What We Do
Resource Management
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency in the Department of the Interior, manages Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge for the people of the United States as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Service is the principal agency through which the federal government carries out its responsibilities to conserve, protect and enhance the nation's fish and wildlife resources.
Umbagog NWR conserves more than 37,000 acres under Service management. In addition, the states of New Hampshire and Maine have each acquired over 1000 acres in the vicinity of Umbagog Lake. This combination of ownerships and easements protects nearly all of the Umbagog Lake shoreline and significant lengths of shoreline along the Androscoggin, Magalloway, Dead Cambridge, and Rapid rivers.
Umbagog NWR provides long-term conservation of important wetland and upland wildlife habitat for migratory birds and threatened and endangered species. The refuge provides management and enhancement of habitat for wildlife populations, thereby contributing to biological diversity, and provides environmental education opportunities and wildlife-oriented public uses.
Years of work have been invested in planning, in order to continue to provide for public use, as well as maintain wildlife and wildlife habitat in the area. Partnerships involving the states of New Hampshire and Maine, timber companies, conservation organizations, private landowners and the Service, cooperatively protect important lands surrounding Umbagog Lake.
Management and Conservation
Comprehensive Conservation Planning
The purpose of a comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) is to guide refuge management over the next 15 years. The plan includes goals, objectives, and strategies for refuge programs, and details the combination of actions we will implement to protect species, manage habitats, and support compatible, public recreational and other uses.
We completed the Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in January 2009. The Draft CCP and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was released in June 2007 and the Final CCP/EIS was completed in November 2008. This document represents years of work among Federal and state agencies, local and regional officials and communities, conservation organizations, and user groups.
The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (PL 105-57) requires CCPs for each national wildlife refuge national wildlife refuge
A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Learn more about national wildlife refuge . CCPs are 15-year plans designed to provide strategic management direction that best achieves the refuge's purposes; attains the vision and goals developed for the refuge; contributes to the National Wildlife Refuge System mission; addresses key challenges, issues, and relevant mandates; and is consistent with sound principles of fish and wildlife management. To learn more about CCPs and the CCP process in general, please visit the northeast planning page.
If you would like to request a CD-Rom or hard copy of the documents, ask questions about the CCP and planning process, or learn about how you can get involved at the refuge, please visit the refuge website or contact refuge staff at:
Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge
P.O. Box 240
Errol, NH 03579
Phone: (603) 482-3415
E-mail: paul_casey@fws.gov
Planning Newsletters:
