Big ripples from small pools (vernal pool protection, Maine)

[jpak]

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=106346

BIDDEFORD -- Doug Stewart pushes his way through the trees and undergrowth until he spots a shallow pool of water on the forest floor.

<snip>

Vernal pools all over the state are getting a close-up examination this spring for the first time. Private consultants like Stewart are scrambling from one pool to the next, counting clumps of eggs left by wood frogs and salamanders.

The counts, which can only be done for a brief period before the eggs hatch and pools dry up, are a key step in state wildlife protection rules that will take effect late this summer.

If a pool has enough eggs or if it is home to a protected or endangered animal, it and 250 feet of the forest floor in all directions will become a protected resource. Any disturbance of the area after Sept. 1 would require a state permit.

<more>