional models based on documented places of manufacturing in Maine.

In creating the exhibit, we tried to show how work is a basic human behavior within the context of time (as seen by changing technologies, materials, and styles) and the context of space (as seen by re-created 19thcentury homes, shops, mills, furnaces, and factories) .

In the exhibit, the Mayall Mill factory showing carding and spinning by machine, the Thomas Rod Company shop with its bamboo fishing

Paul Rivard is director of the Maine State Museum in Augusta. Marilyn Norcini was, at the time this article was written, head of the museum's public and interpretation programs.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

This cupola furnace was used at the Portland Stove Foundry company to cast "Atlantic" stove parts from 1890 into the early years of this century.

This particular display commands attention, partly due to the fact that it is visible from two levels; this lower level, and a higher vantage point which gives view to the upper loading doors.

rods, and all the other work environments present working models of technological history. Visitors may actually see how products are made.

For example, in the three-story woodworking mill, the water turbine transfers power to the mill's gear, pulleys, belts, and line shafting, which, in turn, power the woodworking machines (band saw, table saws, shaper, and mortising machines) to produce a marketable product - a wheelbarrow.

Overall, the exhibit's work environments achieve the museum's social history objectives: to develop an appreciation for the role of Maine's working people; to correct misconceptions about historical manufacturing; and to enhance an appreciation for the role of women and children in Maine's 19th-century work force.

To reinforce these objectives, we added layers of interpretation. In addition to seeing the machines and products, visitors see a special series of logos, major thematic labels, an illustrated guide to the collections, enlargements of historical photographs, and mannequins. In another added layer of interpretation, they hear tape-recorded machine sounds.

In all, we include in the exhibit more that a thousand artifacts made in Maine during the 1800s, and we integrate the objects within the social and technological context of work environments. We present a complex humanistic interpretation of work, tools, processes, and products in our attempt to give balance to the public's perception and understanding of American social and technological history.

A complex equation To the public, "Made in Maine" makes a statement about the industrious nature of Maine's people.

But internally, among the museum's staff, the exhibit was a mechanism of institutional change. The planning and development of the exhibit involved a complex equation of politics, staff reorganization , collections acquisition , design, and construction. A look at the history of the museum reveals how complex the equation was.

During the renovation of the Maine State House in 1965, laborers uncovered a cache of 19th-century state documents, long-forgotten under an old stairwell. The incident captured the public's attention and prompted newspaper editors to ask why there was no state agency charged with the care of such materials. At the time, the state had no official archives, and the small state museum, which had been established in 1836 as a "cabinet" of geological and natural history specimens, functioned without a staff or budget of its own. As a result of the public's concern , the legislature created the state archives and a new

13

state museum - the first and, to this date, the only such official state museum in New England.

Maine taxpayers, in a statewide referendum, supported the construction of a large modern facility to house their new archives and museum and to serve as an expanded home for the state library as well.

The legislature, meanwhile, provided funds for staffing and equipping a museum of significant size and scope. When the new building was completed in 1971, the Maine State Museum became the largest and best-funded museum in the entire state. With these significant resources at its disposal, the museum staff realized that the taxpayers had a right to expect a great deal from the new museum. Initially, however, they expected a great deal more than we were able to deliver.

A museum of "ideas" The legislative mandate for the new museum was broad. The staff was seemingly free to select from a considerable range of operating philosophies to guide its staffing, planning, and mission statements.

Missing from the equation, however, was the role that meaningful collections might play. Because we did not have such collections to guide us or to suggest strategies, in retrospect, we shied away from artifact-oriented planning.

We were influenced in our attempts to define the museum's mission by the tenor of the times. The late 1960s and early 1970s were years of uncommon unrest within the museum community - a time in which traditional values were challenged everywhere and in which museums were scolded as being "irrelevant" to the needs of complex modern societies. New arguments suggested that traditional museums were obsolete and would invariably be superseded by "museums of the future." The new museums, unfettered by collections-management responsibilities, would emerge as "learning laboratories" and "mu-

14

SHOP

The earliest woolen factories were actually small mills which catered to the needs of home spinners and weavers. Mechanized carding and spinning machines served these domestic workers and also helped to promote the factory system in Maine.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

A dramatic increase in domestic handweaving resulted when machine-spun cotton yarn was supplied by New England mills by 1810. These spinning mills reduced the need for spinning yarn at home and allowed more time for the manufacture of cloth on hand looms in Maine households.

Almost every Maine community in the early 1800s had one local cabinetmaker to make and repair furniture.

Like cabinetmakers everywhere, he used a variety of woodworking tools in his workshop.

seums of ideas." The staff of the new Maine State Museum, lacking significant collections to work with and facing large empty exhibit spaces, listened to these arguments and, in part, was guided by them.

The museum reflected the spirit of the times in which it was born: it was to be more a museum of "ideas" and less a museum of collections. While the number of staff at the fledgling museum soon reached 28 full-time employees, absolutely none was called "curator." In a museum motivated by social and educational theories in which artifacts were essentially "props," curation of collections was a low priority, and the staff members designated as "research associates" struggled to attend to collections needs, but only secondary to their primary research and planning assignments.

With no funds designated for the purchase of collections, and with the scope and quantity of the collections limited by the public's willingness to donate, the museum's collections grew slowly. As a result, the permanent exhibition program moved slowly, too. The museum mounted more than 15 short-term exhibits, using both its own growing collections and loans from other institutions and individuals. Yet, by 1976, after a decade of planning, the Maine State Museum had completed only small sections ot' its permanent exhibition plan for the new building. The remarkable public support, which had led to the construction of the museum facility, dwindled in disappointment. Finally, we decided to thoroughly reappraise the museum's mission and management.

Back to basics The Maine State Museum entered its second evolutionary stage in 1978 - a stage best described by the phrase "back to basics." Beginning that year, the museum established a rather old-fashioned organizational scheme in which

(continued on page 32) Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

15

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Little Squaw Pond, Little Squaw Management Unit, T3RS BKP EKR. Photo by Robert Gardiner.

Flagstaff Lake from East Nubble, Bigelow Preserve.

Photo by Karen Caljouw.

Western Mountain Tracts

by John W. Forssen T .E MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN MAINE are among the most rugged and picturesque in the Northeast; they're great places to climb about, breathe the crisp air of Alpine meadows, camp, or get in a little trout fishing along the shores of remote ponds and streams. And nearly 80,000 acres of this sprawling landscape - from the Mahoosuc Range on the Maine/New Hampshire border to the shores of Moosehead Lake - are part of Maine's 450,000 acre Public Reserved Lands System.

