Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine, Spring 1999 by Maine State Library

BRARY ILDLIFE

LIBRARY US ONLY

EDITORIAL by Lee E. Perry, Commissioner Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

While each storm seems to be trying to turn back the clock, every day as the sun's arc lengthens across the horizon; as the grouse drums; as the turkey calls; as the first returning Canada geese appear in coastal marshes; as deer graze on the first exposed pasture land; as woodcock twitter above at dusk; and as the ice darkens and relinquishes its hold on blue waters, we are reminded that the season of growth and abundant life is upon us. Spring has come. As spring unfolds, often we react by throwing off the cloak of winter and engaging in spring work, repeating both chores and recreational activities as we have in the past without regard for emerging issues which could affect our ability to enjoy the outdoors and our fish and wildlife resources. So here are a few thoughts to ponder as we enjoy the emergence of this new spring. What would spring be without fishing? If you haven't bought your license you are missing some great opportunities. Fish populations are in great shape-why wait to hear about it from someone else - the big one that didn't get away could have been yours. And if you aren't successful what better way to spend a relaxing part of your day! Fish responsibly. Scientists have shown that lead poisoning is deadly to waterfowl. The loons at your favorite fishing spot could be killed by ingesting lead sinkers and jigs. You can help by restocking your tackle box with tackle composed of other material and asking your local tackle shop to stock alternatives. What is spring fishing without kids fishing? For many kids the opportunity is only a few steps away, to the brook down back, to the pond down the street, but for others the opportunity is farther away and blocked not only by distance but the lack of someone to teach and encourage. Each day more and more people are dedicating time to encouraging kids to get hooked on fishing. To you who are part of the great program, thanks. To those who haven't done something to help a youngster enjoy spring, please do. Get the lead out, go fishing - the yard work can wait!

P.S. In the winter edition we expressed some of the challenges we faced in communicating with thousands of people like you. We asked you to share your thoughts about this magazine with us through an enclosed survey. Hundreds of you responded. We are compiling your responses and will publish the results in a future edition of the magazine. I hope that with the comments you have provided we will be able to better serve your needs. Thank you for taking the time to actively participate in the management of your wildlife resources by responding.

5/99

lNE WILDLIFE

FISH AND WILDLIFE

VOL. 41, NO. 1

A quarterly full-color magazine about hunting, fishing, or just plain recreating in Maine's outdoors

SPECIAL HALF-PRICE OFFER! D 1 year only $9 D Payment enclosed

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OB FASTEB SERVICE, CALL TOLL-FREE 1-800-288-8387

by David Peppard

1d this extra edge for winter rescue

by Christopher Short

' to mountain ponds in style!

AINE

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by Shelly Stiles

ificent species is back again!

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by Brad Allen

1about this eccentric upland species

A quarterly full-color magazine about hunting, fishing, or just plain recreating in Maine's outdoors D 1 year only $9 D Payment enclosed

by Jean Bergerson

ey hunt-patience is a vi rtue!

10 _

by Bruce Kidman

reserve a piece of this fabled drainage

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A quarterly full-color magazine about hunting, fishing, or just plain recreating in Maine's outdoors

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Sp ring 1999

EDITORIAL

MAINE

FISH AND WILDLIFE 284 State St., Sta. #41 Augusta ME 04333

While each storm seems to b, as the sun's arc lengthens acros turkey calls; as the first returnir marshes; as deer graze on the f twitter above at dusk; and as tl on blue waters, we are remind, dant life is upon us. Spring has As spring unfolds, often we 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ and engaging in spring work, 1 - - - - - - - - - - - activities as we have in the pasl which could affect our ability t< wildlife resources. So here are emergence of this new spring. What would spring be witho license you are missing some g in great shape-why wait to he one that didn't get away could FISH AND WILDLIFE successful what better way to sÂˇ 284 State St., Sta. #41 Fish responsibly. Scientists h Augusta ME 04333 to waterfowl. The loons at your can help by restocking your tac shop to stock alternatives. What is spring fishing withothe brook down back, to the po blocked not only by distance b people are dedicating time to e1 program, thanks. To those who _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Get the lead out, go fishing -

Place Sta.mp

Here

MAINE

Place Sta.mp

Here

P.S. In the winter edition we sands of people like you. We as enclosed survey. Hundreds of in a future edition of the magaz better serve your needs. Thank wildlife resources by respondii

MAINE

FISH AND WILDLIFE 284 State St., Sta. #41 Augusta ME 04333

MAINE

FISH AND WILDLIFE Governor Angus S. King, Jr.

Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Lee Perry, Commiss ioner Frederick B. Hurley, Jr., Deputy Commissioner Kenneth H. Elowe, Director, Bureau of Resource Management Richard Record. Director. Bureau of Administrative Services Tim Peabody, Colone l, Bu reau of Warden Service Advisory Council Russell E. Oyer, Bowdoinham. Chairman Ellen N. Peters. New Gloucester, Co Chairwoman Charles F. Beck, Presque Isle Millard A. Wardwell , Penobscot F. Dale Speed, Princeton Richard A. Neal, Acton Stanley D. Milton. A ndove r Lila Ware, Skowhegan Harold Brown, Ba ngo r

Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine V. Paul Reynolds. Editor & Advertising

SPRING 1999

VOL. 41, NO. 1

Features George Soule of Freeport

by Larry Catlett

Decoys, duck calls, nostalgia--{lll rolled into one visit, one reminiscence

Warden Service Airboat Saves Lives

by David Peppard

For more than a decade, Maine wardens have had this extra edge for winter rescue

Backpacking Brook Trout

by Christopher S hort

Talk about fragile packages-these tiny fish ride to mountain ponds in style!

Maine Turkeys Calling!

by Jean Bergerson

One hunter's recollections about her Maine turkey hunt-patience is a virtue!

The Inland Shorebird

by B rad Allen

The American woodcock-the timberdoodle--{11/ about this eccentric upland species

The Return of the American Chestnut Tree

by S helly Stiles

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

Once thought to be gone from Maine, this magnificent species is back again!

MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE (ISSN 0360-00SX) is published quarterly by the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. 284 State Street. Station 41, Augusta. Mame 04330. under Appropriation 01009A-0529 Subscription rate, $18.00 per year. No stamps. please. Preferred Periodicals postage paid at Augusta, Maine and at additional mailing offi ces. ~ Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. 1999 Permission to reprint text material is granted, pro vided proper credit is given to the author and to MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE. Clearance must be obtained from artists. photographers, and non-staff authors to reproduce credited work .

The Nature Conservancy goes out on a limb to preserve a piece of this fabled drainage

CHANGE OF ADDRESS Send both old and new ~ddresses to Circulation Section, MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE Magazine, 284 State St.. 41 State Hse Sta .. Augusta ME 04333. Please a llow six weeks for changes to take effect. POSTMASTER Please send address changes to Circulation Section, MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE, 284 State St.. 41 State Hse Sta., Augusta . Maine 04333 QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SUBSCR IPTION'/ Just call loll -free 1-800-288- 8387 The Department of Inland fisheries and Wildlife receives federal funds from the U.S. Department of the Interior. Accordingly, all department programs and activilit's must be operated free from discrimina· lion with 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

, New Owner Along The St. John River

by Bruce Kidman

Departments RECIPE CORNER

KID-BITS

ALONG THE TRAIL

FISH AND WILDLIFE BRIEFS

The Front Cover: Deer at Sandy Stream Pond, Baxter State Park, springtime. Photo by David A. Murray, West Southport, Maine.

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with vegetable-based " . , inks on recyclable paper

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Spr111g 1999

One of Maine's Great Outdoorsmen

George Soule of Freeport by Larry Catlett Photo by the author

Hunted with L.L.Bean, built world class decoys & calls

Larry Catlett is a physician who lives in Turner, Maine.

Maine Fish and Wildlife

â&#x20AC;˘

nan early spring afternoon a couple of years ago, I was privileged to interview one of Maine's great outdoorsmenGeorge V. Soule of Freeport. George had been a long-time business associate and hunting crony of L.L. Bean. Soule field tested products with Bean, eventually supplying L.L. Bean's with a number of products, including his famous Coastal decoys and duck calls. George and I had met once before, although I doubt he remembered. Some 20 years earlier, I had purchased one of his coastal duck calls at the old Bean's retail store. Early mornings spent before hospital rounds on the Kennebec provided me lots of opportunity for calling practice. The black ducks' reactions to my calling that season were not encouraging. Young and old birds alike remained resolutely fixed on flight paths that avoided my set-as if their routes were preordained. Needing help, I returned to Bean's. I was referred to the master himself. A short drive later, I found myself at the Staples Point address where George was finishing up construction on his new home. He greeted me warmly, tuned my reed a bit, and patiently worked with me until I had mastered his favorite callthe comeback. When I get it right, it still works magic! Twenty years after that lesson my call needed repair. I had lost the reed stopper while out chasing ducks back of the house on the Androscoggin. George again graciously consented to a visit. He agreed to repair the call and allow time for an interview and a few photographs. Finding both Freeport and Staples Point quite different this trip, I left the car in the dooryard and somewhat apprehensively approached the house. After all, I was about to interview a legend. George's daughter, Toby, and an aging springer spaniel served as the greeting party. Toby quickly made me feel welcome, and ushered me into the den. It stood in the ell between house and garage, and it clearly belonged to a sportsman. One window faced south onto a nearby cove. Beyond that window, framed by several of George's carvings, a flock of black ducks http://www.state.me. us/i fw

George, remembering times long past, remarked that, "L.L.

would come find me picking orders and kinda quietly suggest we get the hell out of there and chase some grouse. Back then he always told me not to worry about punching out. Together, we bothered quite a gang of ducks and grouse over the years." Over time, the partnership moved from adventure afield to matters of business. Citing an early encounter, George noted, "L.L. just comes out one day and

says, 'George, I cant keep enough snelled hooks for all my orders. Can you make me some?' Well, me and a fellow named Mc Williams got right to it, and pretty soon we were making all of Bean's snelled hooks. L.L. soon had the same problem with flies. He made a place for us up in the old Gorman building in the ell out back of the retail store. We eventually hired 16 tiers and made thousands offlies of all kinds." George's eyes twinkled as they did so often during the course of our afternoon, as he told me a tale about the fly shop.

Soule demonstrates his favorite duck call-the "comeback. " milled restlessly about in the warmth of the mid afternoon sun. Somewhat reserved at first, George turned out to be a great talker. Over the next few hours, he shared his memories of his early associations with "L.L." He spun grand yarns about his duck hunting days and even lectured me a bit on shotgun ballistics. It was a delightful afternoon! George's first job was in 1929 working for a Dr. Kendall, who ran some sort of a lab nearby for http://www.state.me. us/ifw

the Maine Bureau of Fisheries. When the lab closed in the early '30s, George needed another job. The up-and-coming mail order business in town seemed a likely spot. Upon application, he was given a job hand-packing mail orders for L. L. Bean. George said that the company was a lot less structured back then. Over time, the owner and new employee struck up a friendship based on their mutual fondness for all things outdoors.

