South of the Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Reserve Trustees own the 500-acre Monument Mountain Reservation. North of the WMA is a 600-acre private property, protected from development by a conservation restriction maintained by the Berkshire Natural Resources Council. Both properties also support rare species included in the state list. Along with MassWildlife's Wildlife Management Area, most of this important natural resource site has been permanently protected.
The Lilly Pond swamp is undisturbed and is surrounded by extensive intact forests of red hemlock, maple, yellow, red birch. The swamp mat at Lilly Pond is approximately 20 acres and has a floating dwarf shrub mat dominated by Leatherleaf with scattered marsh rosemary and marsh laurel. Herbaceous species include the pitcher plant, round-leaved sundew, Virginia milkweed, and pink pogonia. A 20 to 30 meter wide moat separates carpet from highland forests.
The southern part of the swamp becomes a very good example of spruce and fir forest, which then adjoins to the east by a shrubby red maple swamp. Sometimes blue herons nest in dead snags that emerge from the swamp. These seven core principles guide much of modern wildlife conservation, although critics have called for strengthening the model to adapt to the needs of 21st century wildlife management. States have legal authority to administer federal lands within their borders only to the extent that Congress has given them such authority, but one of these authorities that is most often granted is wildlife management.
Because much of the funding for conservation comes from hunters and fishermen, game species tend to benefit more than other wild species. Now, the National Park Service is proposing to reverse this rule in light of the Trump Administration's wildlife conservation goals. Wildlife is intrinsic to functioning ecosystems and is an incredibly valuable but often overlooked resource. The origins of the models are largely based on the advocacy efforts of athletes, who witness firsthand what overexploitation could do to wild and wild populations.
Outdoor enthusiasts, including hikers, campers, birders, kayakers and many more, enjoy the wildlife found in the western public lands. The threats facing wildlife, as detailed later in this chapter, are multiplying and changing in the era of climate change. At the end of the excursion, students can identify the animals that use each of the habitats they visited and are aware of what happens to an animal when its habitat disappears. These waters offer flood protection, filter pollution and provide critical habitat for fish and wildlife.
The laws that created public lands in the first place were some of the most influential wildlife conservation laws, as they established protected spaces and gave wildlife space to roam. In addition, there are deep-seated tensions between federal and state governments that challenge the interjurisdictional nature of wildlife conservation. The Endangered Species Act is arguably the strongest wildlife conservation law in the United States, but as wildlife conservation and management have progressed, it is becoming clear that ESA is not enough to protect US wildlife. As explained above, public lands already face a range of threats, including invasive species, wildlife diseases, and habitat loss and fragmentation.
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