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MassWildlife Monthly December 2019 News from the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife TABLE OF CONTENTS

Get your 2020 license today (#get-your-2020-license-today-)

Give a gift on the wild side (#give-a-gift-on-the-wild-side-)

2019 lake trout survey complete (#2019-lake-trout-survey-complete-)

CWD reminder for out-of-state hunters (#cwd-reminder-for-out-of-state-hunters-)

Avoid decorating with invasive plants (#avoid-decorating-with-invasive-plants-) Reminder to submit your hunting log to win prizes (#reminder-to-submit-your-hunting-log-to-win-prizes-) Prescribed burning for wildlife in Massachusetts: An essential land management tool (#prescribed-burning-for-wildlife-in-massachusetts:-an-essential-land-management-tool-) MassWildlife property spotlight: Martin Burns WMA (#masswildlife-property-spotlight:-martin-burns-wma-) Contact (#contact)

Related (#related-)

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Get your 2020 license today

Hunters, anglers, and trappers can now purchase 2020 licenses, permits, and stamps. Give licenses as a gift or treat yourself. Use care when purchasing during December, as both 2019 and 2020 licenses are available.

Get your license now... (https://www.ma.wildlifelicense.com/Internetsales/IS/Customer/InternetCustomerSearch)

Give a gift on the wild side

It's time to think about the outdoor enthusiest on your holiday list! Consider the following wildlife-related gifts available from MassWildlife.

MassWildlife Publications: A 2-year subscription to Massachusetts Wildlife magazine (/how-to/massachusetts-wildlife-magazine) ($10) delivers eight full-color issues of the Commonwealth’s best wildlife publication. The magazine is packed with award- winning articles and photos on the environment, conservation, fishing, hunting, natural history, and just about everything related to the outdoors in Massachusetts. Find this and other great publications at our website (/guides/masswildlife-publications/).

2020 Licenses: The sportsman or sportswoman in your life will appreciate a 2020 hunting, fishing, or sporting license and any supplemental stamps they will need (available December 1). License purchases support MassWildlife’s fish and wildlife conservation, management, and habitat protection programs. Go to MassFishHunt (https://www.ma.wildlifelicense.com/IS/Customer/InternetCustomerSearch) to make a purchase.

Charitable Donations: For the person who has everything, make a donation in his or her name to support one of the following funds. The Wildlands Fund (/service-details/wildlands-fund) is dedicated to acquiring and conserving important wildlife habitat open to wildlife-related recreation. Send the honoree’s name with a check made out to Comm. of Mass – Wildlands Fund to MassWildlife, 251 Causeway St., Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114. The Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Fund supports efforts to protect rare and endangered wildlife. Read rare species success stories (/service-details/support-endangered-species-conservation) made possible by the Fund. A donation in the form of a check made out to “Comm. of MA – NHESP” can be sent to MassWildlife, NHESP, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581.

2019 lake trout survey complete

Each fall, MassWildlife samples the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs to monitor lake trout populations. With the help of DCR, MassWildlife surveys lake trout to examine population characteristics. The 2019 fall sampling is complete and crews on captured and released 142 lake trout including a 37 inch, 18 pound fish. Crews at captured and released 130 lake trout, 34 at Goodnough Dike and 96 at Windsor Dam. The largest lake trout encountered was originally tagged in 2015 and then recaptured in 2017. That fish measured 33.5 inches and 13.3 pounds. In addition to lake trout, several large landlocked salmon were captured at Quabbin tipping the scales at around 7 pounds.

To capture lake trout, field crews set nets on spawning areas starting at sunset and check them about every 20 minutes. Captured fish are removed from the nets and placed in a livewell. Next, biologists record length, weight, and sex and implant a small Passive Integrated Tag (PIT) in the fish. Prior to release, the adipose fin is clipped to provide an external mark indicating that the fish has been captured before. Data collected provide biologists with an understanding of the current condition of lake trout populations. If fish are recaptured from previous tagging efforts, biologists can calculate individual growth rates. Lake trout are long lived and slow growing and it is not uncommon for a tagged fish to be recaptured 10 years later. In fact, the longest recapture interval recorded was 24 years! When other species like landlocked salmon, smallmouth bass, rock bass, and white perch are captured, biologists record information including length, weight, and sex but do not implant PIT tags.

