Volunteers Needed to Help Create Habitat for New England Cottontails

NH Fish and Game and the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Cooperative Extension are seeking volunteers to help restore the habitat of the endangered New England cottontail rabbit. Volunteers will plant native shrubs, which the rabbits use for shelter, at Bellamy River Wildlife Management Area in Dover on Saturday, April 21, 2018, from 9:00 a.m. to noon or 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

“Volunteering to plant shrubs is a great way to spend time outdoors while working to help create important habitat for an endangered wildlife species,” said Haley Andreozzi, UNH Cooperative Extension Wildlife Outreach Coordinator.

New England cottontails are a state-endangered species and rely on dense shrubland habitat (“thickets”) to survive, so habitat management is a large part of the work dedicated to conserving the species. Bellamy River Wildlife Management Area is the site of the largest New England cottontail restoration project on state lands in New Hampshire. In looking to plant 10,000 native shrubs this year, it is a task that can only be accomplished with the help of volunteers.

For more information and to sign up, visit:

naturegroupie.org/events-training?jobId=a020f00000eGwmnAAC. If you have questions, contact Haley Andreozzi at haley.andreozzi@unh.edu or (603) 862-5327.

To learn about other projects taking place in New Hampshire to help recover the New England cottontail, visit: newenglandcottontail.org/projects/new-hampshire.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program is coordinating the restoration of the New England cottontail in New Hampshire. Read more about this project at www.wildnh.com/nongame/project-ne-cottontail.html.

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/newsroom/news.html?news=891

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