Focus Areas of Statewide Significance What are Beginning with
Habitat Focus Areas? Beginning with Habitat (BwH) Focus Areas
are natural areas of statewide ecological significance that
contain unusually rich concentrations of at-risk species and
habitats. These areas, identified by biologists from the Maine
Natural Areas Program (MNAP), Maine Department of Inland
Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW), Maine Department of Marine
Resources (DMR), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), The
Nature Conservancy (TNC), Maine Audubon, and Maine Coast
Heritage Trust (MCHT), support rare plants, animals, and natural
communities, high quality common natural communities;
significant wildlife habitats; and their intersections with
large blocks of undeveloped habitat. BwH Focus Area boundaries
are drawn based on the species and natural communities that
occur within them and the supporting landscape conditions that
contribute to the long-term viability of the species, habitats,
and community types. One or more of the following mus