Forestry Technical Assistance
The Maine Natural Areas Program (MNAP) provides a variety of services to forest industry, consulting foresters, and forest landowners. These services include property reviews using in-house data, field surveys for rare plants and exemplary natural communities, ecological training, landscape analysis, and management plan review. An increasing component of this work is driven by forest certification. MNAP currently has a licensed forester on staff and works closely with staff of the Maine Forest Service.
Property Reviews:
MNAP conducts a review of its database on rare plants, exemplary natural communities and information from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. MNAP may also use air photos and Geographic Information System (GIS) information to determine the likely presence or absence of such features. While MNAP’s database does not comprehensively cover every acre of Maine, we do have over 3,000 records of rare plants and 1,000 records of exemplary natural communities.
Field Surveys:
If a landowner is interested and the site qualifies ecologically, MNAP staff may visit the site and conduct a field survey using standard Heritage Methodology. Field surveys are best conducted during the growing season (mid May to mid October), with June through August being optimal.
Ecological Training:
MNAP staff members have trained hundreds of Maine foresters on the finer points of recognizing and managing natural communities and rare plant habitats. Training is offered in the form of one to two hour presentations (any time of year) or half to full day field sessions (late May through September.)
Landscape Analysis:
MNAP has developed a technique to use GIS, remote-based information to identify areas likely to support exemplary natural communities or rare plant habitats. This technique is most effective when landowner information (e.g., air photos, stand type maps, on the ground knowledge) is incorporated into the process.
Management Plan Review:
MNAP staff can review forest management plans to determine if sensitive habitats are appropriately identified and managed.
Fees:
Depending on the service, a fee may be associated with MNAP services. For more information, please view the MNAP’s fee structure [MS Word][HTML] or contact MNAP to discuss your request.
