“We’re encouraging applicants to apply online during the day or at their earliest convenience before the close of business on Friday,” said Bill Swan, IF&W Director of Licensing. “That way, if any questions arise, applicants can contact us so we can assist them.”

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife can be reached at (207) 287-8000.

This year, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife moved its Moose Lottery application online, and thousands of applicants have found that using the Internet to apply is easy and convenient.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is issuing 3,015 permits for the fall harvest.

Realizing that some interested hunters do not have a computer, IF&W offers the following suggestions:

• Use a computer at work during lunch or a break;
• Use a computer at a local library or an Internet café;
• Ask a friend or relative with a computer for help.

This is the first time that the permit drawing will be held in the St. John Valley. The University of Maine at Fort Kent, the Greater Fort Kent Area Chamber of Commerce, and a planning committee of St. John Valley area officials and citizens are promoting the event.

Two of the sites are on the Rapid River in western Maine, and the third is at the Route 35 bridge in Windham on the Presumpscot River.

"Perhaps the most serious threat to Maine's fragile aquatic natural resources is the introduction of invasive fish, plants or other organisms. It's imperative that we make every effort to prevent these intoductions from occurring," says John Boland, Fisheries Division Director for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. "Fly Fishing in Maine deserves credit for facilitating this effort."

"Didymo" – Didymosphenia geminata and commonly called "rock snot" – is a type of algae known as a diatom. The single-celled organism can "bloom" or spread, creating mats of brown material on rocks or riverbeds that could interfere with the life cycles of insects and fish. Presently, didymo has not been found in Maine, but it was confirmed in New York and Quebec in 2006, and in New Hampshire and Vermont in 2007. Didymo is native to far northern and mountainous reaches of the globe, but is expanding its range, commonly to waters frequented by anglers.

"There is no one answer to solving the problem but between a public education awareness program and the first of what we hope to be many public washing stations, there is a chance that we can limit the spread of this stuff," said Ken Beaulieu of Fly Fishing in Maine.

This program is made possible by a generous grant from L.L. Bean. The grant will cover the costs of building the pilot washing stations, signage and the washing solution. Other partners in this effort include landowners, the Maine Department of Transportation (Presumpcot River site), Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust (Rapid River-Lower Dam), and Nextera Energy (formerly Florida Power and Light) (Rapid River-Middle Dam).

The stations will be maintained by volunteer "station keepers" who will monitor the stations and refresh them with a 5% salt-based solution. To be effective, anglers will need to remove plant and other debris from boots and then soak their boots, nets and other gear for 3 minutes before proceeding into and when exiting the water, according to John McPhedran, a land and water quality biologist at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Anglers also are asked to clean equipment again at home and then dry completely, ideally for 48 hours.

"This is a reasonable start to ensuring that anglers are not contributing to the spread of didymo into Maine's waters," Boland said.

For more information on Fly Fishing in Maine, visit its website at www.flyfishinginmaine.org.

The controlled hunt, which will occur between August 17 and September 19, 2009, was approved by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Advisory Council on Wednesday, April 29.

"With a solid plan in place that was written by our biologists, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is implementing this controlled moose hunt to alleviate the negative impacts caused by moose in parts of eastern Aroostook County," according to Commissioner Roland "Danny" Martin. "Broccoli and cauliflower crops are being damaged by moose, and the number of moose/vehicle collisions, which can prove fatal to humans, remains high. Our intention with this year's controlled moose hunt is to reduce or alleviate problems in this area where recreational hunting could not."

For several years, IF&W has increased the number of moose permits during the annual fall recreational hunt to respond to the landowners' concerns for crop damage and communities' requests for safer roads. With the controlled hunt, IF&W has greater flexibility to effectively manage moose in areas that may have limited access or are in "non-traditional" habitats, such as an agricultural-woodland mix, that may not be attractive to hunters.

The controlled hunt is NOT open to all hunters. Persons eligible to participate include:

• Landowners with 80 or more contiguous acres, who own property in Limestone, Caribou, Woodland, Presque Isle, Fort Fairfield, Washburn, Westfield, Easton and Connor Township. The eligible property is agricultural, forested or undeveloped land that is open to hunting, including hunting by permission. A dependent living in a landowner's household also is eligible.
• Any shareholder in a corporation that qualifies under the Internal Revenue Service Code as a Chapter S corporation is eligible for the landowner permit drawing if the property meets the landowner permit requirements. Dependents of shareholders are not eligible.
• All Registered Maine Guides that currently have all Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife license privileges in good standing and are not convicted felons. Guides will NOT be eligible to hunt and only three permittees picked at the discretion of the Guide will be eligible to hunt.

To avoid confusion with the recreational moose hunt, applications for this controlled hunt WILL NOT be available on the Department's website until Monday, May 18.

The online application deadline is 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on June 14, 2009. A random chance drawing will be held on June 15. The winners' names will be posted on IF&W's website. Selections are final.

Selected landowners and Guides may hunt during the entire five-week period (excluding Sundays).

There is no application charge. Permit fees are $52 for residents and $477 for nonresidents.

The permits will be allocated as follows:

• Up to 45 percent will be issued to eligible Registered Maine Guides, and each selected guide will receive three moose permits (one for each of three permittees who will be chosen at the discretion of the Guide.) Of the three issued permits, one will be an any-moose permit and two will be antlerless-only permits. Registered Maine Guides who receive permits are required to guide their permittees in agricultural areas designated by the Department within the 9 towns open to hunting.