"One time I had just finished a big deer hair mouse for bass fishin.' It was time for the girls to come over to the bench for their coffee break. I tied a long line of monofilament line onto the hook, set that mouse in behind the coffee pot and ran the line down a groove to the other end of that bench. Then I just set there pretending to be busy. After the girls got their coffee, sat down and started chatting, I gave that line a little jerk. That mouse came out quick like from behind that pot and, my, my, what a commotion! I wish those girls had tied flies as fast as they moved away from that bench!" Later, L.L. Bean asked George if he wanted to buy out the fly tying business, and the Soule/ McWilliams Company was formed. "I was the first one that Sprin g 1999

ever bought any part of L.L. Bean," said George, "and you know what? I can't remember if I ever paid a cent for it. All of this happened before I ever made the first Coastal decoy." Admitting that I was very curious about how he got into the duck decoy and call business for which he was so well known, George was about to start in again when something disturbed the blacks floating outside the window. After watching them

all. I said I could make a better decoy than that. He says, Go ahead, and if you do, I'll put em in the catalogue. "Well I like a challenge, so I went right to work. I didn't like wood. Surface is too smooth so that it spots in the light when a ripple's on the water. The heavy body makes the decoy dip in the waves. Pretty soon it'll ice up on the bill and eventually turn the deke right over. When your set spots, mallards and maybe aJew

George told me the decoys were often sold in groups of seven to nine. Five or six went out front, with one or two up closer to the blind. Apparently, L.L. and George had each offhandedly mentioned the size of their early set, and the number came to be gospel. I asked George how he had arrived at just that combination. Those blue eyes twinkled again and he chuckled, "That's an easy one. We

couldn't get any more'n' that in the pack basket we used to haul decoys to the !Jlind ! " George told me his first decoys were built in the area of the retail store that now serves as the employees' break room. Later, he built a shop next door to his new house down on the shore. During retirement, George returned daily to the "old shop" at Bean's, sharing coffee and experiences with all who would listen. I would love to have been there. Continuing, George told me that the magnum decoys came later.

George, the master, with one of his cork decoys. for a time, he turned back to me with a chuckle and began, "You

ask how I got into the decoy business. L.L. had gotten some decoys from somewhere or the other to sell out of the store. He liked to try everything out first, though, to make sure it was all right. We put 'em in one day for a try. After a while, L.L. noticed I was looking at em kinda cross-like, so he asked me what the trouble was. I told him that thetJ didn't look much like ducks and didn't sit in the water like ducks at

N.1i11e Fish and Wildlife

divers will come to it, but blacks are just as likely to pass it by. "Just at that time I heard there were cork blocks four inches thick for sale down in Portland, left over from a salvaged refrigerator truck. I went right down and got some, figuring it would be easy to work and wouldn't spot. Carved all the heads frorn pine for our first set. Next time L.L. and me went out, I laid out a spread of about seven decoys. The ducks couldn't stay away from em, and into the catalogue they went!"

"A customer invented 'em-some fella that came by one day wantin' some decoys. All I had was a bunch of goose bodies sawed out of the bigger six-inch cork I was using then. He was in a hurry, so I stuck duck heads on two dozen goose bodies and off he went. Never heard from him again, but by and by another fella showed up who wanted some of thern big decoys. This fella told me that last season, day after day, every duck coming down the Kennebec to Merrymeeting Bay just beelined sky-high across all our sets and dropped without even thinkin' Izard into those big ducks you made special for that other guy last year. That guy would finish up 'fore we ever started and go sit 011 his camp http://www.state.me. us/i fw

porch with his feet up drinking hot coffee, just aZaughin' at the rest of us. That's the first I heard about how good those big decoys worked." "You know," he said later, "I think I brought back the standing duck decoy. People used to use em a lot, but hunters just got lazy, I guess. If you just add one or two stand-ups right close to the blind it looks like the birds've come right up to feed." Closing his eyes and leaning back, George remembered, "Good God, how those ducks

would come right into that setslide in just as pretty as you please! I've done most of my duck hunting within what distance you can see out He this window," he remarked, pointing out that same south window toward a group of blacks preening on the shore.

Soule blow a call, you'd have no doubt that's just the way it would have happened.

"The funniest thing that happened to me about hunting over decoys was a time when we were goose huntin' down in Maryland. The moon was full and the geese were feed in' at night. No matter how good our set,

George stood to stretch and was framed against his den window. Standing against a backdrop of golden sunlight with black ducks busy doodling at the waters edge and surrounded by his decoys, he reached up and brought down a beautiful handpainted magnum. "One just like

this I gave to Bowdoinham Ducks Unlimited Chapter not so long ago. It fetched $900 at auction!" he chuckled. "Can you believe it?"

we couldn't get em in. Tfze old fellow that owned the farm we were huntin told us we might just as well head back to a pond where he had decoys all set for some duck shooting and give that a try. The main feature of the decoy spread in that pond was a near perfect swan decoy out a ways beyond the ducks. Looked so real we couldn't believe it at the time. That deke would float to and fro on its tether a little with the breeze, but otherwise sat just as still as its neighbors. By and by, the ducks came in and we let loose on em. When we turned back to the set, that swan deke was lifting off the water just as pretty as you please. Just think that bird had sat there that whole time we set up, talking and fooling around, and never gave itself away!"

For a brief while, he stood gazing out at the mass of feathered silhouettes, lost in a reverie.

stood gazing out at the n1ass of feathered silhouettes, lost in a reverie. "I stopped shooting the1n when steel shot became the law, you knoiv. _Stuff is no good. Haven't duck hunted since."

"Right here on Lanes Island, the last year they let us shoot 10 blacks, me and Mac Brown, who ran the State Game Farm-it was an exhibition-like farm then-set the extra large decoys out and shot 20 black ducks in one hour and five minutes, including time to set out the decoys! When we got done, the ducks were coming just as fast as when we started. I think that's the best hunt I ever had. It was a rare day when we would bother to shoot any 10 birds, but you could sure do it then, and by the looks of it lately, you could do it now. Last spring, I saw a thousand blacks in one bunch over to Lanes Island. Merrymeeting was just full of black ducks last fall." He went on, "there's a flat out there on Masers Island that at low tide comes round pretty near to all mud. Your dog goes runnin' out there after a bird, chances are he'll be pretty well covered with mud when he gets back. If it looked like a http://www.stale.me . us/i fw

bird was gonna fall in that mud flat if we shot it, we'd wait, and I'd call that bird so he came back off that flat and right in behind us. If we didn't get a shot the first time, I'd just turn him around and back he'd come again. " If you ever heard George

"I stopped shooting them when steel shot became the law, you know. Stuff is no good. Haven't duck hunted since. 11

I mentioned I'd had great success with bismuth shot this past season, but he didn't show much interest. Looking out again he whispered, mostly to himself, "Did most all

my duck shooting from where you can see out this window.

He resumed the conversation a bit later on a different subject.

''I've gone entirely over to grouse shooting now. I figure its the best hunting there is." We talked on for a while about grouse hunting, sharing some of our best and worst shots and lamenting the previous season's drought and the subsequent scarcity of birds. I love double guns, and hoped George considered them ideal grouse guns as well. Though inevitable when two grouse hunters are talking, I was grateful when the conversation inevitably turned to guns and loads for grouse shooting. "It was the funniest thing," he chuckled. "Back along a man came

over to the decoy shop wanting to Spring 1999

trade a little gun for a couple of decoys. It turned out to be a 28 gauge SKB over-nnd-under, and I really liked the feel of it." At this

ago we were chasin' grouse in an awful thicket. We were movin' along side by side when I look up and Duncan's gone. Next I know

point, George opened a closet door and produced with great pride his sweetshooting 28. "Look it over.,, he said. I've shot birds just 11

as dead at 40 yards with that gun as with any 12 gauge I ever shot. I'll tell you something, I'd never have anything but a 28 now." He continued, The secret is in the size of the shell relative to the size of the barrel. Does somethin' to the pattern that keeps it perfect. "I was hunting with Russ Dyer the first time I had this gun. Well a bird got up and Russ and his wife both fired and missed. By the time I fired, the bird was nearly long gone. After my shot, Russ pipes up 'You know, George, you hit In Sou/e's den, some unfinished that bird, and not only that, duck calls. you killed it!' Sure enough about that time here comes the dog bringing it back. They couldn't he's muttering and climbing out of a believe how far off I killed that bird hole he never saw!" I laughed 'til I with this little gun. The secret is darn near cried." reloading with extra hard 8's to stop We talked on about hunting any deformation of the pattern. and fishing and the wild game Grouse huntin' can be quite we both love. After a while, I surprising for those used to other gave him my call and he promgame birds. Some of those fellows ised to have a stopper for it in a from down south that shoot a lot of couple of weeks' time. We quail, they see a partridge comin' to tentatively agreed on another em a long way off and they figure couple of interviews, and I bade there's plenty of time for gettin' him and Toby good-bye. ready. Before they know it, the A few weeks after our visit, I birds've come and gone and its only was looking over the items to be a memory. Yes sir, grouse shooting auctioned at the annual can be quite a shock!" Lewiston Auburn Ruffed Grouse 11

He laughed aloud and continued, Not only are the birds darn 11

hard to hit, but chasin' em can be darned treacherous. Take my friend Duncan Barnes. (Barnes is editor in chief of Sports Afield and a wellknown outdoor writer.) A few years

Main e Fish a nd Wildlife

Society banquet. George helped bring the Ruffed Grouse Society to Maine and was a great supporter of the organization. The Lewiston-Auburn chapter maintains a scholarship in his name.

The decoy was obviously a Soule. Toby has told me it came directly from her Dad's spread. I casually scanned the typed description which included the possibility that it was used by none other than LL. Bean. The next words I read struck hard. George had died suddenly before he was able to authenticate the carving in writing. Just a few days before the banquet.Just after our meeting. I was stunned. I wrote to Toby to express my regrets. In her response, she included a copy of "Dad's write-up from the local paper. In a 1981 file photo, George, looking a bit younger than I remember, is standing against that same south window, looking out at what I imagine is a raft of black ducks, putting finishing touches on one of his carvings. It's just the way I'll always remember him. Toby's write-up of her Dad far surpassed that of the newspaper. 11

He lzad a wonderful life, lots of good friends, lots offun, and his work was also his life's hobby. And he was only sick a week before he died. We should all be so lucky." 11

A few days later, I revisited Staples Point to pick up my call. Toby met me again, but this time the den was strangely empty. There were no ducks in the cove outside the south window. Whole calls and parts were jumbled together in a box in the garage. Mine was there too, just as he had promised; a new unfinished but perfectly functional stopper held the reed firmly in it place. It still that way today. I wouldn't change it for the world. â&#x20AC;˘ http://www.state.me.u /ifw

by Warden Sgt. Dave Peppard

n a cold, windy night last February, one of those dreaded phone calls awakened me just before midnight. The radio dispatcher told me that there were seven people stranded on an ice flow in Sebago Lake. Two of the stranded people were game wardens. Although this is one of those situations you don't look forward to, I knew that one day a call like this would come. And then the airboat would prove its worth. It started when four Sebago Lake ice fisherman discovered that the ice they were standing on had broken away and they were headed towards open water. Frantically, they yelled for help. A lakeside resident heard their calls and immediately called the Cumberland Sheriff's Dept. A private citizen very knowledgeable with airboats was contacted by the county and asked to respond. Upon arriving at the launch area, the operator was informed of the situation by http://www .state.me. us/ifw

The Maine Warden Service currently has two airboats in service. Powered by a propeller driven by an automobile engine, these airboats have enhanced the Warden Service's ability to respond to rescue situations in all conceivable kinds of weather conditions.

