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When COVID-19 was first introduced to the United States, state and local governments enacted a variety of policies intended to mitigate the virulence of the epidemic. At the time, the most effective measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 included stay-at-home orders, closing of nonessential businesses, and mask mandates. Although it was well known that regions with high population density and cold climates were at the highest risk for disease spread, rural counties that are economically reliant on tourism were incentivized to enact fewer precautions against COVID-19. The uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the multiple policies to reduce transmission, and the changes in outdoor recreation behavior had a significant impact on rural tourism destinations and management of protected spaces. We utilize fine-scale incidence and demographic data to study the relationship between local economic and political concerns, COVID-19 mitigation measures, and the subsequent severity of outbreaks throughout the continental United States. We also present results from an online survey that measured travel behavior, health risk perceptions, knowledge and experience with COVID-19, and evaluation of destination attributes by 407 out-of-state visitors who traveled to Maine from 2020 to 2021. We synthesize this research to present a narrative on how perceptions of COVID-19 risk and public perceptions of rural tourism put certain communities at greater risk of illness throughout 2020. This research could inform future rural destination management and public health policies to help reduce negative socioeconomic, health and environmental impacts of pandemic-derived changes in travel and outdoor recreation behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory planning is one strategy to increase tourism suppliers' capacity to jointly anticipate climate change impacts and implement locally feasible and acceptable solutions; however, participatory planning is uncommon. In this study, we co-created a series of planning workshops with tourism partners to examine and address climate change impacts (challenges and opportunities) on Mount Desert Island, Maine, USA. We co-designed and facilitated two Zoom workshops in spring 2021 for tourism suppliers. Workshops focused on (1) identifying climate change impacts to the tourism system and (2) developing planning priorities for the destination. Workshops resulted in two planning priorities: visitation shifts and the opportunity to become a more sustainable destination in response to climate change. Our participatory approach brought together diverse tourism suppliers that do not usually collaborate to increase the destination's capacity to plan for and respond to climate change. Similar participatory approaches may benefit other natural resource dependent contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is impacting forest ecosystems, which support key ecosystem services and the general well-being of natural resource-dependent communities in Northeastern, USA. Understanding the determinants of climate change risk perceptions among forest resource stakeholders is critical to eliciting broad support for adaptation. We examined social-psychological drivers of climate change risk perceptions using hierarchical regression based on an online survey of 211 forest stakeholders, representing a wide range of subsectors, in Maine, USA. Using the climate change risk perceptions model (CCRPM), we explained 70% of the variance in risk perception. Political orientation, belief in climate change, social norms, affect, and experience with weather-related impacts were all significant predictors of perceived risk. Mediation results demonstrate that experience with weather-related impacts influences risk perceptions indirectly via attribution and holistic affect. This study advances our understanding of the social-psychological determinants of climate change risk perceptions, with implications for communication and outreach strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change will have a significant impact on the forest industry and will require strategies that promote sustainable forest management. Understanding perceptions of climate change impacts is critical to supporting the use of adaptation strategies, informing future research, and supporting decision-making. We describe a multi-method approach using nominal group technique and semi-structured interviews to identify and understand experts' concerns in regards to future climate change impacts on the forest industry in Maine, USA. A review of the existing scientific literature helped inform the development of the interview and nominal group techniques. Experts prioritized the greatest and most likely climate change impacts on the forest industry as: forest health threats imposed by insects and pathogens, extreme precipitation events, shifts in forest composition, invasive species, and changes in forest productivity. Interviews and current scientific understanding largely support the prioritization of the impacts, but also elucidate uncertainties in regards to climate change perceptions (e.g., timing and magnitude of future impacts), highlight the need for continued research that specifically addresses how climate change will affect the forest industry, and demonstrate that climate change presents not only a perceived threat but also an opportunity in the form of increased forest productivity and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media plays an integral role in informing the public of wildlife management decisions and stakeholder perceptions. We analyzed the presence of different cognitions via a quantitative content analysis (QCA) of print news media surrounding Maine's bear hunting referendums. In Maine, there were two referendums to ban baiting, hounding, and trapping that narrowly failed. This article investigated the representation of debate themes in public discourse. We examined key cognitions toward baiting, hounding, and trapping in 247 newspaper articles concerning the referendums. Results showed that pro-referendum entities frequently express negative attitudes toward baiting, hounding, and trapping, while, conversely, anti-referendum entities argue Maine needs these methods to control the population and that they benefit humans. Results suggested implications for future black bear hunting policy and represented a critical step toward developing communication strategies among government officials, animal welfare advocates, and the hunting community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based tourism is an important economic industry for Maine, with