Extreme Makeover: Young forests edition

“Give this land two years” says Ted Kendziora as he excitedly refers to 22 acres of desolate land in south New Hampshire that received a habitat “makeover” by the Town of Lee Conservation Commission. The property was converted to a young forest, an important environment for many species of native plants and animals, like the New England cottontail.

New England cottontails need brush to survive. Credit: USFWS

Best of 2012: 2) Recovering wildlife



New England cottontail at Great Bay National
Wildlife Refuge. Credit: New Hampshire Fish and Game.

We're bringing in the new year with a look back at our milestones for 2012. Check back each day for featured events and activities from across the Northeast!

Many threatened and endangered animals across the Northeast improved last year, and much of that progress is thanks to the many people working to recover and maintain healthy wildlife populations.

Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge joins partners to help breed rabbits

This post is part of a series running all week about the work done on national wildlife refuges to help with threatened and endangered species recovery. Today, you’re hearing from Nancy Pau, a wildlife biologist at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and James Panaccione, a biological science technician, about the construction of hardening pens to help recover New England cottontails.

DID YOU KNOW?

The New England cottontail has become so rare that it's a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. What's a candidate? (PDF)

You’ve seen them hopping around your backyard right?

Well, not necessarily. You may have seen rabbits in New England, but probably not the rare New England cottontail.

While these rabbits may closely resemble the more commonly seen eastern cottontail, they require a much more specific type of home and are known as habitat specialists. New England cottontails need dense thickets, and they hesitate to stray from cover. 

As that habitat has been lost to development and maturing forest, the New England cottontail population has dramatically declined. These issues, along with habitat separated or fragmented by expanding roads and highways, make it difficult for these rabbits to find food or mates.

Conservation celebrity visits a home for New England’s only native rabbit

The national head of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Chief Dave White, visited an eastern Connecticut farm on July 14 in hopes of catching a glimpse of the rare New England cottontail.

The farm is owned by Tom McAvoy, a lifelong outdoorsman and the first partner for the New England cottontail under the new Working Lands for Wildlife program. The program, led by the NRCS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is an innovative approach to work with farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to restore and protect land for wildlife.

Service biologist Ted Kendziora talking with NRCS Chief Dave White and others at the farm. Photo courtesy of Tom McAvoy.

News Roundup

Today we're taking a break from featuring endangered species by state, but take a few minutes to see what we heard this week! Check back next week for features on the wonderful states of Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia.

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NJ Cape May County Herald: Water and Praises Flow at Cox Hall Creek Event
VILLAS — Like an epic movie, it was 11 years in the making but the ending is monumental. On Wed., June 20, officials from Lower Township and county agencies cut a ribbon dedicating the Cox Hall Creek Improvement Project which removed a derelict sewage pumping station and sent a pipe to Delaware Bay to allow cleansing salt water in the phragmites reed clogged creek.

Over hundreds of years, attempts to control water flow has allowed invasive plants to crowd out other wildlife. This project is part of a long-term effort to control invasive wildlife along the Delaware Bay of New Jersey. A team is working to restore 87 acres of wetlands to control water quality and flooding, as well as provide habitats for our native wildlife. Through our Delaware Bay Estuary Project and New Jersey Field Office, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided much-needed resources to complete this project.

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Partnering to save endangered animals: Connecticut

We're so excited about the new interactive map highlighting endangered species efforts in each state across the nation. Each day we'll feature a state, partner and animal. Subscribe on the right to keep up!

Your only chance at seeing the tiny Puritan tiger beetle is in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and the Connecticut River in New England. Historically, there were 11 populations along the Connecticut River, but only these two remain.

The Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge has long been the driving force in protecting and restoring the embattled beetle population on state- and city-owned property in Massachusetts. It was only natural for them to lead the efforts to help protect and maintain the beetles' other population in Connecticut. Read more of the story.

Puritan tiger beetles are voracious predators, preying on other invertebrates
by chasing and catching them in a tiger-like manner. Credit: Susi von Oettingen/USFWS

Partnering to save endangered animals: Massachusetts

We're so excited about the new interactive map highlighting endangered species efforts in each state across the nation. Each day we'll feature a state, partner and animal. Subscribe on the right to keep up!

A few decades ago, an uncontrolled wildfire roared through an area of pine barrens on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, burning 8 square miles down to the sandy soil.

Today, the communities and businesses of the town of Mashpee border these fire-prone barrens, as well as lands protected by federal, state and local agencies. Not only do thousands of people live here, but the rare New England cottontail has also found a home in the pitch pines and scrub oaks of the barrens. Read the rest of the story.

Contrary to what some may know, some types of young forests are dependent on
periodic wildfire. Fire management officers mimic the natural fire process to keep a
healthy space for plants and wildlife, including the rare New England cottontail,
which needs this habitat for survival.
Credit: Catherine J. Hibbard/USFWS

A rare rabbit needs our support

This Bunny Needs Brush to Survive

This time of year, gardeners in the Northeast are all too familiar with the rabbits that have chosen their beds for buffets. But there’s a less abundant rabbit that you probably don’t know about, and that you would be much less likely to find in your garden. That cottontail, the New England cottontail, is the only one native to our region.