Wardens Albert St. Savior and Mike Joy. The operator, Joy, and a local fire department member launched the, airboat and headed toward the stranded fishermen. Upon reaching the ice flow, the rescuers attempted to load the fisherman into the airl;>oat, but things took a turn for the worse. Glancing over his shoulder, the airboat operator noticed a large amount of water in the rear of the airboat. Realizing that the airboat wouldn't handle the added weight of the fishermen, the operator yelled for everyone to get out. In the confusion, some of the people ended up in the water-all seven people were eventually marooned on the ice flow. While everyone scrambled to the relative safety of the ice, the airboat sank into the depths of the lake! During the commotion, the rescuers and their radios had gotten wet, but after a few minutes Joy was able to get his radio to work. He radioed

wardens on shore and told them what had happened. All of this prompted the midnight call to me. I then called another airboat operator, Warden Neal Wykes of Naples, and told him to respond as soon as possible. Wykes picked up the airboat and drove to the scene. The airboat was quickly unloadedWykes fired up the engine and headed the boat for the seven stranded people. With Wykes, to help with the rescue, were Warden Sgt. Dennis McIntosh and a member of a local fire department. While awaiting the arrival of the second airboat, rescuers on the scene had launched a small open boat and gone out to stand by in case the ice started to break up. Neil motored up to the ice flow and took on the four originally stranded fisherman, then motored over to the open boat manned by local fire department personnel and unloaded the four men into Spring 1999

This airboat was called in to service when seven people were stranded on an ice-flow at Sebago Lake. All seven were safely rescued and returned to shore.

the boat. The airboat then returned to the ice flow and the remaining three people eagerly climbed aboard. Wykes then headed to shore and unloaded his three very cold passengers. After unloading, the airboat returned to the open boat, picked up the four men rescued first, and returned them to shore. o doubt that Warden Service airboat was in the right place at the right time-its first rescue had been achieved. , (Within four hours of the rescue, incidentally, that ice flow was gone!) Since then the airboat has proven its worth in a number of other Warden Service search and rescue efforts. Our first airboat, the one used in the rescue, was purchased in 1989, mainly to enhance the Warden Service's ability to conduct searches, rescues, and recoveries in bad ice conditions and in shallow, fast-moving water. Since 1989, the boat has been used in some 15 recoveries. The airboat offers the wardens and the divers a very stable and safe working platform, among other things.

Ma im Fish and W ildlife

The airboat can be off-loaded on bare ground, ice, or snow and then driven over ice, snow, or water to a scene. It is powered by a 350-cubic-inch Chevrolet engine turning the propeller, which in turn pushes the airboat. It is steered by turning two large rudders that are located behind the propeller. The bottom and sides of our airboa ts are coated with a thick layer of polymer to prevent wear to the aluminum hull. When the airboat approaches an area of bad ice, the operator slows the airboat and as the ice gives way, the airboat settles into the water. Once in the water the airboat can be maneuvered around to wherever it is needed. When it's time to return to shore, the operator noses the airboat up to the ice, adds power to the prop, and the airboat eventually will slide back up onto the solid ice. Until 1998, we had only the one airboat, a 20-foot Yankee made in Baldwin, Maine. Thanks to a grant from the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund this year, we were able to purchase a second Yankee airboat, a 16-footer.

Along with these two airboats, the Warden Service now has a cooperative agreement with Bowater Paper Company of Millinocket, which enables us to use their airboat for training, rescues, and recoveries. Having three of these airboats readily available in different locations in the state has greatly enhanced Warden Service's ability to respond to various situations. Each Warden Division has a division leader for the airboat; under that person are a half dozen wardens. The division leader is responsible for training, maintenance of the equipment, and overseeing the operation of the airboat when on a mission within his or her division. All division leaders and operators are responsible to the director of the program. We have made significant strides with this program in the past 10 years. Our hope is that someday we will be able to have one of these airboats assigned to each of the five Warden divisions, significantly increasing the chances of Warden Service making a winter water re cue anywhere in the state. â&#x20AC;˘ http://www .sta te.m e. us/i fw

by Christopher Short

T,e

Fish and Wildlife Department's Hatchery Division uses several means of transporting fish to the more than 700 bodies of water that it annually stocks. Unique among these methods is the backpacking program. Development and field operations for this program are conducted from the broodstock hatchery in Phillips. Backpacking has been used as a method of introduction, restoration, and maintenance stocking. Each year, between 3,500 and 6,000 fish are backpacked

into remote ponds, inaccessible by tank truck, ATV, boat, or airplane. The program got its beginning nearly two decades ago; some of the first backp ack stocking was done with coolers attached to pack frames. In 1989, new packs and frames specifically designed for this task were constructed by the Hatchery Division. Preliminary testing was done on various sizes and ages of brook trout to determine maximum carrying capacities and confinement times. Since then, the process has been refined and guidelines established to insure the program's consistent success. Backpacking is done in the spring following ice-out when the brook trout, then in the fry

The scene at Mud Pond just prior to a trout stocking from backpacks. stage, are about two inches in length . Since very little water is used to backpack fish, several steps are taken to insure optimum water quality. First, to reduce metabolic pollution, feed is withheld from the fry for at least 48 hours before pack-in. Second, just prior to loading the fish into pressurized transport containers, the receiving water is chilled with ice to slow the fish's metabolism. Third, a diffuser is used to supersaturate this chilled water with pure oxygen. The remaining 60 percent of the container's volume is then pressurized with a head space

Once backpackers arrive at the stocking site, the fish must go through an acclimation period before they are released. The length of this period is dependent on the difference in water temperatures of pack and pond water.

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Spring 1999

of pure oxygen. Finally, this container of fish and water is placed into an insulated box mounted on an integral pack frame. As many as 400 fry can be safely transported for several hours using this procedure--in as little as two gallons of water! Full pack weights usually range from 33 to 36 pounds. Once backpackers arrive at the stocking site, the fish must go through an acclimation period before they are released. The length of this period is dependent on the difference in water temperatures of pack and pond water. The container of fish is opened and set directly into the pond if the water in the pond is within only a few degrees of the pack water. The fish are allowed to swim out at will as pond water is gradually added to the container.

M aine Fish and W ildlife

If there is a major difference in temperatures, the fish are released into small inflatable pools that are floated near the shoreline. Water from the pond is gradually mixed with pack water in the pool until the ambient temperature of the pond is reached. The fry are then released into their new home, where they gradually swim off into any available aquatic cover.

Foot trails, muddy and eroded by springtime runoff, wind through dense forests tinged with new growth and frequent tangles of winter blowdowns. Patches of snow and ice drift across the trails in the higher elevations. Negotiating slick, uneven terrain is challenging even without the constant pitch and yaw of sloshing fish, ice, and pack water. Even drenching thundershowers don't dampen spirits as hikers intently go about the business of packing fish up to their intended destinations. Hungry blackflies and mosquitoes keep hikers moving at a brisk pace up along steep grades. The time for packing in is strictly business. Once the fish are safely stocked, hikers can relax and marvel at the successful release of their charges. For those who rear the fish and carry them up into the mountains, it is an Above: inflatable pools allow the fry to accomplishmentgradually adjust to the temperature of neither tiresome or the pond water. Left: packframe full of routine! trout fry, the author begins the long trek The procedures into Horns Pond, near Bigelow. developed for backpacking fish have Certain pond sites require that made initial stocking mortalities almost nonexistent. Excellent large numbers of fry be stocked. returns and growth rates have This requires multiple hiking trips, and involves the use of a been noted by fisheries biologists tank truck to haul extra fish, and fishermen when monitoring water, and equipment to refill and fishing these ponds later in the packs. A base site is set up as the season. â&#x20AC;˘ close to the trail as possible. Once hikers return from the first hike into the pond, the entire packing The author is hatchenJ process repeats itself until all the superintendent with the fish are hiked in and released. Department's HatchenJ Division. http://www.stale.me. us/i fw

Maine Turkeys Calling!! by Jean Bergerson

â&#x20AC;˘

really didn't start thinking about Maine turkey hunting seriously until mid-April when I received a letter in the mail telling me I was the lucky recipient of a turkey permit for 1997. I had harvested three turkeys in my home state of Minnesota, and I was "bitten by the turkey hunting bug." Hunting unfamiliar territory, I knew, would not be easy. To further complicate things, I decided to hunt this year's bird with a Thompson Center muzzleloading shotgun. Checking the hunter success ratio for past Maine hunts did not make me any more confident. Despite all odds, May 4 found me on an airplane headed halfway across the country in pursuit of a Maine gobbler. Harry Doughty and Chris Drew, veteran Maine hunters, had secured a place for me to hunt, looked over the area, talked to landowners, and decided where they felt I should start my adventure. And an adventure it was! At the time she wrote this article, the author was an employee of the Minnesota Fish & Wildlife Department. Size is a frequent visitor to Maine. http://www.state .me. us/ifw

Harry Doughty and Jean Bergerson with her first Maine turkey. The tom, which weighed about 15 lbs, was taken with a caplock muzz/eloading shotgun in the Freedom area. Harry decided to join me in the blind on the firs t day. Chris was going to take a walk around some neighboring farmland to see if he could find some varmints to hunt. We heard one gobbler the first morning. After about two hours of calling, he appeared on the edge of our field about 250 to 300 yards away. I talked turkey and he came toward me. Past experience told me he would not come directly across the field- and he didn't. He cut across the end and down the side on which we were sitting to within about 60 yards.

