Vernal Pools

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a vernal pool and why are they important?Vernal pools are temporary to semi-permanent pools occurring in shallow depressions that typically fill during the spring or fall and may dry during the summer or in drought years). They provide the primary breeding habitat for wood frogs, spotted and blue-spotted salamanders and numerous insects/spiders adapted to temporary, fishless waters. They also provide important feeding and resting areas for other animals, including several of the Region’s rare and endangered species, moose, bear, deer, mink, and migrating spring birds and waterfowl.

Significant Vernal Pools (SVPs) are now regulated

In general, a vernal pool habitat is considered significant wildlife habitat if it has high habitat value. A vernal pool is Significant if it meets one of the following criteria:

  • supports a state-listed threatened or endangered species;
  • supports abundant egg masses of any one of the following amphibian indicator species: spotted salamanders, blue-spotted salamanders, and wood frogs (egg mass numbers vary with species and were based on extensive surveys of pools throughout Maine);
  • supports fairy shrimp.

Please note: More than half of all Maine vernal pools are NOT considered “significant.”

As of September 1, 2007, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection began to regulate disturbances around significant vernal pools under the Natural Resources Protection Act (NRPA). Development within 250 ft of a Significant Vernal Pool now requires a DEP permit.

What if I have questions, need hard copies of materials, or would like to request a field determination?
Contact your nearest DEP regional office, and ask to speak to the “on-call” person in the Land & Water Bureau, Division of Land Resource Regulation. Central ME Regional Office, 17 StateHouse Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0017; Phone: 207-287-3901 (bureau) or 1-800-452-1942 (department).

Who is responsible for identifying SVPs?
The new State law puts the burden of proof on developers and individual landowners to show that their development will not impact vernal pools – there is no State map or list of vernal pools. Unless vernal pools are proactively identified and mapped, the DEP rules state that significant vernal pools can only be identified by trained individuals during the peak spring breeding season. Under this rule, development will have to be postponed until a spring assessment can be made or the landowner may begin development at any time if they proceed as it the pool were Significant thereby adhering to the regulatory limits on development within the 250 foot zone.