Lake trout typically spawn in late October and November when the surface water temperatures are around or below 50°F. The spawning grounds are typically shallow, rocky waters on windy shores of the Reservoirs; spawning occurs mostly after dusk. Night sampling on big waters can be cold and icy in November, but the information it provides biologists is well worth the effort. Sampling efforts like this are just one way that MassWildlife monitors the health of the fish resources of the Commonwealth.

CWD reminder for out-of-state hunters

To keep Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from spreading to Massachusetts, it is illegal to import deer parts (from any cervid species including white-tailed deer, mule deer, black- tailed deer, caribou, moose, elk, etc.) from any state or province where CWD has been detected. This includes MD, NY, OH, PA, VA, WV, and many other states and provinces – view a map of CWD positive areas in North America (/service-details/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd). Live deer of any species may not be brought into Massachusetts for any purpose.

You may bring in meat which has been cut and wrapped (commercially or privately), deboned meat, hides with no head attached, cleaned skull caps (no muscle or brain tissue attached) with attached antlers, antlers with no muscle or brain tissue attached, or fixed taxidermy mounts.

CWD is a contagious neurological disease that is 100% fatal to cervid species. It attacks the brains of infected animals, causing them to exhibit abnormal behavior, become emaciated, and eventually die. Infected deer can spread the infectious agents through urine, feces, saliva, etc. for months before showing clinical symptoms. The infectious agents are in very high concentrations in the brain and spinal tissue, so an infected carcass left on the landscape can be major problem. The infectious agents can remain in the soil for over 10 years and can be taken up into the leaves of plants that deer eat. No CWD infected deer have been found in Massachusetts.

If you see a deer or moose in Massachusetts exhibiting any signs of this disease or any other disease, please contact MassWildlife at (508) 389-6300.

CWD-positive jurisdictions (as of October 2019) include:

U.S. States

Arkansas Colorado Illinois Iowa Kansas Maryland Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Canada

Alberta Ontario Quebec Saskatchewan

Other Countries

Finland Norway South Korea Sweden

Avoid decorating with invasive plants

During holiday seasons, many people use plants to decorate their homes or businesses. Avoid using exotic, invasive plants such as Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) and Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) in holiday decorations. Though these plants are attractive, using invasive plants in decorations can impact native species and habitat. Birds eat and carry away the fruits from wreaths and garlands and the digested but still-viable seeds sprout where deposited.

Exotic, invasive plants create severe environmental damage, invading open fields, forests, wetlands, meadows, and backyards, and crowding out native plants. Bittersweet can even kill mature trees through strangling. Both plants are extremely difficult to control; when cut off, the remaining plant segment in the ground will re-sprout. It is illegal to import or sell bittersweet and Multiflora rose in any form (plants or cuttings) in Massachusetts. Learn more about invasive plants in Massachusetts and how they threaten our native species and natural communities. (/service-details/invasive-plants)

You can learn more about invasive plants from our publication: "A Guide To Invasive Plants". In the Guide, each invasive plant description includes a photograph, the plant's regulatory status, key identification characteristics, habitats where the plant is likely to be found, types of threats the plant poses to native species and habitats, and its current distribution and place of origin. To purchase a guide from MassWildlife, stop in the Field Headquarters office in Westborough (/orgs/division-of-fisheries-and-wildlife/locations)during business hours or send in our publication order form. (/files/documents/2017/01/qe/order-form-for-dfw-publications.pdf)

Reminder to submit your hunting log to win prizes

Hunters, remember to submit your archery deer hunting log or game bird hunting log before DECEMBER 20, 2019 to be entered to win prizes!

If you completed an archery deer hunting log or a game bird hunting log, submit it before December 20, 2019 and you will be entered into a drawing. Prizes, donated by Cabela's, include 1 Polar Cap Equalizer cooler (value $249.99) and 2 $25 Cabela's/Bass Pro gift cards. Winners will be randomly selected and notified in late December. If you complete both types of logs, your name will be entered twice.