Then silence-no bird! We surmised that he had found or heard a hen we had seen in the field earlier in the morning. It's hard to compete with the real thing. We took a look at some other fields before calling an end to Day One. The second day dawned with the forecast of a two-day rain moving in. I hoped it would hold off until late morning. Our strategy was the same as the previous day. Chris would walk other areas- Harry and I would sit. We moved our position to the other end of the field, near where Spring 1999

the gobbler had first appeared the day before. We just got situated when a coyote ran across the field, decided there was something in the woodlot he didn't like, and ran back the way he came. No sooner had he disappeared than four deer came out and made their way down the edge of the field. They, too, decided there was something amiss in the woodlot and quickly retraced their steps. Since we'd spooked a bird while walking into the field, I

of wind propellered a decoy, and they were off again. They obviously had not seen any hens standing in the open, calling and twirling in circles. As we left the field, I commented to Harry that with the variety of critters we had seen and the action we were getting, the hunt was certainly exceeding my expectations. End Day Two. After a day off, Day Three started out cold, with an inch of snow on the ground. By this time, Chris had headed home,

yards, another gobble came from the bottom of the ridge. This brought us to attention and we hit the ground again. I called; he gobbled. I called; he gobbled. This continued for about 15 to 20 minutes, but he wouldn't budge, so I headed downhill to him. He'd move in my direction and I'd duck behind a tree; he'd go behind a tree and I'd take a peek or call-a real game of hide and seek! At about 40 yards, he hopped up on a rock, strutted, and hung up again. Five more yards was all I needed. But he turned, angled away, There he was, 18 yards away and coming and stepped into right toward me. I raised t , pulled thicker brush. My heart and my mind the trigger and "snap"loud of smoke, stopped raced. Now what? Another gobble and I no bang. Only the cap had firedl stepped out on the trail and peeked around the corner. There he was 18 yards leaving Harry and me to condidn't feel very good about the away and coming right toward tinue the pursuit. It was clear day. The increasing wind was me. I raised the gun, pulled the and cold, but a day with lots of swinging our decoys like propelgobbles. No one found my calls trigger, and "snap"-no cloud of lers and I told Harry we needed particularly interesting, and I smoke, no bang. Only the cap to add some stakes to secure was too cold to sit still after a had fired! them. As he got up, the field I had worked him an hour and couple of hours, so we decided about 70 yards away came alive, our day was over. We returned to take to the woods and explore. with four turkeys scrambling to to the truck and recapped the exit the area. I muttered someThe hemlock forest and gun to test it. It fired as it should. running brooks made the woods thing to Harry about two misWe decided there must have seem dark and gave a feeling of takes in one day, and gave my been some moisture left in the medieval times. Just as I told best lonesome hen call. barrel from cleaning the gun. Harry I was ready to head for Lo and behold, the birds The first cap dried it out and the the warmth of the truck, a gobble turned and started heading second cap shot correctly. It just erupted-AND IT WAS CLOSE! across the field, but at a diagonal I hit the ground. It was Harry wasn't meant to be. that would take them out of who said, "You go up to the top of That night, I told Harry I range for a shot from me. Harry the ridge and I'll bet you can get a glassed and said, "they all have thought my hunt was over. I glimpse of him." I said, "No. We'll beards, only a couple inches long knew that, but for the misfire, but they are legal birds." come back tomorrow. " But two that bird would have been mine, Two of them decided to take gobbles later, my curiosity took and I felt I wouldn't get another over and I was headed to the closer looks and began coming chance. Two more days and my toward us. I called. They clucked top . We went up and the bird hunt would end. a response, necks craned as they went down the other side, Friday dawned-Day Four. It cautiously advanced. After about was another brisk day, and the toward another gobble. 20 minutes of this, the lead bird activity began right away. Back toward the truck we was almost in range. Then a gust went. Suddenly, at about 20 Another big gobbler tepped

Harne Fish and Wi ld/1fe

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onto the field. We had changed our location slightly and he didn't want to come across the field to us, so he worked the edge. He walked steadily toward the decoy as I called, stopping only to fan. At the top of the last rise, he stopped again. I put my call down mumbled "He's mine." I cocked my gun a second time and was ready to raise it if he took about two more steps. But he turned, strolled into the woods, and came in behind me, talking the whole time. Off he went, right to where I had fired the day before. Outsmarted again!

Hours went by and nothing close. I felt I had played out my options. Harry strolled off to glass some other fields. I decided that as soon as he returned, we'd call it a day. All of a sudden, I looked out and saw four birds coming my way from the far end of the field, about 300 yards away. A fifth bird began to gobble near the edge of the field. Maybe just maybe, I thought. Maybe I'd get one last chance! The birds moved steadily toward me, stopping to feed a little along the way. At about 60 yards, they stopped and craned their necks, seeming a bit nervous. All the while, the other bird

gobbled along the field edge. Suddenly, three deer ran out and stopped to join the turkeys feeding the field. At about 40 yards, the two lead birds picked up the pace and began talking to the decoy. I checked for beards. It looked like the jakes from a couple of days ago. About three yards before they arrived at the decoy, I shouldered my gun. Two heads â&#x20AC;˘ appeared by the bead. I waited and one stepped forward. I fired, and he rolled. A 20-yard shot and he was mine! My tom weighed 15 pounds at the check station-small, but he was a trophy to me ! â&#x20AC;˘

MARINATED WILD TURKEY BREASTS 1/2 tsp. ginger 1 C. each soy sauce, peanut oil and white wine 1/2 C. lemon juice 1/4 tsp. pepper 1/2 clove garlic crushed 1/4 C. crushed onion

Soak meat eight to 24 hours (the meat should be approximately one inch thick). A plastic bag works well for marinating the meat; it keeps the solution covering the meat, and is easily turned over. Do not put meat into the solution until the meat is completely thawed. Cook on the grill over medium heat. Do not overcook.

Recipe from the Warden Cookbook Supplement, Iowa Fish and Game Officers Association

Want to see your favorite fish and game recipe in our Recipe Corner? Just send it, along with a little background, to: THE RECIPE CORNER, Attn: Charlie Mann, 284 State Street, 41 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333

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Spring 1999

Maine Fish and Wildlife

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American Woodcock:

The Inland Shorebird by Brad Allen Photos by the author

merican woodcock are classified as shorebirds, but are physically and behaviorally adapted for forested habitats. The woodcock's plumage, with alternating shades of brown, black, and some white, camouflages it well against the leafy litter of shrublands and forests. The woodcock's two and onehalf-inch long bill, complete with flexible tip, is used to probe the soil for earthworms, which

half of the North American continent. Woodcock habitat in Maine is generally associated with early stages of forest succession. Areas which receive a high degree of use by woodcock are dominated by shrubs and trees less than 30 years old, such as alder, aspen, birch, or mixes of the three. These types of areas are often associated with abandoned farmland, recently logged or burned areas, or areas too wet to support coniferous forest growth. In general, woodcock require: (1) openings in shrub land or forested areas for courtship and

"Good Cover- Woodcock. " Painting by Jeannine Staples of Topsham

comprise as much as 90 percent of this bird's daily diet. The woodcock's strategy of "holding," or "freezing," upon approach of danger, then bursting into erratic escape flight, makes the woodcock a difficult, yet very popular, species to hunt, particularly with hunters using pointing or flushing dogs. But it's a good thing that hunting success isn't measured by the weight of game bagged; a female woodcock (the heavier of the two sexes) weighs less than eight ounces!

Natural History Habitat. American woodcock occur in the forests of the eastern http://www.state.me.us/ifw

night roosting, (2) soils containing abundant earthworm populations, and (3) the proper life form of vegetation giving adequate cover for protection and feeding during both day and night use.

Food habits. There is no question that earthworms are the woodcock's staple diet through-

Brad Allen, a resident of Bucksport, is a wildlife biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. When he is not studying woodcock and waterfowl, he enjoys upland hunting with his English Setter "Boone."

out the year. In addition to worms, woodcock will eat other invertebrates such as centipedes, ants, and beetle larvae, when they are available.

Reproduction. Woodcock return from their wintering grounds in March and April and males immediately establish their territories at dawn and dusk by performing repeated courtship flights and songs. This activity, referred to as "sky dances" by noted conservationist Aldo Leopold, is a favorite harbinger of spring for many bird watchers, including this writer. Male woodcock continue to display through April and May in hopes of attracting and mating with several female woodcock. Woodcock nests consist of a simple cup of leaves and grass on the ground and almost always contain four eggs. Because of this small number of eggs, the woodcock's reproductive potential is quite low compared to other game birds, which may lay over a dozen eggs. Fortunately, nest success is generally high. By mid- to late May, the female woodcock, and her highly mobile young, move to feeding cover where earthworms and insects are available to young woodcock.

Longevity. The maximum known life span for a woodcock in Maine is eight years. This is the exception and not the rule, as most do not reach their fourth birthday. Sp ring 1999

Movements . Woodcock are migratory birds, unlike Maine's other upland game birds, partridge and wild turkeys. Maine woodcock, and other birds from eastern states and provinces, leave Maine in October and November and winter east of the Appalachian Mountains, primarily between southern New Jersey and Georgia. Autumn migration is probably influenced by weather, primarily the passing of major cold fronts.

Historical Management in Maine Population and distribution trends. Literature suggests that woodcock were abundant in Maine during the mid 1870s, which coincides with the beginning of the most active farming period in the State. However, woodcock numbers may have reached an all-time low at the beginning of the

'Ma ine Fis/, and Wildlife

Season History. Uncontrolled hunting and This is one of the market hunting in the 355 American past adversely influwoodcock enced woodcock numbanded with radio bers. The following was quoted from a 1874 Field collars during a and Stream editorial. three year study "Woodcock in the on woodcock market, fairly plenty. Of mortality. Two course, New Yark draws years into the all the birds of the study, the United States into the survival rate of market. From a pretty the birds being close calculation, we studied has been suppose about 1,800 a remarkable 75 single birds come into percent. New York weekly .... price $1.50 a pair." Prior to 1880, it was legal to shoot woodcock during July and August in addition to the fall season. It is of interest to twentieth century. Uncontrolled note that "Since Maine abolished hunting appears to be the factor summer shooting, other states that affected woodcock numhave done likewise, and with bers. According to early woodgood results (Commissioner's cock researchers in Maine, market hunting during all Report 1880). seasons of the year was an These declines in woodcock numbers and increase in hunting established custom over much pressure concerned observers as of the bird's range. Only after early as 1880. market hun ting was abolished, Prior to range wide populahunting seasons were drastition surveys, regulations govcally shortened, and bag limits erning woodcock hunting were were reduced did the general generally more restrictive than trend in woodcock numbers those of recent decades. The swing upward. By the 1930s, daily bag limit was increased to woodcock were once again a five. During this time, and common breeding bird throughout most of Maine, except continuing through the 1970s, perhaps in extreme northern woodcock became an increasand western portions. In recent ingly popular game bird over its times, woodcock numbers are entire range. Interest in woodagain in decline, particularly in cock hunting grew and harvests the east, where woodcock increased, largely through habitat has been lost to natural increased participation in woodcock hunting rather than insuccession and urban and creased success. In the northeast, industrial development. But, this increa e in hunting pressure there is no evidence that the came at a time when woodcock overall range for woodcock ha shrunk. habitat was beginning to be lost http://ww>V. tate.me.us/ifw