  Each Registered Maine Guide selected by the lottery must attend a training session on June 24 in Presque Isle.

• Up to 55 percent of the permits will be issued to eligible landowners. Landowners who receive a permit are required to hunt on their own, eligible land. The Commissioner may authorize a landowner to use his permit to hunt on other designated lands identified in the area open to hunting.

Additional information about the controlled moose hunt is available on IF&W's website or call (207) 287-8000.

The Maine Birder Band was designed by Steve Walker and Judy Camuso, both IF&W biologists and avid bird watchers. The metal circular band – about the circumference of a small ring – can be worn on binocular/optic straps or similar field gear. It carries the IF&W insignia, a registration number that is assigned to the wearer, and a number to call if someone finds lost binoculars/optics that belong to the registrant. IF&W will notify the person that his or her gear was located.

Maine is the first state to create such a voluntary program for birders to officially register their support with their state wildlife department. In the first two weeks of the program, wildlife enthusiasts from 10 Maine counties and five states have participated.

A $20 contribution gets you a 2009 series Birder Band. Proceeds go to IF&W's Non-Game and Endangered Species Fund.

"The Wildlife Division of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife takes seriously its efforts to protect Maine's birds and bird habitat and to provide access to bird watchers," said Commissioner Roland "Danny" Martin. "The Maine Birder Band is a unique way for birders and other wildlife watchers to proudly display their support in our bird conservation program."

Bird watching is a fast growing outdoor activity in Maine, and many of the top birding destinations throughout the state are part of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife's 100,000-plus-acre network of Wildlife Management Areas. These areas include: Kennebunk Plains, Scarborough Marsh, Brownfield Bog, Weskeag Marsh, Caribou Bog and Messalonskee Lake.

"Many birders do not buy hunting or fishing licenses but want to contribute to the conservation efforts of the Department," Walker said. "The Maine Birder Band was designed as a way for this growing constituency of wildlife watchers to help support the resource."

To participate in the Maine Birder Band program, visit IF&W's Web site at www.mefishwildlife.com.

Each year, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife auctions 10 moose hunting permits and awards them to the highest bidders. Proceeds from the auction go to the Youth Conservation Education Fund, which awards partial scholarships to send Maine boys and girls, ages 10-14, to one week of conservation camp at the Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center on Lake Christopher or Greenland Point Center on Long Lake in Princeton.

More than 400 boys and girls were able to attend conservation camp in 2008 because of these scholarships.

"Ever since the auction began, hunters have been very generous in their bids because, I believe, they know this program helps send Maine kids to conservation camp. We are appreciative of their participation in this program," said Deputy Commissioner Paul F. Jacques. "While successful bidders get a permit, the real winners are the children."

The Moose Permit Auction was created by the Legislature in 1995 specifically to fund youth conservation education efforts. Ten of this year's 3,015 allotted moose permits will be auctioned. Last year, close to $100,000 was raised from the auction, and the 10 winners had a 90 percent success rate.

The 10 highest bidders are able to choose their 2009 season hunt dates: September 28 – October 3; October 12 – October 17; November 2 – November 28; or October 31 (Maine Resident Only Day). Successful bidders also may choose the corresponding zone in which they'd like to hunt.

Bids must be submitted to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife no later than 5 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) on March 31, 2009. A non-refundable bid fee of $25.00 must accompany each bid. A bid packet is available by calling (207) 287-5207.

Submitted bids will be opened April 3, and successful bidders will be contacted. If selected, bidders have 30 days to send in the bid payment and select a moose hunting district, hunting week for the permit and permit type. A subpermittee, if desired, must also be selected at this time. The bid amount covers the resident or non-resident moose permit fee, but does not include the resident or non-resident hunting license fee.

The Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center and the Greenland Point Center offer five-day residential camps that are designed to teach the boys and girls of Maine the importance of conservation, a respect for the environment and a working knowledge of outdoor skills. Subjects taught at the camp include wildlife identification, introduction to fishing, boating safety, archery, firearms handling, hunter safety, forest conservation and map and compass work.

The two conservation camps currently are accepting applications for this summer's camp sessions. Partial scholarships are available and distributed on a first come, first serve basis. For information and applications, visit www.extension.umaine.edu/bryantpond/ or www.greenlandpoint.com.

The department's online licensing system - MOSES - gives you the convenience of purchasing from home that you enjoy and the ability to print out multiple copies of your license when you need them.

And MOSES has been updated to make it easier for the customer - you - to purchase your license or registrations. It includes several new features that you will find useful!

By purchasing online, you are saving the department the direct costs associated with the expense of manual paper licensing. These savings then can be applied to the important management of our fish and wildlife resources.

It's the perfect gift for the sports enthusiast in your life!

To purchase your 2009 license now, just click here: https://www.informe.org/moses/

You may also be interested in visiting our extensive website at: http://www.mefishwildlife.com . Our website has a wealth of useful outdoor information, reports and videos that may be of interest to you.

Also, you may shop for Official Department Logo Garments and gifts at our Online Store at: http://www.informe.org/ifw/merc/

COMING SOON ONLINE: Maine Fish and Wildlife, the magazine of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.