Description: EHPLVTRN contains Piping Plover and Least Tern nesting, feeding, and brood-rearing areas identified and mapped as Essential Habitat by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW).
Copyright Text: Credit should always be given to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife when the data is transferred or printed.
Description: This layer represents Inland Waterfowl / Wading bird Habitat (IWWH), a Significant Wildlife Habitat defined under Maine's Natural Resources Protection Act (NRPA; http://www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/docstand/nrpapage.htm). IWWHs with a high or moderate rating meet the Significant Wildlife Habitat definition and are protected under NRPA. Low-rated IWWHs are NOT included in this layer because they do not meet the definition and are not protected under NRPA. Boundaries and attributes of polygons in organized townships were updated in 2008 by MDIFW staff using recent (2001-2007), high-resolution (<=1 m), color orthoimagery. For most polygons, multiple images from different years and seasons were used. Polygons in unorganized townships were mapped by MDIFW regional staff in the 1990s from lower-resolution orthoimagery, various wetland data sets, and field visits or via an automated process developed by Heather Rustigian and William Krohn (USGS Biological Resources Division) using statewide digital NWI (National Wetlands Inventory) data, aerial imagery, and hydrology data. Each IWWH boundary includes a 250-foot upland zone around the wetland perimeter. Upland zones were edited to exclude areas of intensive development, slivers crossing major roads into non-wetland habitat, and shorelines >250 ft from a vegetated, non-forested wetland on a Great Pond. Changes to polygon boundaries and IWWH ratings are occasionally made based on a field visit by an MDIFW regional biologist. The last such modification was made 2012-08-22.
Copyright Text: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) Wildlife Resource Assessment Section, Habitat Group; MDIFW Wildlife Management Section, Regional staff; Heather L. Rustigian and William B. Krohn, University of Maine, Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (for polygons mapped in unorganized townships) .
Description: Extensive field surveys began in 1993 to identify, map, and document use of feeding and roosting areas for shorebirds. Polygon boundaries have been modified by the Maine DEP to align with the state 1:24,000 coastline. Polygons have been modified by Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife to include 100 ft and 250 ft disturbance protection zones around feeding and roosting sites, respectively, and to better align habitat boundaries with natural features based on high resolution, low tide imagery from Maine DMR. Areas of extensive development were clipped from the 250 ft. disturbance protection zones around roosting areas.
Copyright Text: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Description: SNI contains POLYGONS that represent NRPA (Natural Resource Protection Act) regulated coastal seabird nesting islands or portions thereof along the coast of Maine. This coverage is included in the statewide seabird nesting island database maintained by MDIFW. See metadata for "Seabird Islands (LURC)" for descriptions of seabird islands under LURC jurisdiction (available through MDIFW). Other seabird nesting islands may exist which do not qualify for regulation under NRPA.
Copyright Text: Credit should always be given to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife when the data is transferred or printed.
Description: This data set contains Tidal Waterfowl / Wading bird Habitat (TWWH) polygons rated as HIGH or MODERATE value under Maine's Natural Resources Protection Act (NRPA). Polygons classified as emergent wetland (saltmarsh) were obtained from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Inventory (NWI), which were mapped at 1:24,000 scale. Polygons classified as mussel bars or mudflat were obtained from the Maine Coastal Marine Geologic Environments (CMGES) data from 1976. Some of the CMGES data originated from 1:24,000 scale quads; other data originated from 1:50,000 scale quads. Polygons classified as eelgrass beds were obtained from the Department of Marine Resources 2010 eelgrass data. A conservative estimate of the minimum mapping unit for the eelgrass data is 150 square meters, which represents an eelgrass staand of approximately 14 meters in diameter. Eelgrass areas with <10% covereage density were excluded from the TWWH data set. The boundary and classification accuracy each polygon is dependent upon its data source.
Copyright Text: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW), Resource Assessment Section, Habitat Group