Nongame Program Seeks Financial Support to Help Protect Threatened and Endangered Species, Especially Pollinators

CONTACT:
Michael Marchand: (603) 271-2461
December 9, 2025

Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program, which was established in 1988, is the steward of the state’s nongame wildlife. The program works in cooperation with other state agencies and organizations to develop and implement effective conservation strategies to protect and enhance this diverse group of wildlife species. The Nongame Program, which relies on private donations, is once again seeking tax-deductible donations by December 31, 2025.

To donate visit https://www.wildlife.nh.gov/wildlife-and-habitat/nongame-and-endangered-species/donate-nongame-program.

The Nongame Program also uses donations from the public to use as match in order to receive state and federal grants to support its mission. Nongame staff work to protect over 400 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians as well as thousands of insects and invertebrates. Each year the program must raise $100,000 through private contributions to receive a matching grant from the state.

“We could not do this important work of protecting the diversity of species in New Hampshire without public support,” said Nongame Program Supervisor Michael Marchand. “Our wildlife and its habitat is one of the reasons that people visit and live in our beautiful state and it is becoming ever more critical that we preserve this rich legacy for all to enjoy.”

Looking forward, pollinators, which are necessary for our local farms, frequently fall victim to habitat loss. In fact, Concord’s remaining pine barrens habitat represents a tiny fraction of a special environment that once spanned the Merrimack Valley from Canterbury to Nashua. These barrens support wild lupine, which is the single plant required for egg laying by the Karner blue, New Hampshire’s state butterfly. In 1999, the Karner blue butterfly was considered extinct in the state. Through the collaborative efforts of the Nongame Program and its valued partners, the species was re-established using translocated butterflies from New York. Since then, the Nongame Program has worked tirelessly to restore 300 acres of the Concord Pine Barrens. Through careful habitat management, we ensure that wild lupine and nectar plants grow and persist there, providing food for Karner caterpillars and nectar for adult butterflies and other pollinators. The dedication of many people paid off, and surveys in 2016 documented

The Karner blue is considered an “umbrella” species by serving as an indicator of habitat quality, and the Nongame Program’s management of them has also met the needs of other state endangered and threatened wildlife, including a variety of other pollinators and the state endangered common nighthawk. It is in decline and currently found to nest only in the Concord area and in a few other locations. Species such as the iconic monarch butterfly and the yellow bumble bee have been identified as Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program continues to bolster proactive pollinator conservation throughout New Hampshire through technical assistance to schools, towns, and power line and transportation rights-of-way managers and other landowners.

For more information about the NHFG Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program, its projects, and funding mechanisms, visit www.wildnh.com/nongame.