Rabbits having a tough time maintaining populations? Normally, you wouldn’t think so. But in New England, conditions are far from normal for the region’s only native rabbit species, the New England Cottontail, Sylvilagus transitionalis. In the wake of human development, fire and other natural disturbances that once maintained thicket and brush habitats, the species have all but disappeared from the landscape.
On Cape Cod, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has joined forces with the Town of Mashpee, State of Massachusetts, Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and other partners to return fire to the land and restore resilient habitats for both New England cottontails and people. This team is managing the Wildland Urban Interface by targeting areas with the most burnable vegetation and strategically cutting undergrowth, thinning the forest, and conducting controlled, planned burns that continue the natural renewal process and reduces fire danger to nearby homes and businesses.
The work at Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge and similar efforts of the Massachusetts Army National Guard at nearby Camp Edwards is good news, but just a start to restoring fire-dependent systems on Cape Cod. After the first successful prescribed burn in Mashpee, Deputy Refuge Manager Tom Eagle said it best, “All the years of planning were worth it. All the partners are happy and I am happy. All of Cape Cod is like this. There’s a lot more work to be done.”
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Success Stories from the Northeast Region
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