America, American Woodcock, to development and successional probably because of a decrease in woodcock numbers, hunting "The popularity of this game bird trends in young forests on previeffort, and hunting opportunity. ously abandoned farmland. is reflected by a rich history of its The average harvest from 1980 to market and sport hunting, and by Woodcock regulations were 1983 was reported to be 138,500 relatively stable in the 1970s. In an extensive literature on its birds. 1982, the US Fish and Wildlife biology and management. Today, Efforts to more adequately roughly two million American Service (USFWS) imposed restrictions in Maine and other northestimate woodcock hunter numwoodcock are shot annually by bers and harvests in recent years about 700,000 hunters." In Maine, eastern states where populations resulted in two major were adversely initiatives. First, in 1988, affected by a the Department commissevere spring blizzard. In the sioned a survey to sample The American woodcock population in the Northeast upland bird hunters. The fall of 1982, the has been in steady decline during the past 30 years. results of this survey season was Census studies show the annual rate of decline is 2.5 revealed that approxidelayed to percent. In 1996, the breeding index was the lowest on mately 17, 500 hunters in October 5. In record. Maine harvested nearly 1983 and 1984, Two years ago, state wildlife biologist Brad Allen joined 75,000 woodcock in 1988. October 1 opena number of other biologists in conducting a three-year Second, beginning in 1996, ing dates (no study to determine the effects of hunting on woodcock the USFWS, in cooperation hunting in mortality. For this study, 355 birds were banded with with the state wildlife September)were radio telemetry collars. agencies, established the established to At this point in the study, Allen reports that the survival Harvest Information provide addirate of the woodcock being studied has been a remarkProgram. This program tional protection able 75 percent! Although final results will not be known was established to provide to woodcock until the study is concluded, Allen says that so far managers with better populations in hunting activity has not been a significant factor in range-wide data on migrathe East. woodcock population decline. tory bird hunters and their In 1985, the harvests. USFWS proInstituting this program in harvest estimates have been posed and adopted regulations Maine has been difficult, and derived for woodcock via various shortening the season from a many bugs still need to be surveys, but the accuracy of these maximum of 65 days to no more data is unknown. However, these worked out of the system. Howthan 45. Again, September huntestimates can be used over the ever, the first data derived from ing was not allowed, and Februlong-term as indicators of trends this program indicate that hunter ary hunting in southern states numbers and harvests are considin harvests and hunting effort. was prohibited as well. For the erably more conservative than The earliest annual estimates of first time, the daily bag limit was past estimates. These data show harvest for Maine woodcock were reduced to 3 birds in the east. In that in Maine in 1996, approxireported as 37,000 birds in the late 1997, with woodcock population mately 8,300 hunters bagged 1930s. Through the 1950s, the trends continuing to decline, the approximately 26,100 woodcock. average annual harvest was over USFWS believed further adjust52,000 woodcock. Maine's woodments were necessary for woodPast management goals and cock harvest peaked in 1973, cock hunting regulations, and when an estimated 37,000 hunters objectives. The Department's states in the east could select killed over 210,000 birds. Regulawoodcock management goal was seasons beginning no earlier than proposed by the Department tions to maintain harvests and woodOctober 6 and could last no more since 1975 were aimed at reducing cock populations at 1975-77 than 30 days. The daily bag limit the early season hunting pressure levels. remained at three. on local breeding populations. Since that time, the annual Harvest trends/statistics. Quotwoodcock harvest has declined, continued on page 24 ing from The Birds of North

Woodcock Study

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Sprmg 1999

The Return of the American Chestnut Tree Once King of the Forests, this magnificent tree is still found in 34 Maine towns. by Shelly Stiles

~ y years ago, a report by a state forestry commissioner announced: "There are no more chestnuts in Maine." Today's Maine members of The American Chestnut Foundation would disagree. Last year, they found native American chestnu ts in 34 Maine towns in 13 counties. Not a bad showing for a species that many Mainers thought they'd never see again! Gust to be perfectly clear: the tree in question is the American chestnut, that former king of the forests from Maine to Georgia, that once tall-growing, nutbearing favorite of wildlife and people. It is not the horse chestnut, that imported tree of city and small town wi th scorchprone compound leaves and shiny but toxic buckeye-like fruits.) Although we know now that the 1950 report was inaccurate, its strongly phrased statement wasn't unreasonable for the time. Chestnut blight, accidentally imported from Asia in the late 1880s and first discovered in ew York's Bronx Zoological Park in 1904, had spread outward from its point of introduction at a rate of 25 miles or more The author is communications director for The American Che tnut Foundation.

Maine Fish and Wildlife

each year, leaving behind it hundreds of thousands of dead or d ying stems. By 1950, the keystone species had all but disappeared in nearly 400 million acres of Eastern forests . It was no wonder that in Maine in the '50s and '60s- according to Doug Stark, retired Maine Forest Service fores t pathologist-

,,anything having to do with Americnn chestnut was discouraged." Researchers recognized the threat posed by chestnut blight almost immediately. Beginning in the 1920s, the U. S. Department of Agriculture and other organizations attempted to breed blight-resistant chestnuts. They crossed Chine e and Japanese chestnuts, both of which are

TACF member Eric Evans pollinates an American chestnut in Rockport. resistant to blight, with the native American species, but without success: none of their crosses were blight-resistant, and none resembled the American chestnut in nut or timber quali ty. Finally, after five decades of disappointment, virtually all government-sponsored chestnut research was abandoned in the early 1970s. When Dr. Charles Burnham, a University of Minnesota corn geneticist, reviewed the re ults of those earlier efforts, he discovered the reason for the failures. Early researchers had assumed that blight re istance was conhttp://www.sta te . me.us/i fw

Confirmed locations of American chestnut in Maine Atkinson Baldwin Berwick Bethel Bingham Bradford Buxton Cape Elizabeth Cornville Dixfield Embden Exeter Falmouth Farmington Frankfort Hebron

Lincolnville Mercer Milton Monroe New Gloucester Norridgewock Orono Paris Porter Sangerville Sebec Standish Waterford Wilton Winterport Yarmouth

ÂŁerred by several genes carried by the Chinese or Japanese chestnut parents. To conserve those genes, breeders kept crossing back to the Asian trees and in doing so, they lost the traits that make the American chestnut so valuable a species. Burnham saw in their data evidence that only two or three genes were responsible for resistance, and that they could be conserved while crossing back, generation after generation, to American chestnut parents. In 1983, he took his findings to several other scientists, who collectively established The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF). TACF now has more than 3,000 members and several chapters, including a new one in Maine. Together we have only one goal: to restore the American chestnut, in all its diversity, to its original range. Conserving its diversity by inventorying and propagating native trees is the crucial first step. When Maine TACF members set out to discover just where their native American chestnuts http://www.state.me. us/i fw

were located, they began with Doug Stark's early records. Doug came to the Maine Forest Service in 1956 "with a soft spot for the tree," he says. And so as spare time permitted, he kept a record of the American chestnuts he saw while out in the woods. "I

was always running into some in surprising locations," he says, but found them most often in deep, well-drained soils, in association with beech, birch, and maple, and within a rectangle defined by the Waterford-Bangor line on the north and the Medford-Surry line on the east. Maine TACFers also turned to present-day foresters for suggestions on where to look, and some were able to take volunteers right into the woods to a tree they'd located years before. By tracking down these "old and cold" leads, as Maine TACF member Welles Thurber calls them, and byrollowing up on dozens of hot tips received after news of the search hit the papers last summer, volunteers were

able to locate native American chestnuts in nearly 70 different locations in the southeast and south central part of the state. They expect to find trees in as many as 100 different locations. Last October, Maine TACF members harvested more than 1,300 pure American chestnut seeds from nine locations across the state. Many of these seeds are destined for the Pine Tree State Arboretum in Augusta, where Maine's first American chestnut plantation will be established to protect and propagate the state's chestnut diversity. Native chestnut plantations will be established elsewhere in the state as well. The rest of last year's harvest, and large portions of harvests to come, will be planted at several breeding stations located within the native range of the chestnut in Maine. More than a dozen landowners, foundations, and companies in 20 towns have

continued of page 25

TACF member Welles Thurber stands next to a dead American chestnut on State lands on Frye Mountain. Spr111g 1999

The Nature Conse,vancy

New Owner Along by Bruce Kidman A

snarlof

pickup trucks and snowmobiles surround the Restaurant Forestier in Daaquam, Quebec. It sits just across the Canadian border from the 185,000 acres of remote Maine forestland International Paper has recently sold to The Nature Conservancy. Inside, Josh Royte, a conservation planner for the Conservancy, studies the menu. Next to him, forester :c Steve Weider orders ~ E:.S:f..11 ~ ~~~ the chicken platter. "Meme chose," says Royte. ''I'll have the same." "What? Chicken?" For more than a century, Maine Guides have taken "sports" down the the third member of St. John River. The Nature Conservancy's acquisition of 40 miles of the the party, Jean-Guy St. John 's shoreline will help ensure that this tradition continues. Lebreaux, exclaims with the shadow of a smile. "I "The St. John is a tall drink of Out of nearly 200,000 acres water," says Maine guide Mike thought all you conservationists now owned by the Conservancy Patterson. "You can go 134 miles were vegetarians." in Maine, barely 815 are posted, without a portage. It starts small For the Conservancy, it's only two of its nearly 80 nature with lots of easy rapids, goes on another day with another mispreserves statewide. conception to address. When The through the steadys, and mixes it up The organization has looked Nature Conservancy announced for opportunities to protect the with fast current and big rapids 134 miles of free-flowing river the purchase of 286 square miles thrown in to keep the adrenaline along the Upper St. John River north of Baker Lake-the longe t flowing." last winter, executive director stretch of undammed river east of Along the St. John, snows Kent Wommack took aim at a the Mississippi-for several come early and stay late. There few more. decades. This purchase alone can be four feet on the ground by "This is the largest conservation encompasses a full 40 miles of the Thanksgiving. The extensive purchase in Maine history," dewetland , low-lying spruce-fir Upper St. John. clared Wommack. "These lands flat , and higher hardwood The river's ice- coured banks will remain open to the people of host the second highe t concenridges uffer the harshest winMaine forever." tration of rare plants in Maine. ter in Maine. Fro t-free for less C>

Maine Fish and Wildlife

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The St. John River than three months a year, the region ekes out the state's shortest growing season. The river's temperament fits this brutal climate. When spring warms this far northwestern corner of Maine, it is the frozen headwaters that first begin to groan and crack. As the ice fractures, mammoth slabs break away and move with the swollen current. Flowing northward, they outpace the thaw, piling one upon the other and creating the only dams the upper reaches of the St. John have ever known. As the ice jams break, massive shards of ice hurtle downstream, scouring the shore and sweeping away anything in their path. In the wake of this violent display, the St. John becomes one of the most unusual canoe experiences in the country (one Maine guide had to cast all the way to the Yukon for a comparable experience). The river has a remarkable ability to regulate its own use. As singular as the trip is, it is generally possible for only a handful of weeks in May and early June. Then the water level falls dramatically, first requiring poling and then long gravelstrewn portages. Finally, it is low water and high rocks. While heavy rains may awaken the current now and then, only those who know the river best dare make plans. If the river has its quirks, the forests offer surprises as wellwhich brings us back to Royte, Weider, and Lebreaux. Following lunch at the Restaurant http://www.state.me. us/i fw

Forestier, the three drive across the border into Maine. Along the way, they'll snowshoe through stands of 150- and 200-year-old trees; measure 300year-old cedars four feet around. Such stands are awe-inspiring, while many others show how differing management practices have shaped the forest. But stopping to examine a beech grove, they are brought up short by a sight that has even Weider, 20 years a forester, reaching for his camera. Through a dense stand of trees, a large herd of deer moves in single file, each leaping in turn over a fallen tree. They speculate on the number, perhaps 30 or 35. Low-lying Oak Brook offers another puzzle. The trees for which it was apparently named are known to hug higher ground than any oak north of Route 2. All of this-with th~ possible exception of the chicken platter back in Daaquam-is worth noting, studying, and comparing with other data collected on the river and its forests. This is what Royte and other conservation planners at The Nature Conservancy do. They consider why some plants that are usually found far to the north in Alaska or Newfoundland have chosen this hostile habitat. They seek input from a wide variety of people, including scientists, sportsmen and, of course, forestry experts. In a state so reliant on healthy forests for jobs and revenue, these

planners must design conservation that can be embedded within productive working forests. By this time next year, the Conservancy hopes to have a blueprint for how it will manage these lands into the future. In the meantime, staff is talking with other landowners in the Upper St. John River watershed, exploring mutual interests in extending permanent protection along the river. No one can speculate on how long such a process might take. But this is, after all, why the Conservancy borrowed $35.1 million to purchase this large parcel of forestland in the first place. As these discussions progress, the Conservancyowned property may well change its shape on the ground, hopefully molding itself along the river. The Nature Conservancy in Maine is looking to private individuals, families, and foundations for funds to pay back that whopping loan. At the end of the day, the best hopes for protecting this great Maine river depend directly upon that endeavor. Still, Wommack, Royte and others believe that, many years after this ambitious fundraising effort is over, the people of Maine will still be bringing their sons and daughters to the Upper St. John River for an adventure that will only grow wilder with the years. â&#x20AC;˘

The author is director of communications and government relations for The Nature Conservancy in Maine. E-mail: bkidman@tnc.org Spnng1999

ONE OF MAN'S BEST FRIENDS? When you see a snake, what's your first reaction? Do you scream, reach for a stick, or run away? Why do these beneficial animals provoke such fear in humans? Worldwide, there are some 2,300 different kinds of snakes. There are 11 species of ' serpentes' known to live in Maine (none of them poisonous). They live in many habitats : old fields , woodlands, wetlands, slow-moving waterways, barns, lawns, and gardens. Timber rattlesnakes were once documented in southwestern parts of Maine-in rocky, brushy south-facing outcrops-but are now believed to be entirely gone. Check out these basic questions about snakes , and maybe you'll give the next one you see on the road, in your garden, or on that rockpile a break.

