New Hampshire Fish and Game is in the process of creating a "blue print" of wildlife habitat in New Hampshire. NHF&G will get much of this information from a newly created Wildlife Survey.
September 11, 2004: Web Survey
Hi! I'm Iain MacLeod from the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, bringing you Something Wild.
Do you like watching wildlife? Are you interested in its protection?
Wildlife in New Hampshire received a big boost this year from the federal government, which is giving the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department almost 800,000 dollars to develop a long-range conservation plan. When it's finished, the plan is expected to include strategies for protecting the more than 200 wildlife species considered at risk in New Hampshire. But it should also help us keep our common wildlife common.
In other words, the conservation plan will be a "blueprint," if you will, of the state's wildlife habitats that are in greatest need of protection. This is especially important for New Hampshire, which is one of the fastest-growing states in the country.
But no plan can address every issue. So conservationists have to decide their priorities. Back in March, New Hampshire Fish and Game hosted a "wildlife summit ." 100 people from non-profit organizations, government agencies, and groups such as hunters and anglers got together to identify their major wildlife issues.
Although the summit was useful, the attendees were people that Fish and Game officials already know. They really want to hear from people with a wide a variety of interests. To that end, Fish and Game used the information gathered at the summit to develop a survey and posted it on their web site .
This survey has caused a great deal of excitement and hope among those in the state involved with wildlife conservation.
The more people who send the survey in, the more information the state will have to use. There is also more information on the plan at the web site. And we will post a link to the state's web site at the Something Wild page at nhpr.org.
Something Wild is a joint production of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Public Radio, and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. For Something Wild, I'm Iain MacLeod.
