Plant and Animal Habitat

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Plant and Animal Habitat
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Overview

• Special Natural Areas and Wildlife and Fisheries
  resources are merged
• More emphasis on the land/water base - habitat
  for plants or animals
• Much new information on plant and animal habitat
  in Maine and the jurisdiction
• Jurisdiction has very high quality habitat
• Regional significance

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What is unique about the jurisdiction?

• Large, unfragmented forested areas
• Large peatland systems
• Habitat for RTE plants and invertebrates
• Significant alpine areas w/rare, uncommon species
• Several endemic terrestrial and aquatic species
• Eg. Furbishs Lousewort, Katahdin Arctic
  butterfly, Roaring Brook mayfly
• Absence of invasive species
• Healthy populations of furbearers and game
  species

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What is unique about the jurisdiction?

• Most of the pine marten range in Maine
• Only extensive, intact populations of wild brook
  trout in lakes and ponds in the 17-state
  Appalachian region
• 256 of 305 Heritage Ponds in Maine
• Twice as many intact subwatersheds of documented
  brook trout populations as other Appalachian
  states combined
• Many streams still unsurveyed
• Wild Atlantic salmon (federally endangered) in 8
  Downeast rivers
• Nesting habitat for roseate terns (endangered in
  ME)

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What is unique about the jurisdiction?

• Native Arctic charr, found only in ME and AK in
  U.S.
• Fishless ponds - unique ecosystems
• Richness in species requiring high quality
  aquatic habitat, incl. damselflies, mayflies, and
  freshwater mussels (threatened worldwide)
• Only healthy lynx population in the Northeast
  (federally endangered)
• 281 bald eagle nest sites (of 521 statewide)
• 300,000 acres of inland waterfowl and wading
  bird habitat

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Habitat

• Terrestrial habitat
• A range of specific habitats
• Large, landscape-scale blocks (ideally, mix of
  forest, grassland, and wetland)
• Habitat for animals not dependent on a specific
  community
• Habitat for full suite of species, from
  invertebrates to wide-ranging predators
• Habitat for area-sensitive species (some forest
  birds, large mammals, etc)

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Habitat

• Terrestrial habitat (cond)
• Riparian areas
• Support a majority of vertebrates for living,
  feeding, breeding, or travel
• Form core for specialized habitat such as
  deeryards
• Contribute to high quality aquatic habitat when
  left relatively undisturbed

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Habitat

• Aquatic habitat
• Very high quality compared to Northeast
• Last stronghold for brook trout (indicators of
  stream health)
• Attributed in part to high forest cover, lack of
  dams, lack of development
• Warmwater habitat
• Vernal pools
• Wetlands

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Key points

• Much new information on nature and quality of
  habitat in the jurisdiction
• More to learn, but evidence of richness in
  species diversity and abundance
• Due in part to limited human footprint and
  associated disturbance
• Habitat resource is regionally significant
• Opportunity exists to preserve plant and animal
  diversity

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Regulatory Framework

• Federal
• Endangered Species Act (federal)
• Listing
• Atlantic Salmon
• Canada Lynx
• Identification of critical habitat
• Recovery Plan
• Protection from take

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Regulatory Framework

• State
• Endangered Species Act (ESA)
• Listing
• Identification of essential habitat
• IFW rules re projects located within essential
  habitat
• Natural Resources Protection Act (NRPA)
• Provisions for protection of significant
  wildlife habitat
• LURC issues NRPA permits in the jurisdiction

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LURC Regulatory Approach

• Zoning
• Direct protection (purpose of zone is habitat
  protection)
• P-FW (deeryards, coastal seabird islands)
• Other (zone has multiple purposes)
• Shoreland zones P-GP, P-FP, P-AL, P-RR, P-RT,
  P-SL
• Wetlands P-WL
• Mountains P-MA
• Other P-UA, P-RP (St. John River Plan)

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LURC Regulatory Approach

• Guiding location of development
• Discourage growth which results in scattered and
  sprawling development
• Concentrate development away from areas with
  important values, eg. high value plant and animal
  habitat
• Project review
• IFW and MNAP review of subdivisions and large
  development proposals

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LURC Regulatory Approach

• Land use standards
• Clearing and timber harvesting standards in
  shoreland areas and building setbacks
• Limit disturbance of riparian areas
• Cluster and open space provisions
• Concentrate development in smaller areas, protect
  adjacent land

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Issues

• Conflicting uses
• Conflict between use of land and its value as
  habitat
• Principal uses in the jurisdiction
• Resource extraction (Forest management, etc.)
• Development