winter tourism especially vulnerable to climate change. Perceptions of risk due to climate change can influence stakeholder decisions to respond (adapt or mitigate) to climate change. We used phenomenology to study how nature-based tourism stakeholders perceive their risk to climate change and how they are responding. We conducted 20 semi-structured stakeholder interviews in Western Maine. We analyzed interviews using interpretive phenomenological analysis. A key theme was that of uncertainty of the causes of climate change, impacts to the region, and whether or not experienced environmental changes were related to climate change. Participants showed a need for information about climate change specific to the study region to facilitate the adoption of more strategies to bolster the adaptive capacity of the destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Winter habitat use by moose (Alces alces) in response to climate change may reflect shifts in biotic and abiotic stressors that pose both environmental challenges and opportunities. Snow depth, temperature, winter length, and forest composition influence moose mobility, habitat use, and access to forage and cover resources. We analyzed habitat selection in winter home ranges of adult female moose (n = 96) over the course of six winters (2014-2019) to explore the influence of winter weather and forest composition on landscape and habitat use. Second order (home range) resource selection functions were estimated using generalized linear mixed models. Moose selected most strongly for forest habitat, specifically evergreen and mixed forests, which had similar strength of selection and represented ~50% of home ranges. The models identified a slight positive association with regenerating forest, although high levels of variance indicated a weak relationship. Contrary to our prediction, we did not detect any influence of weather conditions on winter habitat selection. Maine's mosaic of forest types and commercial forestry seemingly provide adequate food and cover resources for moose regardless of winter conditions, with the three habitat types selected for representing ~70% of home ranges. Due to the coarse resolution of the data we analyzed, more specific data on forest structure such as stand age, canopy, and forage species may be required to identify finer relationships in habitat use and specific resource requirements during winter. It is possible that other factors associated with climate change, such as increases in deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations, parasites, and disease will have greater influence on moose than habitat per se. However, because these potential influences are indirectly related to habitat use by moose, further research is warranted to best understand the multiple factors and relationships affecting winter habitat use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National parks are unique and significant vector-borne pathogen transmission settings, engaging over 300 million people in outdoor recreation per year. In this study, we integrated vector surveys and ecological habitat feature data in spatial models to characterize tick-borne disease exposure risk in Acadia National Park (ANP), Maine. To determine the broad-scale patterns of blacklegged tick Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae) densities in ANP, we conducted host-seeking tick collections at 114 sites across the park over two years. Using these tick survey data and geospatial landscape feature data (i.e., land cover, elevation, forest patch size, and aspect) we developed a random forest model of nymphal tick density. We found that host-seeking tick density varies significantly across the park and is particularly high in areas characterized by deciduous forest cover and relatively low elevation. To explore potential fine-scale ecological drivers of tick density spatial patterns, we quantified microclimate conditions, host activity, and vegetation characteristics at a subset of 19 sites. We identified significant differences in microclimate conditions but not host activity or vegetation metrics across broad-scale landscape feature classes. Mean temperature and mean humidity were correlated to nymphal densities and therefore may provide a mechanistic link between landscape features and blacklegged tick densities. Finally, we detected multiple tick-borne pathogens in both ticks and small mammals sampled in ANP, including Borrelia burgdorferi, Babesia microti, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Our findings demonstrate the value of using ecological metrics to estimate vector-borne disease exposure risk and provide insight into habitat characteristics that may drive tick-borne disease exposure risk., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Eastern moose (Alces alces americana) are heavily parasitized by winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus), the dominant cause of increased calf mortality in the northeastern US. Although much work has focused on the direct negative effects of winter tick on moose, it remains unknown whether diseases transmitted by ticks may also affect moose health or pose a risk to other species. We explored the role that moose and winter ticks play in transmission of the tick-borne bacterial pathogens, Anaplasma spp., which cause mild to severe illness in humans and domestic animals. Our objectives were to 1) estimate the prevalence of Anaplasma spp. in moose and winter ticks; 2) determine the phylogenetic placement of these strains with respect to those found in other hosts and vectors; and 3) explore risk factors of Anaplasma infection in moose. A total of 157 moose (142 calves, 15 adults) were captured in western (n=83) and northern (n=74) Maine in 2017 and 2018. We screened for Anaplasma spp. in moose whole blood samples using a genus-specific PCR assay targeting the 16S rRNA gene. Over half (54%) of the moose were infected with Anaplasma bacteria, with a greater proportion of moose harboring Anaplasma-infections in the western (67%) versus northern study areas (38%). Male moose exhibited a higher prevalence than did females (63% vs. 47%). In contrast, Anaplasma spp. prevalence in winter ticks was low (<1%). Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the single Anaplasma strain in moose was highly divergent from the strain in winter ticks and most closely related to an uncharacterized North American cervid strain. We conclude that winter ticks are unlikely to play a significant role in Anaplasma transmission to moose; however, high infection prevalence warrants further investigation into the impacts of Anaplasma spp. infection on moose health., (© Wildlife Disease Association 2021.)