Wildlife Corner

 Welcome to the Wildlife Corner. Here at Maine Woodland Owners we strive to support landowners who wish to manage for healthy, resilient forests. This section offers guidance and resources for landowners interested in stewardship practices that benefit both their land and the wildlife that depend on it.

Tips and Tricks For Wildlife Management

Wildlife need food, shelter, water, and space to flourish. These are some common tactics to maintain those resources on your own land.

• Setup wildlife structures. Bird, bat, and bee boxes can be used for nesting and shelter.

• Retain and plan for wildlife trees. Make note of snags (dead standing trees), cavity/den trees (live trees with nesting cavities), recruitment trees (large trees that will be retained permanently).

• Maintain mast and shrub trees. Soft mast producing species include birches, pin cherry, choke cherry, hornbeam, alder, service berry, dogwood, viburnums, raspberries, and elderberry. Hard mast producing species include oak, beech, beaked hazelnut, chestnut, and butternut.

• Create brush piles. A brush pile is a mound or pile of woody material with cavities. Small limbs, brush, or saplings are piled on top of larger logs to create the brush pile. Brush piles create cover from predators and harsh weather for many songbirds, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

• Plant pollinator gardens: Flowering plants provide nesting areas, and shelter for bees, butterflies, birds, and other pollinators. Consider integrating pollinator plots into forest openings, along edges, roadsides, and old fields.

• Maintain fields and young forests. Fields and young forested areas are heavily sought after by Maine’s native wildlife as these areas provide nesting and foraging opportunities. Keeping areas in this early stage of growth can encourage wildlife activity on your land.

  
  

  If you wish to receive more information about these practices, please contact:

  Autumn Randall, Wildlife Biologist: (207) 626-0005, autumn@mainewoodlandowners.org

Integrating Wildlife Conservation into Forest Management

Catch up on how to approach wildlife conservation in your management plan!

Resources To Manage Your Woods For Wildlife

• Beginning With Habitat Map: The Beginning with Habitat (BwH) Map Viewer is an online adaptation of BwH's extensive collection of natural resource information provided by state, federal, and non-profit conservation partners. This information can help land-use decision makers balance growth and management goals with conservation of Maine's fish, wildlife, and natural places.

• Maine Audobon’s A Woodland Owner’s Guide to Forestry for Maine Birds: Forestry for Maine Birds (FFMB ) is a new approach to managing woodlands. It helps foresters, loggers and family woodland owners like you see the forest “for the birds” when designing and implementing management strategies.

• Managing Grasslands, Shrublands and Young Forest: A comprehensive, practical habitat management guide focused on the conservation and stewardship of early-successional habitats that have declined significantly across the region and are critical for many wildlife species. The guide explains the ecological importance of these habitats, outlines techniques and tools for maintaining or restoring these dynamic landscapes effectively.

• 2025-26 Maine Hunting Seasons: Season dates and bag limits for Maine.

Monthly Wildlife Sightings!