The author Is chief planner for the Bureau of Public Lands, Maine Department of Conservation . Public Lands Cartographer Deborah McLean-Weston created the graphics for this article.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

Administered by the Bureau of Public Lands, Maine Department of Conservation, this acreage includes the Mahoosuc Management Unit (27,253 acres) , which extends through parts of Riley, Grafton, and Andover West Surplus townships; the Four Ponds Management Unit in Township E (5,026 acres, including abutting public lots !f1 Township D and Sandy River Plantation) ; the Bigelow Preserve (30,498 acres), which overlooks the southern shore of Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

Flagstaff Lake; and the Little Squaw Management Unit (12,914 acres) , just west of Greenville.

With the exception of Little Squaw, one of the key recreational features of all these units is the Appalachian Trail, nearly 50 miles of which thread the Mahoosuc and Bigelow mountains and the northern reaches of Township E. Statutory responsibility for the trail resides with the Bureau of Parks & Recreation , which works cooperatively with the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Maine Appalachian Trail Club to accomplish project development and maintenance. Along the trail, hikers will find primitive facilities for camping (fees charged at caretaker sites) and a variety of landforms and features which provide interesting insight into the natural history of Maine. Publications about the trail are available from the Department of Conservation and the Appalachian Mountain Club.

Although much of western Maine lends itself naturally to hiking, these units are so rich in landscape diversity that opportunities abound for all sorts of recreational activity. During the spring and summer, there is primitive camping, hunting, and warmwater and cold water fishing, while winter brings opportunities for snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. And within these four western units, visitors can experience the Maine interior in superlatives from some of its most rugged mountains to its largest lake.

19

THE MAHOOSUC MOUNTAIN MANAGEMENT UNIT The 27 ,000 acres which comprise the Mahoosuc and Baldpate mountain ranges extend north and south of Route 26 and embrace Grafton Notch State Park, a major entry point for the Appalachian Trail and the most western leg of the State Interconnecting Snowmobiling Trail System (ITS).

Picnic areas, and a variety of natural features associated with the Bear River, are available for day use within the park. Also nearby is the Nature Conservancy's Step Falls Preserve, a wooded area alongside a mountain stream which tumbles 200 feet over polished bedrock and boulders. Similar terraced waterfalls can be found on the Public Reserved Lands along the Bull Branch and on Goose Eye and Frye Brooks.

Although high elevations and bedrock streams make hunting and fishing more specialized, sportsmen who enjoy the pursuit in remote surroundings will be well-rewarded for their efforts.

Speck Pond, in the Grafton arm of the unit, is an Alpine trout pond - a deep, coldwater remnant of ancient glacial action . And, although it is the subject of acid rain studies because of its high acidity, 12- and 14-inch brook trout are not uncommon . Stocked regularly (by helicopter) , it offers anglers a rare opportunity to hike out of the mainstreams for a day or so and enjoy both the fishing and the mountain scenery. Collapsible fishing rods and light gear are musts, though, because it is about a four-hour hike up to the pond from the trailhead in the park.

The lower elevation streams also contain brook trout; in those streams associated with the Sunday River system, there are rainbow trout, as well. Wildlife in this area - and through western Maine - includes deer, bear, moose, bobcat, coyote, small furbearers , woodcock, and grouse.

In order to expand recreational opportunities in subAlpine areas of this unit, the bureau is considering the development of two loop trails in the vicinity of Goose Eye Brook and Riley Hill - and improving facilities for day use along Frye Brook, particularly picnicking at the Cataracts, where the brook cascades over a 30-foot waterfall. By design , these facilities will not tie into the Appalachian Trail, acknowledging the difference among user groups. A brochure for users of this unit is available from the Bureau of Public Lands.

THE FOUR PONDS MANAGEMENT UNIT Although smaller than the other tracts, the Four Ponds Unit - which actually contains seven ponds! - is equally diverse. Because the Appalachian Trail dominates much of this landscape, there is no vehicular access into the interior; still, the terrain is relatively easy to negotiate and the many miles of pond frontage afford excellent opportunities for primitive, water-based recreation: canoeing, swimming, fishing, camping, and - in the winter - cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. In fact, the ITS snowmobile trail passes through this unit; for individuals in-

20

terested in treks of several days to a week, it connects to the south and west with the Mahoosuc Management Unit and to the north with the Holeb and Little Squaw units.

Fly fishermen should particularly enjoy the network of small ponds, where both native and stocked brook trout are available. Also, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is introducing sunapee trout into Long Pond.

This species, a rare char, is a glacial relict related both to the common brook trout and the blueback char of northern Maine. Maine ponds having populations of either species are currently under consideration for inclusion on the State Register of Critical Areas.

THE BIGELOW PRESERVE Recognized as a National Landmark by the United States Department of Interior, the Bigelow Preserve is unique within the Public Reserved Lands System. Set aside by state referendum in the 1970s principally for its natural beauty, the preserve is comprised of land purchased by the Bureau of Parks & Recreation and acquired through land trades by Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

The Avery Peak portion of the Appalachian Trail, Bigelow Preserve. Photo by Deborah McLean-Weston.

the Bureau of Public Lands. By statute, it is managed jointly by the Departments of Conservation and Inland Fisheries & Wildlife.

Again , the Appalachian Trail and associated Alpine features are key attractions on this unit; there is also a variety of small ponds and trout streams for anglers, and campsites along the shores of Flagstaff Lake. An established snowmobile trail runs from the town of Stratton, west of the preserve, to Flagstaff Lodge (built when the area was planned for ski development) , which overlooks the southeast shore of the lake. Periodically, during the winter months, the lodge is open on weekends for use by snowmobilers.

sealed in plastic bags of super-oxygenated water and packed up the mountain in picnic coolers mounted on standard backpack frames .

Hunting is permitted in the preserve (as it is throughout the Public Reserved Lands System) ; however, hunters are advised that they share these areas with other users, and should therefore use extreme caution.

THE LITTLE SQUAW MANAGEMENT UNIT This unit, too, is spectacular for its high country - and perhaps even more so for the manner in which surrounding mountains descend dramatically to the shores of remote, crater-like ponds. Located just west of Greenville, Little Squaw sits astride Route 15/ 6; access into the interior, however, is presently limited to four-wheel-drive vehicles.

A trail up the backside of Little Squaw Mountain leads to five campsites in the vicinity of Big Squaw and Little Squaw ponds, where fishermen can wet their lines for brook trout; and hikers, climbing the ridgetops, can look out across neighboring Moosehead Lake. The bureau is currently planning a trail extension which will bring hikers down the east slope, putting this unit virtually within walking distance of Greenville residents.

For those willing to take a longer hike, four additional coldwater ponds are located in the western part of this unit.

These may be reached over an abandoned logging road which extends from the Big Squaw Pond trailhead to a campsite at Big Indian Pond.

An isolated bog in the Bigelow Preserve, located at the foot of the Bigelow range on the East Flagstaff Road.

Public Lands photo.

