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The Maine Vernal Pool Mapping And Assessment Program: Engaging Municipal Officials And Private Landowners In Community-Based Citizen Science, Jessica Spelke Jansujwicz, Aram J K Calhoun, Robert J. Lileholm

Publications

The Vernal Pool Mapping and Assessment Program (VPMAP) was initiated in 2007 to create a vernal pool database as a planning tool to foster local compliance with new state vernal pool regulations. In the northeastern United States, vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that provide critical breeding habitat for a number of amphibians and invertebrates and provide important resting and foraging habitat for some rare and endangered state-listed species. Using participant observation, interviews, and focus groups, we examined the engagement of municipal officials and private landowners in VPMAP. Important outcomes of municipal and landowner engagement included mobilization of town support for …