Q. What do snakes feel like? Are they slimy, like worms? A. Snakes have dry scales that feel like leather. They are cool and smooth to the touch.

Q. Can a snake wink at you; why doesn't it shut its eyes? A. Snakes do not have

:G I. This snake gets its name from its yellow, gold, or orange neck ring.

eyelids, so their eyes are always open.

Q. Where are a snake's ears? A. Snakes are deaf, they do not have ears. They do, however, feel and respond to vibrations from sound.

Q. Can snakes sting with their tongues? A. As snakes flick their forked tongues in and out , they are actually picking up odor particles from the air-n a sense, smelling with their tongues. They do NOT sting with their tongues!

Q. How does a snake catch its food? Does it tear it up and chew it? A. Snakes may grab a small animal with

2. The bold stripes and slender body of this snake may remind you of what you tie around a gift.

their mouth and swallow it entirely , squeeze their prey with their body prior to swallowing , or inject poison to kill prey before eating. Stomach juices digest the entire animal, even the bones!!

Q. How can a snake eat something larger than its head? A. Its lower jaw is hinged and joined by a very elastic material. With its teeth pointing backwards , It actually unhinges its jaw to enlarge its mouth so it can swallow larger prey whole.

Q. Could you warm a snake up by putting a sweater on it? A. Snakes are ectothermic, which means outside heating; they cannot regulate their own body t emperature. Their blood is the same temperature as the outside air.

Q. Why do snakes shed their skin periodically? A. Since snakes move across the ground, over rocks and logs, and up trees , their outs ide skin layer wears out. They need to replace it to repair wounds, provide protection from ultraviolet light, and retain moisture in their bodies . Snakes generally shed three or four times a year.

Q. Why are snakes beneficial to people? A. All snakes are meat-eaters. In Maine, that means lots of rodents. Mice, rats , shrews , moles and voles are fair game! Snakes are especiaily handy to have around barns , where there may be large populations of undesirable rodents.

Maine Fish and Wildlife

http ://www .s t a le. m e. u s/i fw

~ee if you can name the gnakeg in the photog,aphg, uging the clueg and thig What kinds of snakes Jigt of gpecieg. live in Maine? !J. Often seen near barns. this snake was falsely accused of drinking the milk of dairy cows.

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~

(Answers below)

Black racer (endangered) Ringneck snake Milk snake Northern water snake Smooth green snake Brown snake Redbelly snake Eastern ribbon snake Northern r ibbon snake Eastern garter snake Maritime garter snake

•

Lotg of /JllO/Jlll lltll 11f111id of gn11kllg, but gn11kllg IIM 11ctu11/ly motll 11f111id of PfOPLf !! follow thll ditllcfiong below to pl11y What you need to play: 2 pennies to flip; extra pennies to tape game pieces on

What to do: * Cut out the four shapes and tape them onto the extra pennies · place them on 'start' and dec ide who goes first · each player flips the 2 pennies to f ind out how many spaces to move · MOVE AHEAD 1 SPACE IF BOTH ARE HEADS • MOVE AHEAD 2 SPACES IF BOTH ARE TAILS • MOVE AHEAD 3 SPACES IF 1 IS HEADS , 1 IS TAILS · The f irst player to reach the FINISH wins! (You must reach the f inish on an exact count)

Thanks to the Illinois Dept of Natural Resources for permission to reprint the SSSS/ither game from their Conseruation Quest booklet

h ttp://www.s t a te. m e. us/i fw

Spnng 1999

Woodcock continued from page 11 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Current management in Maine

future. New goals and objectives will be established for woodcock by 2001.

Current distribution. Woodcock occur statewide in Maine between March and November.

Current management goals and objectives. Current goals and objectives were established in 1985 and revised in 1996. The management goal is to increase woodcock population levels. The management objective is to increase spring woodcock numbers by large-scale habitat improvements and maintain harvests and hunter numbers at or near current levels. This population goal has not been met, and the species assessment will be updated in the near Open daily, 9:30am-4:00pm May 1 through November 11th

~,r;(~ MAINE WILDLIFE

Management challenges. Conservation and management of woodcock habitat is the key to achieving population goals and objectives. A top priority is the implementation of a program to help commercial timber compa-

Did you know ... • that woodcock are carnivorous? •

that the woodcock's brain is upside down?

•

that the male woodcock's vocalization is described as a nasally "peent"?

•

that other local names for woodcock include: timber doodle, bog sucker, and mud bat?

•

that Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge in Calais, Maine is the only National Wildlife Refuge dedicated to the conservation and management of the American woodcock?

A 200-acre park with 25 different species of wildlife on exhibit. Moose, black bear, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, fisher, lynx, mountain lions, bald eagles, t rophy trout and more! Group rates: $1.50/person. No reservations required! Plenty of free parking. For more information, please call 207-657-4977 or 207-287-8000

Main e Fis h and Wildlife

nies incorporate woodcock habitat management in their timber management activities and to inform private landowners about habitat management opportunities on their lands. Other management priorities include the protection and enhancement of key migration areas and wintering habitats (USFWS Woodcock Management Plan 1990. •

Signed limited-edition prints by Tom Hennessey Terry Redlin Persis Clayton Weirs

Wild WIng,~ Authorized dealer for Wild Wings Hadley Bouse Applej ack National Wildlife Federation Pb & Fax (207) 947-1227 Custom Picture Framing Available

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Chestnut continued from page 19 already agreed to take part in TACF's Maine backcross breeding program. Almost a hundred years after its discovery, chestnut blight still stumps everyone's best efforts. But as retired forest pathologist Doug Stark points out, Maine invests enormous resources in planting and growing white pine, only to watch them struggle to resist white pine weevil and white pine blister rust. What if the same energies were devoted to restoring the American chestnut, a tree with enormous wildlife as well as timber value? Maine members of TACF think they know the answer: a more vibrant hardwood industry, a more diverse forest, and a healthier ecosystem.

Backcross breeding simplified · At the foundation's research farms in southwestern Virginia and at breeding stations from Maine to Tennessee to Indiana, TACF staff and volunteers use native American chestnut populations to backcross-breed blightresistant, nearly pure American trees. This is what happens. Chinese chestnuts are crossed with American trees to obtain a hybrid which is one-half American. After inoculating the progeny with chestnut blight, and culling out the most diseaseprone, the most resistant trees in that generation are backcrossed to American parents to obtain trees which are on average threefourths American, then again to obtain trees which are on average seven-eighths American, and so on. Since each backcross uses

utdoorsWoman

only those trees which show the most resistance, we can be confident that even though the number of Chinese genes steadily falls, the genes for resistance are always conserved. Our goal is to produce fully resistant trees which are fifteensixteenths American. Even experts will be unable to distinguish many of them from pure American chestnut trees. • The American Chestnut Foundation 469 Main St. , PO Box 4044 Bennington VT 05201 PH : 802 447-0110 E-MAIL: chestnut@acf.org WEB: www.acf.org Maine members: Welles Thurber-207 338-1868 Eric Evans- 207 236-9635 e-mail: belevans @midcoast.com

September 10, 11, 12 @ Camp Winona on Moose Lake Bridgeton, Maine

Th is w orkshop is aimed primarily at women 18 yrs & older interested in learning or honin g their outdoor skills in firearms/range safety, fly fish ing, canoeing, kayaking, plan t & tree identification, map & compass, white-tail deer hunting, duck hunting, lurkey hunlingandmuchmore! 1

NEW COURSES, TOO! ))

Workshop Fee: $180 includes instruction in all sessions, ""·· ~'. program materials, use of equipment, all meals and lodging. ~~~ ' ' ~ Some funds are available for partial financial assistance.

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Limited to 100 participants!

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Call 207-287-8000 for a full brochure & application form. Registrations close on August 25, 1999. Spon s ore d b y the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife and Maine Warden Service Assoc.

http://www.state.me. us/ifw

Spring 1999

•

Fish and Wildlife 0

tor, Kathleen Driscoll said," Mann's commitment and service to youth recreational fishing programs has helped make Maine's an exemplary program, which is a benchmark (for other states)." Although Mann has stepped down as the Volunteer Coordinator, he plans to continue serving among the ranks of the Department's other volunteers. The former Army Warrant Officer lives in Winthrop with his wife, Elaine.

Charlie Mann

Main e Fi sh and Wildlife

Looking back over his 26 years in wildlife management, Corr recalls three challenges that he counts as some of the most interesting projects in which his group was involved. Those are the institution of steel shot for waterfowl hunting, hravest restrictions on black dÂˇ 1cks and establishment of waterfowl hunting zones. Another initiative involved planning for habitat conservation in Cobscook Bay and the Lower Kennebec River. When asked about his plans after retirement, Corr says he has no specific plans at this point. He hopes to do some writing and spend more time at his various avocations . In his spare time, Corr is an enthusiastic outdoorsman who enjoys hunting, kayaking and outdoor photography.

Game Wardens Graduate

Volunteer Coordinator Steps Down Charlie Mann, Volunteer Coordinator, for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife wound up his duties this winter. Among his many contributions to MDIF&W, Mann launched the Hooked On Fishing-Not On Drugs (HOFNOD) program for the state of Maine. Since the program began in 1994, 5,000 young people have participated in HOFNOD's recreational fishing programs. Through Mann's efforts and under his leadership, 236 volunteers have been certified statewide as HOFNOD instructors. "We have a new program starting almost every month. Talk youth, drug prevention and environmental education, and people listen," observed Mann. Mann, a former career military officer who is also nationally recognized for his fly-tying skills, began his work with MDIF&W in June of 1994. Then Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Bucky Owen hired Mann to be the Department's Volunteer Coordinator after the two men struck up a relationship at an Augusta Trout Unlimited meeting. Of Mann's contribution to the HOFNOD program, it's education di rec-

Patrick Corr

Career Wildlife Biologist Patrick Corr Retires Patrick "Pat" Corr, who has served as Bird Group Leader in the Resouce Assessment Division, since 1984, retired from state service on April 30. Corr began his career in wildlife management as Assistant Migratory Bird Leader for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in August of 1973. A graduate of the University of Maine and the University of Alaska with a Master's Degree in Wildlife Management, Corr began his work in the Bangor office when the Bird Group worked exclusively on migratory birds. In 1992, Corr's group became responsible for overseeing all Maine birds. Corr was promoted to Game Bird Project Leader in 1984, a designation that was changed to Bird Group Leader in 1992.