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Issues

• Conflicting uses (cond)
• Forest management
• Challenge to some specialized habitat
• RTE species
• Deeryards
• Impacts on riparian and aquatic habitat (direct
  and cumulative)
• Short-term vs. long-term impacts
• Long-term neutral
• Goal Ensure a continuum of habitat across the
  managed forest to maintain existing diversity of
  species

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Issues

• Conflicting uses (cond)
• Development
• More lasting impacts than forest mgmt.
• Alteration of habitat (vegetation change,
  moisture, light, disturbance)
• Fragmentation of habitat by roads (scale, use
  level)
• Measures to concentrate development in
  appropriate areas, away from valued habitat, are
  critically important
• Scattered development undermines habitat values
  (one of the principal values)

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Issues

• Conflicting uses (cond)
• Site-specific conflicts, eg.
• Development on a seabird nesting island
• Development in a deeryard
• Challenging for Commission and landowner
• Considerations
• Value of resource, rarity and sensitivity to
  disturbance, options available to landowner
• Cooperative agreements w/IFW encouraged

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Issues

• Adequacy of habitat protection
• Much new information
• Jurisdiction has a diversity and abundance of
  plant and animal life that is regionally
  significant
• Appropriate to broaden habitat planning to
  landscape level
• Well-suited given size of jurisdiction, quality
  of resources
• Useful tool in work to direct development,
  preserve principal values, focus conservation
  efforts

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Issues

• Adequacy of habitat protection (cond)
• Beginning with Habitat (organized areas)
• Overlays of known habitat (RTE, NRPA habitat),
  rare communities, high quality common
  communities, large blocks of undeveloped habitat
• Variety of tools resource protection, land use
  standards, land acquisition, etc.
• Habitat planning in jurisdiction will require
  different assumptions
• Opportunity to plan for protection of high
  quality habitat

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Issues

• Adequacy of habitat protection (cond)
• Other, more specific needs
• NRPA-related rulemaking
• Waterfowl and wading bird habitat
• Vernal pools
• Definition of coastal nesting island

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Issues

• Fragmentation of habitat
• Roads, utility corridors, development create
  breaks in the landscape
• Barriers to plants and animals
• Isolation of populations (genetic)
• Area-sensitive species
• Fragmentation not as significant as in southern
  ME
• But jurisdiction has fragmenting features
• Scarcity of roadless areas (AMC study)

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Source Appalachian Mountain Club
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Issues

• Fragmentation of habitat (cond)
• Acknowledge the importance of unfragmented
  habitat
• Careful consideration of land management road
  conversions to support more intensive uses and
  facilities
• Discourage road conversions in high value habitat

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Issues

• Changes in land ownership
• New owners have different objectives
• Weaker biodiversity practices, overall
• Importance of proactively addressing habitat needs

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Issues

• Lake management classes
• Need to update fisheries and wildlife resource
  ratings
• New information on brook trout resource, fishless
  ponds to consider
• Consider expansion of remote ponds to include
  newly identified high value ponds
• Need to review/update aspects of the lakes program

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Issues

• Deer wintering areas (cond)
• Two comprehensive reviews of deeryard protection
  program since its creation
• Affirmed value of program, but made modifications
  following each review
• Policy document attached as Appendix to 1997 CLUP

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Issues

• Deer wintering areas (cond)
• Program continues to challenge landowners and IFW
• Long-range cooperative agreements have failed in
  some cases (changes of ownership)
• IFW not meeting deer management goals in some
  regions
• No formal protection for deeryards in some areas
• Difficulty meeting documentation requirements
• Mild winters, limited resources, landowner
  notification issues

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Issues

• Deer wintering areas (cond)
• Commission continues to work cooperatively with
  IFW
• View deeryard program within larger context of
  habitat protection needs

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Goals and Policies

• Old Goals
• Protect and enhance identified features and areas
  of natural significance.
• Conserve and protect the aesthetic, ecological,
  recreation, scientific, cultural, and economic
  values of wildlife and fisheries resources.

• New Goal
• Maintain sufficient habitat to conserve all
  native plant and animal species currently
  breeding in the jurisdiction.

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Goals and Policies

• Policy 1
• Update list of named habitats (NRPA)
• Policy 2
• Existing policy (validates riparian land use
  restrictions)
• Policy 3
• Existing policy (little used, but important
  concept)

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Goals and Policies

• Policy 4
• Authorize landscape-scale habitat planning effort
• Policy 5
• Possible use for landscape scale habitat planning
  
• Policy 6
• Modified version of existing policy
• Policy 7
• Encourage coordinated conservation planning