Wildlife Habitat Program

The Wildlife Habitat Program conserves healthy wild landscapes that sustain our fish and wildlife which are a vital component of NH’s character and way of life.  One way we do that is by ensuring state lands provide a diversity of habitats. New Hampshire has a wide variety of habitats that provide food and shelter to thousands of insects, and hundreds of birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and mammals. To maintain this biodiversity, some habitats will always require management.  Learn about the Wildlife Habitat Program’s approach to managing habitats on WMAs and other state lands.

• Managing Fields  
• Managing Forests  
• Managing Grasslands, Shrublands, and Young Forest Habitats for Wildlife 
• Young Forest & Shrubland Management  
• Managing Old Apple Orchards  
• Managing Invasive Exotic Plants  
• Stream Crossings  

Healthy private lands are imperative to maintaining healthy habitats for the state’s wildlife. The NH Fish and Game Department has a long history of providing advice and funding to landowners to help them help wildlife on their lands.

• Advice on Wildlife Habitat Issues
  • Contact a NH Fish and Game Regional office
  • Contact the UNH Cooperative Extension Wildlife Specialist
• Coverts Project
• Taking Action for Wildlife

For almost a century, America’s firearms and ammunition manufacturers have shared a partnership with state wildlife agencies through the Pittman-Robertson Act — a partnership that funds remarkable conservation success stories across New Hampshire and the rest of America and fosters hunting and shooting sports at the same time.  The Wildlife Habitat Program’s work is primarily funded through the monies garnered through the Pittman-Robertson Act coupled with matching funds provided by the $2.50 wildlife habitat fee on hunting and trapping licenses. Through these two funding sources, The Wildlife Habitat Program improves wildlife habitat on public and private lands and provides places where you can practice your outdoor traditions for years to come.

You have invested millions of dollars in conserving lands for wildlife and wildlife-based recreation like hunting, trapping, and wildlife watching. The Wildlife Habitat Program protects your investments by ensuring those lands are kept for wildlife and the public and not for private benefit by keeping boundaries well marked. We also work to ensure you can find and safely access these lands by installing and maintaining signs, providing parking, maintaining woods roads, and other types of property maintenance.