Mail completed logs to: Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Attn: Hunting Log 1 Rabbit Hill Rd, Westborough, MA 01581

Your input is essential! MassWildlife needs hunter participation in every Wildlife Management Zone. Massachusetts hunters spend a significant amount of time in the woods observing wildlife of all kinds. These observations can provide wildlife biologists with a tremendous amount of information to better understand wildlife distribution and abundance across the Commonwealth.

Prescribed burning for wildlife in Massachusetts: An essential land management tool

MassWildlife reached a new benchmark this year by safely carrying out 14 prescribed burns on over 761 acres of fire-influenced lands within our wildlife management areas (WMAs) across the state. Another 115 acres of municipal conserved lands were treated with prescribed fire thanks to funding from MassWildlife’s Habitat Management Grant Program. These burns, all conducted on lands open to the public, benefit a multitude of plants and wildlife and help restore important grasslands, heathlands, shrublands, and woodlands.

Bringing fire back to the Massachusetts landscape is challenging and requires partnerships at multiple levels of government and the private sector. Prescribed burns require careful planning, permitting, and skillful implementation under specific weather and fuel conditions to meet resource objectives, ensure public safety, and avoid impacts to sensitive resources and the surrounding community. MassWildlife is thankful to our dedicated prescribed burn crew and fire management partners who made this a successful burn season. Those partners include the DCR Bureau of Forest Fire Control, Massachusetts Army National Guard at , U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Municipal Fire Departments and Natural Resource Programs, Northeast Forest and Fire Management L.L.C., and the many volunteers and neighbors across the state.

Prescribed burns were successfully carried out on the ridge top heathlands of Leyden WMA, the pine and oak barrens of Montague Plains WMA, and the extensive grasslands of Southwick WMA. Moving eastward, prescribed burns were used to help restore native warm season grasslands at Herman Covey and Muddy Brook WMAs. We also conducted forest and open woodland burns at Muddy Brook WMA to improve oak and hickory regeneration and enhance habitat for wildlife and plants. Numerous prescribed burns were safely carried out within the scrub oak barrens, pine and oak woodlands, coastal sandplain grasslands and heathlands of the Southeast Pine Barrens WMA, Frances A. Crane WMA, and Penikese Island Sanctuary.

The beneficial effects of prescribed burning are tremendous. Properly timed and carried out, these burns produce spectacular results in grasslands promoting native warm season grasses such as little bluestem and eliminating woody encroachment and undesirable plants. These burns remove the thick layer of thatch, promote native grasses and wildflowers, and create important cover as well as nesting and feeding habitat for rare and declining grassland birds, such as the grasshopper sparrow and upland sandpiper. Prescribed burns in pine-oak barrens, woodlands, and heaths improve habitat for huntable wildlife such as ruffed grouse, wild turkey, American woodcock, white-tailed deer and a multitude of rare and declining species such as whip-poor-will, northern harrier, and Eastern meadowlark. Black bear and New England cottontail also benefit from the increases in blueberries, acorns, and palatable browse. Recent research has shown that prescribed fire not only increases the regeneration of certain desirable trees and shrubs like oak and hickory, but has also shown a dramatic and lasting increase in the nutritional value of the browse within leaves and palatable stems. Many fire adapted herbs and shrubs increase with burning and provide important nectar and food sources for rare butterflies, moths, and bees. Wild lupine, New England blazing star, orange milkweed, and New Jersey tea are just of the few of the many plants dependent and benefiting from prescribed fire. Periodic fire also helps control plant and animal parasites, including ticks and forest pests such as the southern pine beetle. Selecting the proper size, frequency, and timing of burns is critical to successful fire management to improve wildlife habitat and restore plant communities. Surveys and monitoring the effects of prescribed burns allow us to adapt and tweak our management approaches as we move forward.

