A new volunteer-created atlas of Maine birds is almost complete. It suggests that since the early 1980s, the complex interplay of global warming, habitat shifts and other factors have brought significant change in the types of birds that are at home in Maine.
Wildlife advocates see Teton County s upcoming revised Lands Development Regulation on feeding wildlife as an opportunity to set a national standard for how communities and wildlife can peacefully co-exist and thrive. Kristin Combs, executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, said the lion s share of economic activity in the county is linked to income from people who travel from across the world to see wildlife in their historic habitats. "People are coming to this area to see things like bears and wolves, to see our national parks," Combs observed. " .
The hunting of gray wolves from Yellowstone National Park has set off alarm bells for wildlife-related businesses in the region. Thirty businesses have sent a letter urging Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to return endangered-species protections to gray wolves. Cara McGary, owner and lead guide of In Our Nature Guiding Services in Gardiner, said some wolves recently killed were from a pack she has been watching on her wildlife tours. .
A U.S. Forest Service timber-harvest proposal in Pocahontas County has conservation groups worried about potential harmful impacts to endangered freshwater fish species, like the candy darter. Rick Webb, board member of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Allegheny Blue Ridge Alliance, explained dirt and gravel roads needed for logging also increase the risk of erosion and sediment in nearby streams, which can compromise habitat for brook trout, the candy darter and other aquatic life. .