MANAGEMENT FOR ALL PURPOSES While the ponds in the previous units are not suitable for motorized watercraft, Flagstaff Lake is a broad and shallow expanse of water; there are launch sites for powerboats at the west end of the lake (east of Eustis from a forest road off Route 27) , at the east end of the lake (at Bog Brook off the Long Falls Dam Road) , and on the north shore (east of the Dead River peninsula off the Long Falls Dam Road). Flowed in the 1950s for storage and gradual release of water, to produce hydroelectric power, Flagstaff Lake is popular among driftwood collectors; persons visiting this area during the late summer and fall months, when the water level is down , may view remnants of the community that existed here prior to the flooding of the Dead River. The lake also provides warmwater fishing for pickerel and perch.

Of particular interest in this unit is Horn's Pond, a small cold water fishery along the Appalachian Trail. Originally barren, it now boasts brook trout of up to 16 inches in length, following several years of stocking by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. According to the IF&W field staff, early aerial operations proved too hazardous among the surrounding mountains, so the fry (two-inch fish) are now Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

In addition to their recreational value, all the above-mentioned lands are also available for wildlife management and the commercial production of timber. Planning in each unit is geared to reduce conflicts among competing uses, and to actually feature those resources most appropriate to the physical characteristics of a given area. Such decisions are made during the bureau's unit planning process.

In the Mahoosuc Mountain Management Unit, for example, where planning is underway as this article goes to press, the bureau had identified recreation areas and public travel corridors to be managed for scenic quality. A 330-foot buffer around all water resources has been established, in which wildife will be the focus of management; the remainder of the unit, making allowances for secondary recreation and wildlife use, has been identified for timber production.

Through these and other integrated management practices, the bureau is able to generate sufficient revenue to cover the costs of program administration, maintain the vitality of the resourse base, and ensure that these public forests continue to serve the many interests of Maine recreationists and nature lovers.

Enjoy your adventures in Maine's western Mountains!

21

A brilliavit ded1Actiovi Nongame personnel are watching great egrets such as this one, expecting that this Maine visitor, expanding its range northward, may become a Maine resident before long. Photo by the author.

by Alan E. Hutchinson The people of Maine apparently feel that their voluntary tax deductible contributions to Maine's Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund are being well spent. This vote of confidence come in the form of $130,000 donated through the voluntary checkoff box on the state income tax form in 1985. This generous gift by the people of Maine represented an increase of nearly 20 percent over the already substantial total given in 1984, the first year of the program.

In 1985, the fund supported 18 different projects through grants to more than a dozen different organizations and individuals. The funded projects range from a study of the grasshopper sparrows in York County to one of songbirds in clearcuts in Aroostook County; from 40-foot fin back whales in the Gulf of Maine to four-inch bog lemmings atop Mt. Katahdin . Brief descriptions follow of the work being made possible by contributions to Maine's Endangered and Nongame Wildlife Fund.

Endangered Species

There are more than 450 species of nongame wildlife in Maine; some are very numerous, some are rare.

Some are found throughout the state, some in just one or two locations. Some are increasing in numbers, some are declining.

With the simple goal of trying to keep these 450-plus species as part of Maine's wildlife heritage, a major effort was undertaken to sort out the status of each of those _species, and

The author is the department's nongame wildlife project director.

to create an official State Endangered Species List. Volunteer committees of knowledgeable people from Maine and the Northeast researched the issues, drafted proposed categories and criteria for a Maine Endangered Species List, and proposed listings for species within those categories. These proposals were presented at a public workshop attended by more than 125 people, and will be officially presented for adoption at a public hearing in early 1986.

This list will help focus the work of the nongame program. The importance of this effort is evident when one realizes that more than a dozen species have disappeared from Maine in the past 150 years, some in just the past 20. This averages to about one species lost every 10 years, a trend we hope to reverse.

Peregrine Falcon

and protect them through a variety of strategies. In 1985, the Nongame Wildlife Fund provided seed money needed to obtain a matching grant for a comprehensive wildlife survey and habitat revaluation of Penobscot Bay. The results will be applied by individuals, towns, and the state in protecting Penobscot Bay's most significant wildlife areas.

ing studied to identify individual animals, and thereby determine how many there are and how closely they are tied to Maine.

~

This cliff-top nester is most commonly associated with the western United States, but the few records that are available indicate that Maine has long had a small nesting population of golden eagles. An aerial survey of remote mountaintop sites was conducted in June; the results confirmed the existence of this very small nesting population. Efforts are now underway to protect this unique bird and its habitats.

L..-Y __"l.~!_ IA

Bald Eagles

Maine is a stronghold for the federally endangered bald eagle.

Eagle nesting sites and wintering grounds are being protected. All nesting sites will be surveyed during the nesting season, and the chicks will be banded. A major project is underway to increase the survival of young eagles in Maine, and thereby stimulate recovery of this species.

Golden Eagle

~ I

This federally endangered species was lost to pesticide contamination throughout the eastern United States, including Maine, 25 years ago. The Nongame Wildlife Fund has enabled Maine to start a reintroduction program for this species.

Since 1984, 47 peregrines have been successfully raised and release~ at three remote mountaintop sites and one urban site (see article on page 9) . Three more years of releases are required to achieve the goal of reestablishing the peregrine as a breeding bird in Maine.

Three separate studies, covering different regions of the coast, were funded in an attempt to understand the ecology and reproductive success of these two species. Declining in numbers for several decades and, at best, now stabilized at an unacceptable low level, these island nesting birds will be receiving continued attention in an attempt to return their populations to past numbers.

Northern Bog Lemming

This small, mouselike animal was last recorded in Maine 80 years ago.

A search for it and another uncommon mammal, the yellow-nosed vole, was paid for by the fund. The results were encouraging; several specimens of each species were found. Of special importance was their capture in a habitat type never before described for them. Normally associated with alpine areas, their capture in a low-altitude forest site is very significant.

Great Blue Herons Flnback Whales The greatest threat to wildlife in Maine is loss of habitat. A major objective of the nongame project is to identify important wildlife habitats Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

One of the great whales, summer residents of Maine's coast, their individual markings and scars are be-

These birds traditionally return to nest in colonies at the same site year after year. Knowledge of where

(continued on page 29) 23

FISH AND WILDLIFE BRIEFS DEER HARVEST UP IN '85 Maine's preliminary deer kill figure for the 1985 season is 21 ,300 - up 10 percent from 1984 despite the most restrictive deer hunting regulations in the state's history.

All but two of Maine's 16 counties recorded deer kill increases in 1985.

The season was the third consecutive one in which the department sought to increase deer populations by restricting the harvest of does and fawns through "bucks-only" restrictions. Antlerless deer were protected through the entire fourweek season in the Western and Eastern deer hunting districts, and for the first three weeks of the season in the Central and Northern districts.

