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Day two of David Pecker testimony wraps in NY Trump trial; Supreme Court hears arguments on Idaho's near-total abortion ban; ND sees a flurry of campaigning among Native candidates; and NH lags behind other states in restricting firearms at polling sites.

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The Senate moves forward with a foreign aid package. A North Carolina judge overturns an aged law penalizing released felons. And child protection groups call a Texas immigration policy traumatic for kids.

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Wyoming needs more educators who can teach kids trade skills, a proposal to open 40-thousand acres of an Ohio forest to fracking has environmental advocates alarmed and rural communities lure bicyclists with state-of-the-art bike trail systems.

The Day the Animals Left Maine

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Thursday, December 20, 2012   

YARMOUTH, Maine - They haven't left yet, but where will Maine's animals - and plants - go if the global climate continues warming? And which will be moving up to Maine from the south? Scientists and land management experts, including many in Maine, want to make sure enough "resilient landscapes" are preserved to handle climate-caused shifts in wildlife populations.

University of Maine professor Mac Hunter says if temperatures continue to rise, some Pine Tree State critters could be moving on.

"Iconic species like moose, loons, puffins, lobsters and brook trout are all more or less at the southern edge of their range in Maine. As the climate warms, there's the possibility of these species moving northward."

With its Northeast Resilient Landscapes Initiative, the Open Space Institute is interacting with land trusts and public agencies across 13 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states to identify and preserve places that offer such features as slopes, valleys, ravines and caves that would enable species to adjust to climatic changes. For some animals, merely moving to the north side of a slope might do the trick.

Hunter says it's not a simple matter, and other factors affect the adaptability of wildlife.

"With many species having populations that are lower than they've been in the past and living in landscapes that are more fragmented, there's significant concern that it may not be as easy for species to shift their geographic ranges."

Jennifer Melville says the Open Space Initiative (OSI) is using a map of landscape resiliency developed by the Nature Conservancy as a way to avoid simply guessing where animals affected by climate change will go.

"The metaphor that we keep using is 'skating to where the puck is going instead of skating to where it is now.'"

Melville says the mapping is a tool for making environmental investments.

"We've raised some money to provide funds to other organizations - to land trusts in particular - to use this science to go protect land."

The Northeast Resilient Landscapes Initiative was launched with a $6 million lead grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.




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