Stockbridge Hall
University of Massachusetts
80 Campus Center Way
Amherst, MA 01003-9246
Phone: 413.545.4204
Fax: 413.577.0242
www.ag.umass.edu
Title: Fish, Wildlife & Biodiversity Conservation - Wildlife Conservation
Project Leader: Scott Jackson
Project Overview
Massachusetts is the third most densely populated state in the nation. The rate of land consumption
for residential development is steadily increasing far out of proportion to its population growth.
Haphazard growth has impacted water resources, natural resource-based enterprises, open space,
wildlife habitat, and community character. Nearly half the state's communities lack professional
planning staff, while volunteer boards struggle with increasing levels of responsibility, liability, time
demands and public mistrust. The Fish, Wildlife & Biodiversity Conservation Project addresses these
concerns through related initiatives that focus on habitat loss and fragmentation, establishing
priorities for ecological restoration and mitigating development impacts on wildlife and ecosystems.
The Wildlife Conservation project engages in applied research and provides information,
educational materials and programs based on current research to promote wildlife conservation
including efforts to better understand the impacts of roads and highways on wildlife and ecosystems
and to develop and evaluate techniques for mitigating those impacts.
Activity Summary - 2012
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Book Chapters: Wildlife Crossing Structures for Small Vertebrates (3)
Coordination of the Massachusetts Calling Amphibian Survey as part of the North American
Amphibian Monitoring Program (1)
Distribution of Extension publications and documents on Fish, Wildlife & Biodiversity
Conservation (1)
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Road Passage Structures for Freshwater Turtles in
Massachusetts (1)
Maintain the Massachusetts Snakes website (1)
Maintain the Massachusetts North American Amphibian Monitoring Program website (1)
Maintain the Mill River Watershed Website (1)
Update and maintain the Massachusetts Herp Atlas Website (1)
Service on Graduate Research Committees (2)
Workshops, presentations and technical assistance on mitigating the impacts of transportation
on fish, wildlife, and ecosystems (17)
Workshops, presentations, and technical assistance on wildlife natural history and
conservation (22)
The Center for Agriculture is an equal opportunity provider and employer, United States Department of Agriculture cooperating
Educational contacts
In Person
Indirect Contacts
(Print, Web, etc…)
Adult Contacts
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258,494
Youth Contacts
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Narrative Summary - 2012
There has been renewed interest among state and federal agencies (MA Division of Fisheries &
Wildlife, US Fish & Wildlife Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and The Nature
Conservancy) in working together to better safeguard a significant population of federally
endangered dwarf wedge mussels inhabiting the Mill River, principally in Whately, but also in
surrounding towns. To better facilitate this group effort we agreed to hire and supervise a consultant
who would research the significant parcels along the Mill River and their owners and create a matrix
of parcels and the state or federal programs that would be the best match for those
parcels/landowners. This work builds on previous work that we did as part of the Mill River
Watershed Project that documented the size and extent of the dwarf wedge mussel population and
identified threats and opportunities to better secure the population. The project web site
(www.millriverwatershed.org) is still active.
Additional work includes:
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Research on the effectiveness of various tunnel designs conducted by Paul Sievert and his
students is providing information and techniques for conserving dwindling population of
several state-listed turtles. Now that the research has been completed the results are already
being used to provide technical advice to people engaged in turtle conservation in
Massachusetts and other states.
Fifteen volunteers were involved in the Massachusetts Calling Amphibian Survey, monitoring
14 routes as part of the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program.
The Massachusetts Herpetological Atlas web site was developed and launched in FY11. This
site provides natural history and geographic distribution information about amphibians and
reptiles that naturally occur in Massachusetts, as well as an online mechanism for people to
submit additional records to the Atlas. New records are automatically displayed on the species
distribution maps as soon as the records are confirmed by the Atlas Coordinator.
The Massachusetts Snakes web site was created many years ago to relieve UMass Extension of
the burden of answering snake questions during the times of the year when snakes were
active. The volume of traffic at this site and the amount of time people spend on it has been
remarkable.
Twenty-two educational programs on wildlife conservation topics were conducted in 20112012, reaching 540 participants.
Collaborating Organizations
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Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
Massachusetts Division of Fish and Game
Massachusetts Highway Department
The Nature Conservancy
United States Environmental Protection Agency