Two previous years of antlerless deer protection in southern Maine, combined with good winter survival and high fawn production in 1985, resulted in increased deer populations last fall in most areas.

Also contributing to the higher deer harvest in 1985 were favorable hunting conditions and increased hunting pressure in southern counties. The

three-week buck law imposed for the first time in northern Maine is believed to have resulted in more southern Maine residents hunting in their home districts.

Of the 21 ,300 white-tails taken, an estimated 15,400 were antlered bucks.

The Northern District produced about 3 ,700 legal bucks and 1,350 antlerless deer. The Central District harvest was estimated at 7,531 bucks and 4 ,550 antlerless deer. The Eastern and Western districts, which were restricted to bucks-only through the entire season for the third consecutive year, produced 3 ,048 and 1,071 bucks, respectively.

The Northern District posted a deer kill decline of 28 percent compared with 1984. The decline was directly related to the first-ever buck law in northern Maine in 1985. By contrast, the Central District kill increased about 30 percent; the Western District, 49 percent; and the Eastern District, 18 percent.

The Warden Service reported that game wardens found 122 lost hunters during the deer season , and they investigated 27 hunting accidents, most of a minor nature. The season was marred , however, by two fatalities.

Wardens initiated legal action in 118 cases involving illegal possession of antlerless deer, and reported a total known unlawful antlerless deer kill of 343.

cooperative arrangement, Champion also agreed to make an effort to leave suitable wildlife trees along waterways, and to save old beech, oak and wild apple trees, which provide food as well as shelter to wildlife.

Champion International launched its Wildlife Tree Project with a seminar for its foresters , conducted by George Motta, Champion's Aroostook District Manager, and Barry Burgason , a department wildlife biologist.

Wildlife trees selected for preservation are marked with a blue spray-painted "W" on the trunk. Some trees are also identified with a special sign designed

Wildlife biologist Barry Burgason (left) and Champion International forester George Motta with a wildlife tree designated for protection .

WILDLIFE TREES PROTECTED

Fishing last winter at Spring Lake, Somerset County, Katherine Tracy of Yarmouth hooked this 53/4 pound lake trout - at the base of its dorsal fin. It took her 45 minutes to land the 24-inch fish .

24

Champion International Corporation of Bucksport has become the first major Maine landowner to agree to preserve trees considered beneficial to wildlife.

Champion International (formerly St. Regis) made an agreement recently with the Fish and Wildlife Department to leave suitable trees in its cutting operations where they will not create a hazard to operations.

Suitable wildlife trees include those with cavities which are used as dens and resting sites by a large variety of Maine wildlife. As part of the

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

for the wildlife tree program.

Biologist Burgason said 29 species of birds and 19 species of mammals are cavity-nesters in Maine.

Forester Motta said Champion International will attempt to leave an average of one or two wildlife trees per acre in its marked wood stands. Marking the trees will alert skidder operators to bypass them rather than knocking them down or bringing them out of the woods for chipping.

Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Glenn Manuel said "It's our hope that other Maine landowners - from small woodlot owners to major timber companies - will also begin to see the benefits of managing wildlife, and follow the example of Champion International."

CORRECTION The price of the new book, Maine Game Wardens, was incorrectly listed in the "Fish and Wildlife Briefs" section of the Fall 1985 issue.

The correct price for an authorautographed, first edition copy of the book is $19.95 (Maine residents add 5 percent sales tax). Add $2 for shipping and handling of one copy, $1 for each additional copy.

Checks, payable to the Maine Warden Service Relief Association, should be sent to Warden Jim Davis, 328 Shaker Road, Gray, ME 04039.

Maine Game Wardens is a book of true stories, both humor and drama, about past and present members of the Maine Warden Service.

to major in 1981. Merrill had been an early member of the Warden Service Search and Rescue Team, specializing in mountain rescue and underwater recovery.

Also retiring from the Warden Service was Lt. John G. Crabtree, who had a 22-year warden career. First assigned as a district warden at Eagle Lake in Aroostook County in 1963, he was promoted to inspector there in 1971. He transferred to Division B, Augusta headquarters, in 1972, where he remained until retirement. He was

Q & A-

promoted to lieutenant in charge of Division B in 1981.

Replacing Crabtree in Division B was Lt. Larry S. Cummings, who transferred from Division C, Bangor.

Promoted to the rank of sergeant recently was Nathaniel L. Berry, Maine's Game Warden of the Year in 1983. Berry will remain in Division A, Gray headquarters, replacing Sgt. Donald L. Gray, who transferred to the Rumford area to take over the section previously supervised by Sgt. Eric Wight, who retired last year.

MANDAWRY HUNTER TRAINING

It's now a requirement that first-time purchasers of adult licenses that permit hunting with firearms in Maine first successfully complete an approved course in hunter safety.

Fish and Wildlife Department sponsored hunter training courses are presented throughout the state by trained, volunteer instructors. In addition to basic firearms operation and safety, the minimum 10-hour course includes sessions on landowner relations and hunter ethics, wildlife identification and management, and woods survival.

More than 75,000 youngsters and adults completed the course during the years when it was voluntary. The following are common questions being asked since it became mandatory, on January 1, 1986: Q A

As an adult hunter who hasn't taken the hunter safety course, what do I have to do in order to buy my 1986 license?

When you go to buy your 1986 license, just show your 1985 license, or any adult firearms hunting license you've held since 1976. Any adult hunter who has such a previous license (from Maine or any other state, province or country) is not required to take the course.

Q A

What can I do if I didn't save any of my old licenses?

Your license clerk will give you an affidavit, which you can sign and have notarized, to attest that you did, in fact , hold a license.

Q

I am an adult but have never had a license to hunt with firearms. Must I take the hunter safety course before obtaining my first one?

Yes.

A

Q A

When do junior hunters have to take the course?

Any time between age 10 and when they buy their first adult hunting license, at age 16 or older.

PERSONNEL NOTES

Q

The retirement of the deputy chief game warden tops the recent personnel news from the Fish and Wildlife Department.

Major Charles A. Merrill, a veteran of over 23 years with the Warden Service, retired at the end of February. He had worked his way up through the ranks, beginning as a district game warden in East Millinocket, then in Allagash and Fort Fairfield. He was promoted to game warden inspector (now sergeant) in 1972, to lieutenant in Division A (southern Maine) in 1979, and

A

I passed the voluntary hunter safety course in Maine years ago, but I don't have any way to prove it. What can I do?

When you go to buy your 1986 license, the clerk will give you an affidavit to sign and have notarized, attesting that you are a safety course graduate. Also, the Fish and Wildlife Department's Safety Office may have old records and could help you establish that you are a course graduate.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

Q A

Q A

Q A

I have always bought my husband's license for him as a present. Can I still do that?

