Updated Maps and GIS Data Enhance the NH Wildlife Action Plan

CONTACT: Sandra Houghton, NH Fish and Game Department: (603) 271-5679 Catherine Callahan, NH Fish and Game Department: (603) 271-3014 Amanda Stone, UNH Cooperative Extension, (603) 862-1067 June 19, 2020

CONCORD, NH – The NH Wildlife Action Plan’s maps were recently updated for a fourth time, further delineating both the location and condition of wildlife habitats present in New Hampshire. The development and distribution of these maps, first released in 2006, is a high priority of the Wildlife Action Plan.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and its partners endeavor to refresh data every five years, and 2020 updates to the Wildlife Action Plan maps incorporate new habitat and biological data. The most significant additions to map data include the use of updated Habitats Land Cover data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) Regional Land Cover Database, updated National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) data, five additional years of rare wildlife data, and the inclusion of the Nature Conservancy’s Resilient and Connected Network data.

Granite State communities have been using the Wildlife Action Plan maps in their planning processes, incorporating them into natural resource inventories, conservation plans, and master plans that help to identify and conserve important natural resources including water, soils, and wildlife. Land trusts and nonprofit groups use the Wildlife Action Plan maps as tools to evaluate potential conservation parcels and target key places to protect.

“The new Wildlife Action Plan maps are better than ever with updated and additional data,” said Sandra Houghton, a Wildlife Diversity Biologist with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program. They are an excellent resource for communities, land trusts, and natural resources professionals to use in their work to conserve wildlife and habitats.”

To see the most recent maps that support the NH Wildlife Action Plan, visit: https://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/wildlife/wap-using-maps.html.

The NH Fish and Game Department’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program works to protect over 400 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians as well as thousands of insects and other invertebrates. The program relies in part on private contributions to accomplish its work and to raise matching funds required for state and federal grants. Learn more at www.wildnh.com/nongame.