Inland Waterfowl and Wading Bird Habitat Layer

This dataset was developed in accordance with Maine's Natural Resources Protection Act (NRPA). Under this Act, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) is designated as the authority for determining Significant Wildlife Habitats (SWHs). This dataset represents Inland Waterfowl and Wading bird Habitat (IWWH). Polygons with a high or moderate rating meet the Significant Wildlife Habitat definition and are protected under NRPA; low-rated polygons do not meet the definition and are not protected under NRPA. COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF ORGANIZED TOWNS: Boundaries and ratings of all IWWHs in Maine's organized townships were updated in 2008. These updates were based on interpretation of high-resolution aerial imagery captured between 2001 and 2007. FIELD ASSESSMENT OF LOW/MODERATE IWWHs: Questionable wetlands that scored near the low/moderate rating threshold are being field assessed to confirm or, if necessary, modify their ratings. These field assessments were conducted in MDIFW Region A (southern/western Maine) in 2014 and 2015; the updates were published in this layer on June 13, 2016. Assessments for MDIFW Region B (western/mid-coast Maine) were conducted in 2016 and 2017. Some of those updates (approximately 40 IWWHs) were published on Oct 2, 2017; the rest were published on Dec 14, 2017. Remapping for Region C began in 2018. This version (Mar 16, 2018) includes updating mapping for the towns of Amherst, Aurora, Blue Hill, Brewer, Bucksport, Clifton, Dedham, Eastbrook, Eddington, Ellsworth, Fletchers Landing, Great Pond, Holden, Mariaville, Orland, Orrington, Osborn, Otis, Penobscot, Surry, Verona Island, and Waltham. COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF UNORGANIZED TOWNS: Boundaries and ratings of all IWWHs attributes in Maine's unorganized townships are being updated. This update began in 2016 and is ongoing. It is based on interpretation of high-resolution aerial imagery captured primarily between 2013 and 2016. These updates are published approximately every 3 months for the townships completed during that period (typically about 5). The last such update was published on 2017-12-14.