Yes, but you must have either his previous license or his certificate of graduation from a hunter safety course. An affidavit may be used, but it must be signed by your husband.

How will anyone know whether affidavits are being used fraudently?

The Fish and Wildlife Department will conduct random checks of affidavits.

How can I become enrolled in a hunter safety course?

Check your newspaper for information on upcoming courses in your area, or contact your local fish and game club to see whether they are sponsoring a course. Watch for posters announcing courses. Check at your local schools. Contact the Fish and Wildlife Department's Safety Office at 284 State St. , Augusta, ME 04333 (telephone: 289-2550).

25

DOE PERMIT PLANS PROCEEDING The Fish and Wildlife Department is moving ahead with plans to implement a doe permit system for Maine's 1986 deer hunting season .

Proposed is a system described by Commissioner Glenn Manuel as a "fine -tuning" of the bucks-only regulations that have been in effect in some areas of the state for the past three years.

The department's proposal, being discussed at seven public hearings in March and April, would establish 17 deer hunting districts, each with a quota on antlerless deer. All hunters could hunt bucks anywhere in the state, but only those with permits could take antlerless deer, and only in the specific zone they designated when they apply for the permit drawing .

Under the proposal there would be no fee to apply, or for the doe permit, but hunters would have to acquire their hunting license before applying.

The doe quota for each district would be based on wildlife biologists' assessment of how many breeding

1986 LICENSE FEES

RESIDENT Hunting (16 .and older) Fishing (16 .and older) Combln.atlon Hunting .and Fishing (16 .and older) Supersport lunlor Hunting (10 to 15 ye.ars lncluslve) Combln.atlon Fishing .and Archery Hunting (16 .and older) Servlcem.an (resident) Combln.atlon Hunting .and Fishing Archery Hunting (16 .and older) Muzzle-lo.adlng (16 .and older) Tr.applng (16 .and older) lunlor Tr.applng (10 to 15 ye.ars Inclusive) Gulde (18 .and older)

S

14.00 14.00 26.00 36.00 3.00 26.00 13.00 14.00

1.00 28.00 5.00 39.00

NONRESIDENT CITIZEN Ilg G.ame Hunting (10 .and older) Se.ason Fishing (16 .and older) lunlor Seuon Fishing (12 to 15 Incl.)

15-d.ay Fishing 7-d.ay Fishing 3-d.ay Fishing Combln.atlon Hunting .and Fishing (16 .and older) Sm.all G.ame Hunting (16 .and older) lunlor Sm.all G.ame Hunting (10 to 15 ye.ars Inclusive) Archery Hunting (16 .and older) Muzzle-lo.adlng (16 .and older) Gulde (18 .and older) Tr.applng (.any .age)

76.00 41.00 5.00 29.00 25.00 16.00 105.00 46.00 23.00 46.00 25.00 141.00 303.00

NONRESIDENT ALIEN Ilg G.ame Hunting (10 .and older) Se.ason Fishing Combln.atlon Hunting .and Fishing (10 .and older) Sm.all G.ame Hunting (16 .and older) Archery Hunting (16 .and older) Muzzle-lo.adlng (16 .and older) Gulde (18 .and older)

26

tt6.00 61.00 158.00 61.00 61.00 50.00 166.00

female deer should be killed annually to attain a management goal of increasing, decreasing, or stabilizing the deer population in that area.

The application period for doe permits is proposed to run from June through mid-August. The summer issue of MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE will contain full details of the doe permit system, which at press time were still pending the results of the public hearings and approval by the department's Advisory Council.

Commissioner Manuel said the permit system would address two problems which have cropped up under bucksonly hunting: concentration of hunters during the time when does can be taken , and hunter/ landowner friction .

use of fish and wildlife. If you're called, please participate. It will help state and federal agencies manage the fish and wildlife resources for your continued use.

TO THE EDITOR: I recently saw a copy of the Spring 1985 issue of MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE. The cover was by Norman Rockwell, showing a man and boy preparing to go fishing .

FEDERAL WILDLIFE USE SURVEY The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has begun its "National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and WildlifeAssociated Recreation ." The voluntary survey, which is carried out every five years, is designed to compile information on Americans' fish and wildlife related outdoor pursuits and expenditures during 1985.

One out of every two adult Americans participates in some type of outdoor recreation involving fish and wildlife, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service, and collectively they spend more than $40 billion annually to enjoy fish and wildlife resources .

The survey is financed by hunters and anglers through federal excise taxes on sporting arms, ammunition and fishing equipment. The survey has been taken every five years since 1955, measuring traditional sports like hunting and fishing , as well as those growing in popularity like wildlife photography, observation and feeding.

The survey is conducted in two phases by the Bureau of the Census. In the first phase, during January, 130,000 households were randomly selected from across the country and polled by telephone concerning their participation in hunting and fishing activities.

The second phase will take place in April, when Census Bureau researchers will do in-depth personal interviews to gather more information about public

The man is Albert Cummings, my neighbor, now deceased. He was a dear friend of mine, and of so many others.

We would like to buy several copies of that issue to have his picture.

Ruth M. Young Stockbridge, MA â&#x20AC;˘ Thanks for revealing the identity of Mr. Cummings. One cannot help but wonder who the boy is, and whether you might also have known Mr. Rockwell.

A REMINDER Maine freshwater fishermen are reminded to save their copies of this year's ice fishing and open water law booklets for use again next year. New booklets will next be issued in 1988.

MOOSE HUNT APPLICATIONS Applications are now being accepted for Maine's 1986 moose hunting permit drawing.

One thousand permits will again be issued, 100 of them to nonresident hunters, but the area open to moose hunting has been enlarged to include good moose range in western , central and eastern Maine. The new southern

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

limit of the moose hunting area follows highways running through Rangeley, Bingham, Howland, Eddington and Woodland.

Competition for Maine moose hunting permits has been intense since the limited open season was initiated in 1980. Over 52,000 Maine residents and 11,000 nonresidents applied last year.

This year's hunt will run for six days, beginning October 20.

For more information and a permit application blank, send a self-addressed envelope to: Moose Application, Maine Fish and Wildlife Dept. , Station 41, Augusta, ME 04333. Maine residents may also obtain application blanks at their town office or from any office of the Fish and Wildlife Department.

COMPUTER SELECTS TURKEY HUNTERS The Fish and Wildlife Department held its first-ever computerized permit drawing on January 28, to determine the 500 hunters who will participate in Maine's first wild turkey season this spring.

Witnessed by a small group of sportsmen , legislators, press and representatives of the Maine Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation , the random selection of 500 names from among 605 applicants took less than five minutes.

The May 8-24 turkey hunt will be limited to York County. It is the first open season on gobblers in Maine since colonial times.

