A Brief History
The Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is the third oldest of the approximately 40 cooperative research units across the nation. Administratively, the Maine Unit is part of the Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior. Functionally, the Unit works within the Department of Wildlife Ecology within the University’s of Maine’s College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture. Under a 1960 federal law, the Secretary of the Interior could enter into cooperative agreements with universities, state fish and wildlife agencies, and non-profit organizations to establish cooperative fish and wildlife research units. Current cooperators of the Maine Unit are the Geological Survey, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Maine, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Wildlife Management Institute.
The nationwide Cooperative Unit Research Program was established by the federal government in 1935. Initially, Units focused on meeting the growing need for trained wildlife professionals and providing better technical information to managers. Over the decades, as land grant universities have developed their own fish and wildlife programs, emphasis has shifted from training to research, especially on issues involving both state and federal interests. As mentioned, Maine has one of the oldest such units in the country with the wildlife component established in 1935 and fisheries in 1962. In 1985, the fisheries and wildlife components were combined to form the present-day Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
The Maine Unit currently has at its core three full-time federal employees (two wildlife ecologists, one fisheries ecologist). These employees are responsible for identifying information needs, designing the research to meet those needs, and finding and administering the resources to accomplish the research. Most research is conducted as graduate student research projects, although the Unit does employees a variety of temporary support staff from field technicians to research scientists.
Over the past seven decades the Maine Unit has worked on a variety of issues of importance to Maine and the region. Studies have examined the ecology and management of migratory game birds, biology and conservation of Atlantic salmon and other fishes, effects of forestry practices on forest carnivores, wetland and aquatic species conservation, and land conservation planning. Results of the Unit’s research are regularly reported in an annually published unit report, seminars, workshops, and informal meetings, as well as in technical and scientific publications.