Fire ecologists recognize that fire is an important factor that helped shape the vegetation encountered by many of the first European explorers in Massachusetts. Whether caused by lightning or humans, many woodlands, barrens, shrublands, grasslands, and specialized wetlands evolved with fire. Native Americans were adept at using fire as a management tool for thousands of years in Massachusetts. Although prescribed fire is not considered a new management tool, in some places it has been absent on the landscape for over a century and its selective reintroduction requires careful planning and often pre- treatment of vegetation such as forest thinning and mowing to reduce the build-up of hazardous vegetation (such as flammable brush, dead and down woody materials, vines, and more densely packed trees) which cause hotter and more intense fires. Prescribed burns also help reduce the chance of unplanned wildfire events and their damaging effects to natural resources, air quality, people, and property. MassWildlife works with our many partners to ensure forestry, mowing, invasive plant control, rare species protection, and monitoring are addressed, and that restoration and prescribed fire activities are coordinated and appropriately carried out

MassWildlife property spotlight: Martin Burns WMA

Located in northeastern Massachusetts in the towns of Newbury and West Newbury, the Martin Burns Wildlife Management Area (WMA) was first established in 1959 with an initial parcel of 1,317 acres conveyed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Since then, the WMA has expanded to over 2,135 acres of. Wildlife Management Areas help MassWildlife further its mission to restore, protect, and manage land for wildlife to thrive and for people to enjoy.

With its pine and hardwood forests, knolls of rocky terrain, and wetlands, Martin Burns is a great place to explore. Several unimproved roads loop through the property and are enjoyed by visitors for hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. These roads are gated except during hunting seasons in the fall. For an off-the- beaten path experience, trekking beyond the old roadways and unmarked footpaths is encouraged on this and all of MassWildlife properties. Wildlife thrive in the WMA’s varied habitat types, which include numerous vernal pools, anadromous fish breeding waters, shallow and deep-water marshes, as well as actively managed young forest, shrublands, and fields. Three small fire ponds dot the landscape and the headwaters of Cart Creek and Little River originate within the boundaries of the WMA. Prior to government ownership, early landowners cut trees for fuelwood and wildfires swept through the area. The cleared land was eventually converted to pasture for grazing sheep and cattle. When MassWildlife acquired the land, the old pastures on the property were overgrown. Over time, with support from conservation partners, MassWildlife has cleared fields and created additional openings of varying sizes in the forest. Invasive exotic plant control measures were also established to promote native food producing shrubs and trees. These shrubland and young forest habitats benefit less common wildlife such as American woodcock, ruffed grouse, blue-winged warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, Eastern towhee, field sparrow, and whip-poor-will. Maintenance continues on a multi-year cycle of mowing, cutting, and treating invasive plants. The property is now a beautiful mosaic of hardwood forest, barrens, open grass fields, and rocky terrain.

Wildlife recreation at this WMA consists mostly of watching wildlife and hunting. Martin Burns is a year-round hot spot for local birders and naturalists. Sightings of thrushes, woodpeckers, scarlet tanagers, rose-breasted grosbeaks and many other songbirds are common. The maintained fields and field edges offer great habitat for field sparrows, prairie warblers, and indigo buntings. Common wildlife such as Eastern cottontail, deer, squirrels, foxes and coyotes can are also present. Martin Burns is home to reptiles and amphibians including newts, red-backed and spotted salamanders, frogs, snapping turtles, Northern water snakes, and the common garter snake. A few rare insects and reptiles also enjoy the protection of the WMA.

In the fall, hunters take part in deer, pheasant, and woodcock hunting; spring turkey hunting is also common. Martin Burns is regularly stocked with pheasants. To provide a safe and quality hunting experience, controlled pheasant hunts are conducted on Saturdays and holidays. Blaze orange caps are required for pheasant hunters and during the deer firearms seasons, hunters must wear blaze orange on their head, chest, and back. To ensure visibility for hunters and other WMA visitors during the October - December hunting seasons, MassWildlife encourages all WMA visitors to don a blaze orange hat or vest.

Make time for a walk on the wild side and experience this beautiful property with friends and family throughout the year! To plan your visit, start by visiting MassWildlife’s online Wild Lands Viewer at mass.gov/dfw/wildlife-lands (/how-to/masswildlife-lands-viewer). Contact

MassWildlife

Phone

(508) 389-6300 (tel:+15083896300) 8 a.m.– 4:30 p.m., M-F

Online

email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) websites MassWildlife Homepage (/orgs/division-of-fisheries-and-wildlife)

MassWildlife Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/masswildlife)

MassWildlife Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mass.wildlife/)

DATE PUBLISHED: November 27, 2019

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