Fish and Wildlife Department efforts to restore turkey populations began in 1977 with a stocking of birds that had been live-trapped from wild flocks in Vermont. They are now well established in York County, and birds from there are being used to establish new populations in other coastal counties.

the count. This total represents an in crease of 400 birds over 1984 and brings the three-year average to 3,498 adults.

The total population figure represents an estimate extrapolated from a loon count coordinated by the Maine Audubon Society. Maine Audubon's annual loon count is designed to establish a baseline of information on loon distribution and status in the state of Maine.

The count took place on July 20 between 7 and 7:30 a.m. At that time, 400 lakes were surveyed by almost 800 volunteer participants across Maine.

They counted 1,036 adults and 159 chicks on 295 of those lakes.

Simultaneously, seven aerial counts were conducted so that large and/or remote lakes would be covered. Count results from lakes that were covered by both ground and aerial observers indicate that a significant number of loons are not seen from the air. As a result, it is very likely that the loon

count totals are conservative.

Interestingly, 50 percent more chicks were counted in 1985 than in 1984.

BIG GAME RECORDS LISTED A wealth of information about trophy-class big game animals taken in Maine is found in the seventh annual Big Game Records Publication, available for $9 from the Maine Antler and Skull Trophy Club.

Club founder Dick Arsenault of Gorham says the soft-cover, 80-page book has information on over 800 deer, bear and moose entered during the organization's seven-year history.

Over 70 of the entries meet or exceed the famous Boone and Crockett Club's minimum entry score requirements.

The book also features over 150 pictures of the trophy antlers and skulls.

Purchase requests should be sent to Arsenault, RR 5, Box 190, Gorham, ME 04038.

KID-BITS ANSWERS DEER YARD MAZE What obstacles did you encounter in the deer yard?

Dog Pack - Dogs, even thoroughly tame household pets, will chase deer if a proper opportunity presents itself. The dogs, running in packs over the deep woods snows, will bite at the hindquarters of the deer they are chasing, sometimes bringing the animal down and killing it.

Chainsaw or Snowmobile Noise - Deer are fairly shy animals who want only to be left alone.

If you know where a deer yard is located, try not to operate snowmobiles or loud machinery nearby, and tell your friends to do the same.

Deep Snow - With their sharp pointed hooves, deer find it very difficult to travel in snow more than 18 inches deep.

Ice Patch - A deer's hooves pose problems for them on ice, much the same as they do in deep snow. The hooves are simply not designed for good traction on ice; standing or walking is very difficult.

No Food - Deer need a lot of twigs and buds to eat throughout the winter. Unfortunately, food can run out very quickly when too many deer use the same wintering area.

1985 LOON COUNT RESULTS TABULATED Results from the 1985 statewide loon count indicate that there were 3 ,951 adult loons in Maine last summer. Non breeding immature birds summering along the coast were not included in

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

MAINE TRACKER The animal is the porcupine (Erithizon dorsatum).

MAINE STATE INSECT Maine's state insect is the honeybee (Apis mellifera).

27

FIELD NOTES ROUND POND, T.6,R.11-Deer hunters in this area seemed to obey the "bucks-only" law quite well, but I did find one party with an illegal doe deer all skinned-out and quartered in a cooler. They made the mistake of leaving a piece of tenderloin in the frying pan at their campsite and then going hunting. When they returned I found fresh hair and blood on the knives of all three hunters. After applying a little "verbal pressure," I walked down the road a short way and gave them a chance to talk the situation over. When I came back they were ready to tell me all about their misadventure, including the location and sex of the deer, and who had shot it.

-Warden Brian Cain, Round Pond BREWER- On the morning of November 20, Warden Chuck Allen was out jogging and was passed by a car. He noted that the driver appeared to be looking into the fields on both sides of the road. The car went up the road a short distance and stopped. Chuck jogged up to the car, introduced himself as a game warden and asked to check the rifle beside the driver. The operator subsequently received a summons to court for carrying a loaded rifle in a motor vehicle.

Potential violators in Chuck's district should think twice before violating the fish and wildlife laws in the presence of joggers!

-Lt. Larry Cummings, Bangor ROCKWOOD-Fisheries Biologist Paul Johnson and I were walking along the shore of Brassua Lake in mid-December when we spotted a deer down on the ice, about a quarter-mile distant and obviously alive. We rushed over and, after some deliberation , decided to push the deer ashore, a tricky maneuver because of flailing legs and sharp hooves. Once ashore, and after about five minutes of panting and looking wild-eyed at its surroundings, the deer, a young doe, got to its feet and charged into the woods, obviously not injured but un doubtedly bruised and battered from falling on the ice and struggling

to regain its footing. Later we discovered that we had pushed the deer to the wrong shore, as tracks indicated that it and two other deer had started across the lake, probably a doe and its two fawns .

The other two made it. Although there was no evidence that they were fleeing coyotes, we do not doubt that a deer down on the ice would be easy prey for coyotes.

-Wildlife Biologist Bill Noble, Greenville

JACKMAN - / watched an eagle that was trying to get his breakfast recently, and after about a half hour he managed to get a nice three to four pound trout away from a young otter that was also getting breakfast. Six otters had found a trout spawning bed and were all enjoying trout for breakfast.

-Warden Glenn R!eney, Jackman

ORNEVILLE- At 7 a.m. one day in October I received a call from a Milo resident stating that he and a hunting companion had just found a dead moose in the woods in Orneville. I traveled to the caller's residence, picked him up, and then drove to the scene. At the same time, Warden Mike Eaton had received a similar call. He arrived at the scene and found a dead bull moose alongside the road, one hindquarter missing. Within the next three hours I received several more calls about the same incident. After a bit of in vestigation, also involving Warden Mike Morrison, two individuals were apprehended and all of the moose meat was recovered. The amusing part of the whole story is that the two had dragged the moose from where they couldn't be observed, right out into the open where passersby could easily see what was taking place, resulting in the matter coming to the attention of the Maine Warden Service.

-Warden Scott Hoyle, Brownville

The Ethics of Hunting

W

E'RE IN THE off-season now, the time when hunters look to the future and the past and

wish for better days ... It's a good time to think about what we do and how we do it, for our conduct afield and the attitude of the public toward us because of it may well play an important role in the future of hunting.

When a fellow picks up his trusty gun and heads for the hunting grounds, he is obliged to obey two kinds of laws. One is the written law that governs seasons, bag limits and hunting methods. But abiding by the written law is not enough. It's the code of honor that the hunter imposes upon himself that determines the quality of the hunt. Make no mistake; a man can be licensed and law-abiding, and still never be a sportsman.

For example, the guy who lets fly at a deer more than 500 yards away is legal, but sure isn't ethical.

Again, the hunter who bangs away at geese up in the stratosphere is within the written law all right, but out of bounds by any honorable standard. In both cases, the odds against a clean kill are enormous, and the clean kill is the first obligation of anyone who looks at game over a gun barrel.

