Maine harbors 50% of the wild population of Eastern Brook Trout and is the only state in the nation with a wild population of Atlantic Salmon. Forested areas along lakes, ponds, wetlands, and streams – known as riparian habitats – are crucial to protecting habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife. Fish depend on the forests around them to provide shade, cool water, down trees, and leaf litter, which in turn provide places for fish to feed on aquatic insects, rest under logs, lay eggs in gravel beds, and raise young. Furthermore, around 85% of Maine vertebrate species use riparian areas at some time during the year. Riparian areas help protect water quality, provide valuable habitat for many plant and wildlife species, and serve as a buffer that minimizes disturbance of wildlife in nearby waters.
For anyone interested in managing riparian areas to enhance their value for fish and wildlife as part of a broader landscape approach to forest management, we have some suggestions for concrete steps you can take to do just that, based on the best scientific information available at this time.
Forests for Maine Fish: A Guidebook for Foresters and Land Managers
If you are a forester or woodland owner or manager, read this guidebook to learn more about why riparian habitat is important for fish, wildlife, and people, and about specific steps you can take to enhance habitat quality for fish as well as wildlife species that live in or frequently use shoreland and streamside riparian habitats. There are numerous suggestions to choose from that can be tailored to a particular parcel or woodland, and all are voluntary.
Forests for Maine Fish: A Homeowner’s Guidebook
Whether you live alongside a lake, pond, river, stream, or wetland, this guidebook describes how you can steward the land around your home to enhance habitat for fish and other wildlife. Learn more about why riparian habitat is important for fish and other wildlife, and about specific steps you can take to enhance habitat features important for a range of species. There are numerous suggestions that can be tailored to a particular home and surrounding woodland, and all are voluntary.