The Maine Criminal Justice Academy added 24 state law enforcement officers to its list of alumni at a ceremony earlier this year at the Kennebec Valley Technical College. This year's class included members from the Maine Warden Service, the Maine Forest Service, the Maine Marine Patrol, the Attorney General's office, the Passamaquoddy Warden Service, and the Baxter State Park Authority. The graduation is a culmination of a 10-week law enforcement officer training program, including such course work as emergency vehicle operations, constitutional law, search and seizure, first aid, water safety, basic firearms, arrest procedure, and physical conditioning. Advanced training specific to each enforcement agency is next for many of the graduates, then field training. The Maine Warden Service graduated 16 new officers from the academy. Before being placed in the field, these wardens take part in advanced game warden training which is a 10- to 12week program designed to provide newly hired game wardens with the basic skills necessary to perform their duties. This comprehensive training http://www.sta te. me. us/ifw

encompasses a number of topics, including search and rescue, warden patrol techniques, wildlife and fisheries management, equipment maintenance, public relations, public speaking, fish and wildlife law, investigation teclmiques, and a practical exercise. After completing advanced training, the wardens will take part in a field training program. This phase of training, provided by field training officers, may last several months, depending upon the the new warden's "on-the-job" progress. During this training, the new wardens are evaluated while performing their duties, and are critiqued daily as to their strengths and areas in need of improvement. Five of the game wardens graduating in this class have already completed their advanced and field training and are working in the field. Their names and district assignments are: Christl Dorian, Denmark; John McDonald, Cornish; Dave Simmons, Franklin; Michele Fluery, Bancroft; and Brian Tripp, New Sweden. The 11 other graduating game wardens started their advanced warden training March 22. They are Jason Luce, Warren; Shon Theriault, Augusta; Scott Martin, Old Town; Stacey Roberts, Unity; Jeffrey Spencer, Oxbow; Patrick Egan, Appleton; Jared Herrick, Harmony; Edward Christie, Castle Hill; Robert Decker, Richmond; Shannon Fish, Levant; and Eric Blanchard, Gray.

New Chief Pilot Charlie Later, a second generation Maine Warden Service pilot, has been hired as the new Chief Pilot for the Maine Warden Service. Later will be based in Augusta where he will oversee

all warden flights and will coordinate aerial stockings, survey work, maintenance of the department's three planes and managing the two other pilots. "Charlie is an ideal addition to our staff,"said Warden Colonel Timothy Peabody, "He has got the skills and experience to complement our two other pilots and artfully manage our airbased programs." Later is presently in advanced training with ten other wardens. His 12week training will conclude in June, and after graduation, his headquarters will be on Federal Street in Augusta . Later first learned to fly with his father who also was a Maine Warden Service Pilot. He got his flying license when he was 17, and his been flying ever since. Most recently, Later has been a pilot and Director of Maintenance for Folsom Air in Greenville, and before that he worked in Aroostook County for Valley Airlines and in Portland for Maine Aviation. "It's a great position for me. I had heard rumors that they were going to hire a new chief pilot, and it was some-

thing I really wanted," said Later, "I've been flying for 25 years, and in that time I've done a lot of bush flying with floats, skis and wheels so I feel that I have the experience that the Maine Warden Service was looking for." Charlie, his wife Sharon, and 13-year old son Chris reside in Shirley, but will be relocating closer to Augusta soon. ....,

Other changes in personnel within the Department during the past few months include the following: Elizabeth Chase, Conservation Aide , resigned in March Mark Damren , promoted to Fish Culture Assistant Supervisor, at Grand Lake Stream . John Veader, promoted to Fish Cu lture Supervisor, at the Dry Mills Hatchery. Phillip DeMaynadier, appointed Wildlife Biologist, assigned to Bangor office. Edward Harvey, Clerk Ill at the warehouse, reti red in May. Jerre Keller, Fish Culture Assistant Supervisor at Governor Hill, retired in May.

KENNEBAGO RIVER KAMPS North of Rangeley between Kennebago Lake and Little Kennebago Lake • Fly Fish for native Salmon & Brook Trout in Kennebago's rivers & lakes • Excellent Deer and Grouse hunting • Snowmobiling on ITS 84 and 89 • 3 Housekeeping Camps • Gated Access • Reasonable Rates

Write: Kennebago River Kamps , R. Hammond PO Box 677 , Rangeley , 04970 (207) 864-2402

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Located in Allagash Wilderness Region north of Baxter State Park. Fullservice lodge, seven log cabins on Haymock, Spider, and Cliff Lake (T8R11 , T9R11 , T9R12). American Plan or Housekeeping. Indoor plumbing available.

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OPEN YEAR ROUND

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http://www.state.me.us/ifw

Spring 1999

LOONS & LEAD DON T MIX_ 1

Lead tackle is deadly to waterbirds! Lead sinkers & jigs cause fatal lead poisoning in loons and other waterfowl. Lead ingestion is the #1 killer of loons in Maine, but any waterbird can die from swallowing just one lead sinker or jig!

------

YOU CAN:

Use steel, tin, bismuth or plastic instead Ask local tackle shops to stock alternatives Properly dispose of old lead sinkers & jigs ~ Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife

FISH AND WILDLIFE BRIEFS

Deborah Pa/man

Palman Warden of the Year Deborah Palman, who became the first female game warden in the state of Maine 21 years ago, notched another first recently when she became the Maine Game Warden of the Year for 1998, the first woman to ever win the honor. Palman was presented the award at the Maine Warden Service Award Ceremony at the N.C.O. Club in Bangor in early April. Palman's pioneering work in DNA identification, her efforts in creating a new forensics Jab for the warden service, her leadership in the department as the director of the K-9 unit and her dedication as a district game warden all were factors in her selection. "While no single case or incident singles Deb out from the rest of the field, her overall commitment to duty and her multitude of contributions to fish and wildlife conservation law enforcement make her the stand out candidate for Warden of the Year," said Lieutenant Tim Liscomb. Palman's list of accomplishments over the past year include: • Pioneering a technique of identifying deer meat samples by sex using testosterone levels. • Analyzing all meat, hair and blood samples for the Warden Service. • Obtaining significant grants to start a new DNA facility in cooperation with University of Maine Zoology Department. This became a necessity after the loss of the US fish and Wildlife lab in Oregon. h ttp://www.state .me . us/ifw

• Her ability to identify meat samples by DNA gave wardens a new method to establish how many animals a violator possessed. • As a K-9 handler, she has been involved in numerous cases involving night hunting, illegal deer and moose cases and crimes against people and property. "Her work in the lab, while often taken for granted, plays one of the most important roles in Maine's fight against fish and wildlife poaching," said Lieutenant Tim Liscomb, "her expertise is indispensable." Other award winners include four game wardens for Exemplary Service Awards: Mark Merrifield of Searsmont, David Georgia of Milford, Daniel Scott of Dixmont and Michael Favreau of Rockwood. The following Wardens received Meritorious Service Awards: Jason Bouchard of Enfield and Durward Humphrey of Eagle Lake. The Legendary Game Warden Award went to Mose Jackson, The Sons of the American Revolution Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award was Phil White of Cherry£ield, and Doug Tibbets of Corinna received the Distinguished Supervisor Award.

Book On Maine Reptiles and Amphibians Reissued! Frogs and toads, salamanders and newts, turtles and snakes ... this may sound like the recipe for a witches' brew-but in truth, these are downright facsinating creatures! The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIF&W) and the University of Maine Press are pleased to announce the long-awaited second edition of Maine Amphibians and Reptiles. The first printing of more than 2000 copies, in 1992, was sold out within two years. This book will introduce you to fascinating world of reptiles and amphibians that occur in Maine and Atlantic Canada and all of the common species that occur in New England. Readers of the second edition will find a wealth of new information and few surprises! Editors Mac Hunter, Aram Calhoun,

and MDIFW'S Mark McCollough have revised the text with the latest scientific information on Maine's 38 species, vernal pools, amphibian declines, and deformed frogs . New distribution maps for Maine and the Northeast Region incorporate over 1,500 new occurrence records. A 16-page gallery of color photographs has been added. As in the first edition, Mark McCollough's pen and ink illustrations are used extensively throughout the text. Of particular note is an enclosed compact disc, narrated and produced by wellknown naturalist Lang Elliott, to teach you how to recognize the calls of frogs and toads in Maine. By popular request, the CD also includes a long, unnarrated series of frog choruses that are a wonderful way to evoke a spring or summer night! Maine Amphibians and Reptiles can be ordered for $24.55 from the Information Center, MDIFW, 284 State St., 41 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0041. Checks should be written to "Treasurer State of Maine." Bulk orders of 10 or more books are eligible for a 20 percent discount. Please call the Information Center (287-8000) for more information. The book will also be available in most bookstores. Proceeds from the sale of this book will be used for reptile and amphibian conservation in Maine.

Maine Wildlife Park April 15 marks opening day at The Maine Wildlife Park in Gray. The 200acre park has over 25 different species of wildlife on exhibit, including moose, black bear, fisher, lynx, mountain lions, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, bald eagles, hawks, owls, trophy trout and more. New for this year at the park are two new raptor exhibits featuring a broadwing hawk and a cooper's hawk. A new exhibit featuring wild turkeys is open for viewing, and the final touches on construction of the exhibit conclude in June. Construction for the native turtle and wetland exhibit is underway and will be finished later this summer. In addition to the variety of wildlife displays, there are nature trails, a

Sprin g 1999

visitor's center with a number of interactive wildlife and conservation exhibits, demonstration wildlife gardens, a show fish pool, picnic and grill areas, a snack shack, and a bookstore and gift shop operated by Maine Audubon Society. June 12 will be the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) Open House Day. Admission into the park that day is free, and there will be demonstrations, displays and information on topics ranging from radio tracking wild animals to boa ting safety. IFW CommissionerLee Perry will be on hand, as will Maine game wardens and IFW field biologists. For school kids and their teachers, there are wildlife education programs offered Tuesdays and Thursdays in May, June, September and October.

