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The Wildlife Division is responsible for the conservation and management of all
species of wildlife, their habitat, along with selected plants, throughout Vermont.
If you have a question about a wildlife program,
click here.
Division staff are engaged in a variety of activities such as: monitoring
populations common and abundant, as well as rare threatened, and endangered plants
and animals; conservation and management of common species such as song birds, moose,
white-tailed deer, and beaver; preparing harvest recommendations for wildlife species
with regulated hunting or trapping seasons; participating in the protection of critical
wildlife habitat through regulatory processes such as Act 250; land acquisition,
administration and management of 131,000 acres on the department's 82 wildlife management
areas; monitoring of wildlife diseases and the importation of wildlife into Vermont; and
providing educational programs to landowners, hunters, school children, natural resources
professionals and other wildlife enthusiast regarding wildlife in Vermont.
Besides helping to improve the situation of Vermont's most visible threatened and
endangered birds - ospreys, common loons, and peregrine falcons - the Wildlife Division's
biologists study and enhance other native species, including hibernating bats, marsh
birds, tiger beetles, spruce grouse, nongame fish, invertebrate species, amphibians,
and reptiles. The division also makes recommendations on various aspects of habitat
protection, regulated hunting and trapping seasons, and permit numbers, and bag limits
for white-tailed deer, moose, black bear, wild turkey and other selected species of
wildlife.
Major Responsibilities
- Provide sustainable wildlife-based activities, such as wildlife viewing and
regulated hunting and trapping
- Develop and implement recovery plans for threatened and endangered species
- Inventory and monitor populations of various species of wildlife and their habitats
- Provide habitat information and technical assistance to foresters, loggers, public agencies, municipal planners and private landowners
- Conduct environmental review of land use development proposals for impacts to critical wildlife habitat, significant natural communities, and threatened and endangered plant and animal species through regulatory processes such as Act 250 and Act 248
- Review, prioritize, and acquire important parcels of land for wildlife conservation and manage 131,000 acres of state wildlife management areas
- Monitor wildlife diseases and invasive plant and animal species and their effects on Vermont's wildlife
- Provide a variety of educational materials, programs and talks to the public regarding Vermont's wildlife
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