Defenders' Experts
Maine's Beginning with Wildlife Program
Maine
Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife began developing the
Beginning with Habitat program in the mid-1990s. The department had several
decades of experience of using zoning and regulation to protect habitat and had
found these methods inadequate at preserving Maine's natural landscape. In 2000,
an interagency partnership was formed and included the Maine State Planning
Office, Maine Natural Areas Program, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and
Wildlife, Maine Audubon Society, Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research
Unit, Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission, Wells National Estuarine
Research Reserve, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The program provides
habitat maps, species descriptions, and guidance to local communities to help
integrate biodiversity protection into local land-use planning and guide habitat
conservation decisions. Although the partnership has concentrated its efforts in
southern Maine where development is proceeding at an alarming rate, the ultimate
goal of the program is to work with all Maine towns to protect and maintain
enough habitats to support all native plant and animal species found in the
state. As of April 2002, Beginning with Habitat maps were complete for 47
towns.
Beginning with Habitat information is being used in a number of ways. Since 2000, the State Planning Office has incorporated the program's data into a package that is distributed to towns receiving comprehensive planning grants. Over 50 towns have now received this data. All of the regional planning commissions in southern Maine have listened to presentations on Beginning with Habitat and its role in land use planning. The regional planning commissions have also received the program data in digital form for their respective jurisdictions. A website that will have downloadable data and some analysis capability along with guidelines for and case studies exploring the use of Beginning with Habitat information is currently under development. The Maine Coastal Program is providing grant money for regional use of program information. And finally, the State Planning Office is now working with other state agencies to incorporate additional relevant data into this program.
The Maine Beginning with Habitat program demonstrates the importance of state natural resource agencies acknowledging their stake in local land use decisions. To enable local governments to make sound land use decisions, the state provided up to date and complete biodiversity information, in a usable format, and technical assistance and expertise. Also, through the program, the state has established good working relationships with local governments and others, demonstrating an effective partnership that developed a more dynamic program by incorporating the strengths of each partner.
In this section. . .
The West Eugene Wetlands Plan addresses the need for protection of significant natural lands within designated growth areas while still allowing some development.
The Beginning with Wildlife Program provides habitat maps, species descriptions, and guidance to local communities to help integrate biodiversity protection into local land-use planning and guide habitat conservation decisions.
The purpose of Arizona's Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan is to ensure the long-term protection of "the heritage and natural resources of the west in Pima County."
The goal of the Chicago Wilderness is "to protect the natural communities of the Chicago region and to restore them to long-term viability, in order to enrich the quality of life of its citizens and to contribute to the preservation of global diversity."
The Willamette Restoration Strategy addressed water quality and habitat issues in Oregon's Willamette basin and adopted a strategy to protect and restore the basin's ecological health.
The BioMap project's goal was "to promote strategic land protection by producing a map showing areas, that if protected, would provide suitable habitat over the long term for the maximum number of Massachusetts' terrestrial and wetland plant and animal species and natural communities."
The Landscape Project's goal is "to protect New Jersey's biological diversity by maintaining and enhancing rare wildlife populations within healthy functioning ecosystems."
In 1994, Defenders initiated the Oregon Biodiversity Project which produced a statewide biodiversity assessment and a conservation strategy that included 42 "Conservation Opportunity Areas" across the state.
Maryland's two important planning programs are the Green Infrastructure Assessment and the GreenPrint Program.