Additional wildlife displays and programs are offered to the general public each Sunday from June through September. Group guided tours are available by appointment. The Maine Wildlife Park is open from April 15 through November 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily. Call 207-287-8000 for more information or 207-657-4977 to listen to the recorded message with current program information. Admission is $3.50 for adults, $2.00 ages 4-12, and three and under are free. There are special prices for groups of 15 and more, and ages 60+ pay $2.50. The Maine Wildlife Park is located off the Maine Turnpike on Exit 11 on Route 26 in Gray, Maine, and is operated by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Auction N ets $39,900 Nearly $40,000 has been raised for youth conservation education scholarships in Maine through the 1999 Maine Moose Permit Auction. Five sportsmen bid a total of $39,900 in a sealed auction for the privilege to hunt moose in Maine during the 1999 season. The scholarships will send more than 250 Maine youngsters to the Maine Summer Conservation School at Bryant Pond and Greenland Point Center in Princeton. At these camps, youngsters ages 10 through 12 take part in a wide array of outdoor and classroom activities including wildlife identification, introduction to fishing, boating safety, firearms handling, hunter safety and map and compass work.

Maine Fish and Wildlife

OUTDOOR ROSTER -~

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V. Paul Reynolds, Editor . Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine 284 State Street 41 State House Station Augusta ME 04333-0041 Telephone: (207) 287-5248

http://www.sta te . me. us/i fw

The auction was created by the Legislature and began in 1995. It allows the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to publicly auction five moose hunting permits to the highest bidder. The deadline for submitting bids was March 31; the drawing was April 5. These five hunters will join 2000 moose permit holders in the annual moose htmt this October. The lottery drawing for the 2000 permits will be held this June. The moose season this year is October 4-9. The five winners include: Larry Higgins of Gaylord, Mich., George Jaques of Keene Valley, NY, Harry Koch of Heath, Texas, Tony Makris of Tulsa, Okla., and Sigmund Siegel of Newtown Square, Penn. Winning bids ranged from $7,100 to a high of $9,200.

Dragonfly Survey Did you know that Maine has as many kinds of damselflies and dragonflies as mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish combined? Have you ever wondered how to identify that dragonfly that just landed on your canoe paddle? What's a "ringed boghaw1ter," anyway? Do they sting? Damselflies and dragonflies (insects of the Order Odonata) are one of the most significant and conspicuous components of Maine's wildlife diversity. You can find them everywhere in the spring, swnmer, and fall near lakes, rivers, wetlands, and vernal pools-even in salt marshes. With 155 species documented to date, Maine hosts nearly 35 percent of the species found in North America (about 450 total). Damselflies and dragonflies are our most beautiful insects (but don't tell that to a butterfly enthusiast!). Their neon blues and greens, dazzling red racing stripes, and hypnotic eyes equal the beauty of our most striking warblers. As familiar as they are to all of us, however, we actually know very little about the distribution and abundance of individual species. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) lists 24 species as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. The Maine Damselfly and Dragonfly Survey (MDDS) is a new MDIFW project designed to improve our knowledge of the distribution, abundance, and habitats of these species. The five-year survey will be modeled after the successful amphibian, reptile,

http://www.state .me. us/if w

and bird atlasing projects. MDIFW recently received a Maine Outdoor Heritage Fw1d grant to launch the project in 1999 and we're looking for volw1teers from across the state to swing nets and join in the fun. Volunteers will be provided with all you need to get started (except the net!): identification materials, a collector's manual, envelopes for specimens, and a quarterly newsletter. Don't worry if you don't know how to identify species (few people in Maine currently do!). MOHF funding will be used to sponsor several workshops and field trips each year on identification, field collecting techniques, ecology, and photography. In addition, Eagle Hill Wildlife Research Station (207 546-2821) in Steuben, ME will be holding two week-long sessions this summer. The MDDS is one of the first of initiatives of its kind in the country. If you'd like to participate, please contact MDDS, Endangered Species Group, MDIFW, 650 State St., Bangor, ME 04401. An unfolded copy of the poster "Rare and Endangered Odonata of Maine" suitable for framing is available from MDDS for $13 (checks made out to Nongarne and Endangered Wildlife Fund).

Wildlife Advisory Council Governor Angus King nominated three new members to ilie Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Advisory: Council, and reappointed three current members. The advisory council works with the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in establishing rules and policies for our fish and wildlife resources. Matthew P. Libby of Ashland, Kenneth Bailey of Camden, and Don Palmer of Rangeley were nominated by Governor King February 1. The nominations will go to the legislature's joint standing committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for approval. Lila Ware of Skowhegan, Ellen Peters of New Gloucester, and Richard Neal of Acton were all reappointed to the cow1cil for second terms. Members can serve two consecutive three-year terms. "Each of these nominees bring a different strength to the council, and I look forward to working with them these next three years," said Commissioner Lee Perry. Libby, owner of Libby Camps on Millinocket Lake, has been a master guide since 1977. Libby also owns and operates a fishing camp in Labrador City, is a seaplane owner, and a has a

commercial pilot's license. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono with a degree in natural resources management. Bailey, outdoor editor of the Camden Herald, has been a registered Maine guide since 1978. Bailey is an outdoor safety instructor and a creel survey volunteer for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. His outdoor column was selected by the Maine Press Association as the top outdoor column in the Herald's circulation category. Palmer, president of the Rangeley Region Guides and Sportsmen's Association, operates Blueberry Hill Farm, an outdoor sporting antique business in Rangeley. He has served as director and treasurer of the Rangeley Region Chamber of Commerce, and is president of the Rangeley Historical Society. The advisory council consists of 10 members representing the 16 cow1ties of ilie state. Members of the advisory council are appointed by the Governor, then must be approved by the existing members of the council.

Turkey Permits A total of 3,000 hw1ters were awarded turkey permits in a random chance drawing earlier this year at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) headquarters in Augusta. The 9,244 hunters who applied for the permits represent a marked increase over 1998, when 6,649 hw1ters applied for the 2,250 available permits. "The sport is getting more popular, and wild turkeys have expanded their range in Maine," said Gene Dumont, IFW Wildlife Management Section Supervisor. "The increase in the number of hunters applying is in line with past years. It is a sport iliat is certainly gaining in popularity as the turkey population in Maine grows." In all, 2,722 permits were awarded to residents, and 278 to nonresidents. The permit is for bearded turkeys only; all males have beards of varying lengths.

Hunting and Fishing Economy Hunting, fishing and wildlife-associated recreation generates over $1 billion in economic activity in Maine, and the economic impact reaches deep into the state, particularly in rural Maine, according to a published report by two University of Maine professors. "Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife Associated recreation provide Maine wiili an im-

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portant source of jobs, income and other benefits," the report states. "These benefits are particularly important in rural or remote areas where other sources of income are limited." Some notable findings in the report: • Total retail sales associated w ith hunting, fishing and wild life activities generated over $750 million in Maine. • 17,680 jobs were supported by the money spent by hunters, inland anglers and wildlife watchers; these jobs generated about $48.4 million in sales tax revenue and over $19 million in state income tax revenue. • Hunting generated the most economic activity, nearly $454 million, followed by w ild life wa tching ($332 million) and inland fishing ($293 million). • In 1996, residents and nonresidents combined to spend 10,922,600 days either hun ting, fis hing or wildlife watching in the state of Maine.

has been chosen for the Maine Migratory Waterfowl Stamp; his white-winged scoter in 1995 and green-winged teal in 1988 also took first place honors. Alley will receive a cash award of $1,000 and a sheet of 10 stamps with his design on them. Designs are judged on originality, artistic composition, anatomical accuracy, and sui tability for reproduction as a stamp and print. The Maine Migratory Waterfowl Hunting Stamp is required fo r anyone age 16 and over who hun ts waterfowl in Maine. Nex t year's subject is the common eider.

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Alley Wins Duck Stamp Contest Richard Alley, Jr., of Isleford, a lobsterman by trade and artist by hobby, took firs t prize in the 1999 Ma ine Migratory Waterfowl Stamp Contest. This year's subject was the black duck, and Alley's rendition of a solitary black d uck taking flight in a sunlit marsh garnered the most points from the panel of five judges yesterday afternoon at the Augusta Civic Center. "The black duck is a dark bird, so I wanted to use a light background," said Alley, who worked on the oil painting over a period of weeks this wi nter in his workshop. Alley's workshop on Little Cranberry Island doubles as his stud io. When he' s no t repairing traps or painting buoys, you might fi nd Alley painting on canvas. This is the third time Alley's work

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Seen en ough monster Maine bucks yet? If not, subscribe to the Maine Big Game Magazine and see more trophy deer, bear and moose-and read the exciting stories from the hunters who harvested them! MAINE BIG GAME MAGAZINE has dozens of first hand hunting tales each issue with exciting color photos . One year subscription : $14 .50 (four issues) Two year subscription : $28 .00 (eight issues) Send check/mon ey order to : Maine Big Game Publications 36 Ame s Road - Dept. FW Dover-Foxcro ft, ME 04426 (207-56 4-761 4)

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portant source of jobs, income and otl" benefits," the report states. "These ber efits are particularly important in rura or remote areas where other sources o income are limited." Some notable findings in the reporl • Total retail sales associated with hunting, fishing and wildlife activitieE generated over $750 million in Maine. • 17,680 jobs were supported by th money spent by hunters, inland angle and wildlife watchers; these jobs gen< ated about $48.4 million in sales tax revenue and over $19 million in state income tax revenue. • Hunting generated the most economic activity, nearly $454 million, followed by wildlife watching ($332 million) and inland fishing ($293 million). • In 1996, residents and nonreside1 combined to spend 10,922,600 days either hunting, fishing or wildlife watching in the state of Maine.

Alley Wins Duck Stamp ContE Richard Alley, Jr., of Isleford, a lobsterman by trade and artist by hobl took first prize in the 1999 Maine Mig1 tory Waterfowl Stamp Contest. This year's subject was the black duck, and Alley's rendition of a solita1 black duck taking flight in a sunlit marsh garnered the most points from the panel of five judges yesterday afte noon at the Augusta Civic Center. "The black duck is a dark bird, so 1 wanted to use a light background," sa Alley, who worked on the oil painting over a period of weeks this winter int workshop. Alley's workshop on Little Cranberry Island doubles as his studi< When he's not repairing traps or painting buoys, you might find Alley painting on canvas. This is the third time Alley's work

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As a 1999 Maine Supersport, you have an opportunity to purchase an exclusive Supersport hat with embroidered Fish and Wildlife Department logo! in addition, several business supporters of the Supersport program are offering the following gift package valued in excess of $50 as their ways of saying "thank you" • Kittery Trading Post in Kittery - $10.00 gift certificate • North Maine Woods Association - $4.00 gift-certificate toward checkpoint fees • Points North Outfitters in Winthrop - 10% discount on most items in the store (some restrictions apply) • VanRaymond's Outfitters in Brewer - 10% discount 0;1 most items (some restrictions apply) • Brown's Trading Post in Houlton - 10% discount on most items (some restrictions apply) • Roy's Army Navy Store in Presque Isle - 10% discount on most items (some restrictions apply) • Indian Hill Trading Post in Greenville - 10% discount on most items (some restrictions apply) • Maine's Northwoods Sporting Journal - a one-year subscription at 1/2 price ($8 savings) • Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife - a supersport window decal Maine residents and nonresidents can buy a Supersport license wherever licenses are sold. Nonresident hunters and anglers also may buy a Supersport license through the mail from: Maine Deptartment of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife 284 State Street 41 State House Station Augusta, ME 04333-0041 Supersport certificates may be purchased when registering any recreational vehicle or after one has purchased their license.

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