Public Information and Education

The Division of Public Information and Education is established within the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and is responsible for the administration of programs to increase the public's knowledge and understanding of inland fisheries and wildlife resources and the management of these resources. The division's responsibilities include public education, promotion of inland fisheries and wildlife resources and the dissemination of information.

Program

The major programs of the Public Information and Education Division are:

  • The Information Center, serving as the Augusta headquarters call center, provides a knowledgeable staff responding to telephone inquiries and directing calls to appropriate Department Divisions from 8-5, Monday through Friday. The Information Center also assists with maintaining the Department's website.
  • Media relations provides press releases about the Department and its programs to newspapers, radio and television in both written and electronic formats as well as manages and develops content for the Department's social media networks and distributes content through an e-mail marketing platform.
  • Education efforts include the Maine Wildlife Park, which hosts over 100,000 visitors each year and offers a variety of wildlife and conservation school programs and tours, reaching well over 5,000 of Maine's school children annually. Teacher workshops are offered statewide using Project WILD, an award-winning national wildlife and conservation education program, to assist classroom teachers and other educators to become more informed about Maine wildlife and conservation.
  • The Division provides scholarships for children to attend Maine's conservation camps with funding made available through the annual moose permit auction.
  • Public relations and promotion includes recruiting hunters and anglers from throughout the northeast through a variety of means such as attendance at hunting and fishing related trade-shows. The Division also organizes outreach and educational program to recruit new hunters and anglers within Maine. Programs include the Hooked on Fishing-Not on Drugs program, Becoming an Outdoors Woman, Camp North Woods, the National Archery in the Schools Program and the 4-H Shooting Sports program. The division offers training opportunities for volunteers to become instructions and leaders within their communities.

Public Information and Education also provides support to other divisions for video, photography, displays, presentations, and the design, development, and distribution of a great deal of printed material about the department and its programs.