The ethical hunter understands that he will receive from the hunt in direct proportion to his investment of care, knowledge and respect. He may not fill his limit, but he knows that one bird or animal taken fairly and honorably is better than many brought to bag unfairly. He knows that how he hunts is more important than how much game he shoots.

And while the non-hunting public may never approve entirely of even the ethical hunter, the public is at least likely to tolerate him. The slob and the outlaw are no longer tolerated by the public, and as long as they remain a part of the hunting scene, we all will suffer by association.

Conservation laws and hunting ethics are two sides of the same coin. We have known for a long time that, without regulation and conservation, hunting would disappear. We know now that without dedication to the unwritten laws, to the ethics of the sport, hunting will just as surely suffer.

- Reprinted from the Missouri Conservationist.

A .brilliavrt dedtACtioVI

(continued from page 23)

these sites are, and programs to maintain them, are essential to the long-term success of great blue herons in Maine. A survey was conducted to locate these sites throughout inland Maine. This complements a coastal survey done in 1983, final ly giving a complete picture for the state.

ed birds breeding in Maine. Their status is in a delicate balance, since they are restricted to nesting on the sandy beaches of southern Maine.

Beachgoers, competing for these sites, have severely effected these birds.

Through a contract with The Maine Audubon Society, the nongame project is managing and protecting these two species.

Grasshopper Sparrows

-""'¡--""'-"''

Wading Birds

Six species of wading birds nest on Maine's coastal islands: great blue herons, little blue herons, blackcrowned night herons, glossy ibis, snowy egrets, and tri-colored herons. All but the great blue heron reach the northern limit of their range and occur in relatively small numbers in Maine. Their nesting ecology was the subject of a study supported by the fund in 1985.

Coastal Islands Grasshopper sparrows are found nesting in only two spots in Maine.

Both sites are on commercially managed blueberry fields. A study was supported to see if changes from mechanical to chemical weed control on these fields will adversely affect this rare bird.

Amphibians and Reptiles

This study is jointly funding the Maine Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, and the University of Maine at Orono. A statewide network of knowledgeable volunteers is being organized; for the next few years, our woods, fields , streams, and marshes will be systematically searched for these elusive creatures.

The eventual product will be an atlas, similar to the breeding bird atlas, giving an ecological description and distribution map for each species.

Least Tern and Piping Plover

The least tern and the piping plover are two of the most threatenMaine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

About 350 islands on the Maine coast support one of the most unique communities of wildlife in the United States. These are the seabird nesting islands, which support colonies of puffins, petrels, guillemots, razorbills, snowy egrets, and 15 other species. The department, through the nongame project, monitors and manages these islands.

About 100 nesting islands were visited and inventoried in 1985 in a continuing effort to protect this unique resource.

Harbor Seals

Harbor seals have doubled their numbers in Maine over the past decade. Understanding their habitat needs and population dynamics is essential for providing the protection they need in balance with other management considerations. A study near Mt. Desert Island was funded to try and document the traditional nature of pupping sites by seals and to describe the life history of individual animals, from birth on , using natural markings as identifying characteristics.

Herbicides and Forestry

The use of herbicides as a forestry management tool in on the increase.

They're used to kill young hardwoods , in favor of softwoods, on harvested areas. The question of what effect this has on populations of birds and small mammals is the topic of a study being supported in northern Maine.

A contribution to the Nongame Wildlife Fund is voluntary, and tax deductible the following year. Your donation is not part of your taxes, but rather is added to taxes due. In this way, it does not draw from the existing state treasury but sets up a separate trust fund. All money contributed to this fund , and any interest accrued, can be spent only on endangered and nongame wildlife in Maine. A seven-member Citizen's Advisory Committee oversees the program.

Tax deductible contributions, payable to "Maine's Nongame Wildlife Fund ," can also be sent at any time directly to the department for inclusion in the fund . This enables nonresident camp owners, or others who don't file a Maine tax return, to supâ&#x20AC;˘ port wildlife in Maine.

29

MAINE TRACKER How many clues will it take for you to track down the identity of this animal?

HIND FOOT

This animal:

1. Is in the rodent family.

2. Is a nocturnal herbivore (active at night, eats only plants).

3. Has a scientific name "erithizon," which means one who rises in anger.

4. Likes salt, and often chews on tool handles that have absorbed sweat.

FRONT FOOT

5. Eats the bark off trees in the winter.

6. Has sharp, hollow quills on its body.

~-â&#x20AC;˘.

#J:

\'¡

.,.

..

~

~ , ~ , ~ ..,.

.,1- ,,

1 W

hat is the Maine state insect?

Answer revealed by connecting the dots.

30

. 'l

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

Letters should be sent to: Liz Chipman, KID-BITS Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine 284 State Street, Sta. #4 l Augusta, ME 04333

W

here do deer go when it snows? If there is a lot of snowfall, deer

move to areas that give them protection from storms and deep snow. These areas are called deer yards. The "yards" must also have a good food supply for the deer to feed on during the long winter. Deer must feed on twigs and buds until spring because their other food sources are gone or covered under the snow. Here is a deer yard. See ilyou can make it through from START to FINISH by following the trails. There are many things in your way, but if you are a strong deer with a lot of stored fat to help you make it through the winter, you can do it!

Answers and key to deer yard obstacles on page 27.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

31

Regulations

(continued from page

6J

in the original proposal. If they succeed, the final version of the rule may be modified in such a way that the person who initially had no problem with the proposal is now very unhappy with it! It is therefore very important for people to get involved, either by attending or by sending written comments - even when they are wholeheartedly in favor of a proposal! I think history has shown that it's usually the people who are violently opposed to something who show up and make their feelings known - the satisfied majority doesn't bother to get involved.

In closing, I'd like to emphasize that the rulemaking/ public hearing process is only as successful as the sportsmen of this state make it. If the sportsmen choose to criticize it rather than get involved with it, then I guess it could, in fact , become a farce.

I think a good example of this has taken place during the last few years at public hearings held around the state to listen to testimony on proposals to establish antlerless deer protection zones. Each of the last two years, we have held 16 hearings (one in each county) to consider "bucks only" restrictions throughout much of the state. Each year, the number of people who have attended these hearings to testify, or who have submitted written comments, has been less than 500! When you have 200,000 deer hunters living in Maine, and you hear from less than 500, you're

Made in Maine curatorial positions were prominent.

We strengthened collections management and care to become the core of museum operations - a fundamental change affecting all aspects of the museum's work and providing the drive and motive for changes in the museum's programming. We altered job descriptions, and, under the leadership of the same staff members, we created curatorial positions, assembled stronger collections, established new ethics and collections policies, and strengthened our cataloguing programs.

Earlier, when we escaped the responsibilities inherent in collections management, some at the museum had believed that more creativity might emerge in the planning and design of "relevant" exhibits. In fact, the reverse proved true - it was difficult to build exhibits with nothing much to display. What the museum 32

(continued from page

not really getting a true picture of the wishes of the sportsmen. And these hearings, which are required by law , cost nearly $200,000 each year - a cost paid directly by sportsmen in the form of license fees!

The Fish and Wildlife Department is your department!

We work for you, and will do our best to implement what you, the sportsmen of Maine, want in the way of hunting and fishing regulations, provided that our fish and wildlife resources receive the protection they need as well. But we won't know what you want unless you tell us!

It's very important to attend public hearings, send in written comments - or find out who your advisory council representative is and make that person aware of your concerns. If you don't feel you can stay abreast of all proposed changes by finding them in the newpaper advertisements, drop us a line requesting that your organization be placed on our mailing list to receive all such proposals. Please supply a complete and accurate address, and let us know when any or all of it changes.

GET INVOLVED! I can't guarantee that you will always get the results you want, but I do know that you will find this department sensitive to the needs and concerns of Maine sportsmen. We won't agree on all issues, but we should at least be headed towards two common goals to properly manage and protect our fish and wildlife resources, and to provide the public with maximum opportunity to enjoy these resources within allowable limits.

1sJ

needed , very simply, were artifacts reflecting the story of Maine and exhibitions making use of these artifacts to tell Maine history. Changing times, and public and legislative attitudes, brought new collections possibilities as the legislature appropriated funds specifically for purchasing artifacts. The museum entered a period of aggressive collections development and refinement.

From this initially remedial approach has now arisen a new mission and new museum management and exhibit planning strategies. And the strategies' first tangible result is "Made in Maine."

The new era of exhibit development at the museum began with noise, mess, and dislocation, much like an indoor revolution . In February 1983, workmen armed with jackhammers and equipped with backhoes and other heavy machinery began the systematic

demolition of the museum's lowerlevel exhibit gallery. We had removed all the existing temporary exhibits from the area and closed the gallery to the public before workers ripped up much of the existing concrete floor, excavated to depths of 16 feet below the former floor level, and hauled away tons of gravel and broken concrete. The museum's audacity in undertaking the demolition of major parts of the nearly new state building was symbolic of the upheaval that had already taken place within the museum's internal operations and which had led, ultimately, to our planning exhibits like "Made in Maine."

After the museum staff conducted two analyses - one of collections and the other of space - in 1979, we then turned to thematic and design concepts for the "Made in Maine" exhibit. We found that our artifacts fell into the categories of Maine-made objects of many kinds and tools and machines used to Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1985-86

ake these objects. Although not ensive, the machinery collection growing under our more agessive collecting policy, and it came more likely that we could mble a significant collection in - · area. ince a collection of Maine-made · cts seemed legitimately to reflect important portion of the state's · ory. we first conceived the "Made aine exhibition as an umbrella la ·ng and interpreting the strength is growing collection. We relied our collection of tools and achinery to suggest the central ec of our thematic organization: di ision of the story into :egories of work environments. _ eanwhile, the staff analyzed • er of its resources - the space . In this regard , we found that ower exhibit gallery offered e remarkable potentials. Some .000 square feet of space was · able with no interior structural mns and with ceiling heights ging from 16 to 20 feet. We could - this large volume of uncluttered e for an extraordinary threeensional design. By dismantling ceiling above and excavating o the building's slab floor and dation , we could increase the · ht even more. Here, indeed, we an uncommon opportunity to something special.

Because of the large volume of ce we decided to extend the seum's collections themselves. e kn ew we could expand beyond e typical collections of small articts and tools and introduce - d ustrial-scale machinery and "!ding fragments , such as a blast ace from the Portland Stove Foun dry Company, a complete ee-story waterpowered wood-orking shop, a set of fulling stocks, d machinery from a woolen facory. We believed that these collec·o ns were every bit as important to e story of Maine as the existing colections of spinning wheels and hand planes. Had we not been blessed ith ample space, the museum

would never have acquired the large machines. After we aggressively searched for and acquired major manufacturing machinery, we looked to the new collections, themselves, for ideas for the final design of the space.

With the new collections and the vast space, we had a chance to explore some of the roles indoor museums might play - roles along the lines of our counterparts in outdoor living history museums, historic houses, or sites. We planned to deal with a large number of shop and mill settings, but we knew all along that outdoor museums generally have better capacities for active demonstrations to the public. How could we, for instance, establish inside a building a working blacksmith shop that would rival an active shop located at an outdoor site? Staff reasoned we could not and should not try to do this. We abandoned these kinds of efforts as inappropriate to the indoor museum's setting. Instead, we addressed an aspect of historical interpretation that has proved most difficult for outdoor museums, historic houses, or even science and technology centers. That aspect is social integration in a complex 19th-century story. We have found that, elsewhere, most museums have difficulty integrating the story of the age of manufacturing with that of agrarian or rural history.

Science museums do very well, generally, at explaining how things work, but they rarely invest space to tell of the complex socal changes that initiated or resulted from technological change. Outdoor history museums and historic houses have experienced great difficulty in transcending the "age of homespun" and providing a balanced story touching on the effects of urbanization and industrialization. So far, no large outdoor museum has been able to present, alongside the rural or agrarian story, the coexisting story of iron, steam, and factories . The recreation of a true urban or manufacturing village on the scale of an

outdoor museum is probably impossible from both collections procurement and financial standpoints.

In an analysis of the American story that the nation's history museums tell today, we find pathetically little attention directed to the history of work in 19th-century factories and life in urban cities in relation to their social, economic, and technological importance. This is not wholly the fault of the museums. To present living history, for example, museums must provide a seemingly complete surrounding; it requires the recreation of whole scenes, whole houses, whole churches, and whole farmsteads. A similar treatment of manufacturing history would require the re-creation of a complete factory with all of its machinery. The buildings, real estate, and machinery collections are simply not available for the treatment of industrial history on a "living history" scale.

The indoor museum, by contrast, has at least a chance of success in dealing with urban and industrial history because it can display fragmentary portions of much larger things. Indoor museums can thus evoke a sense of the whole by focusing attention upon a key fragment.

In this capacity, indoor museums might make their greatest contribution to the interpretation of social history and the integration of domestic or agrarian stories with urban and industrial stories.

In the end, a strong social prespective emerges in "Made in Maine." While we first set out to build and display collections, we ended up with an exhibition that draws attention to a forgotten part of the state's history and engenders appreciation and respect for the lives of Maine's countless 19th-century working people who toiled in homes, shops, and factories. With this result, we may at last have achieved the social relevance for our museum that we first sought, but ironically, we may have done so at the suggestion of curators and through the use of collections that we once avoided.

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Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife

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284 State St.

Sta. #41

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Augusta, Maine 04333