AUGUSTA – To stave off extinction, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife moved its longtime quarterly print magazine off the budget endangered list and onto the Internet.

The magazine, which now will only be offered online, is free, according to IF&W Commissioner Roland “Danny” Martin.

The Winter 2009 “Maine Fish and Wildlife” edition can be viewed at http://www.flipseekllc.com/maine2009winter.html or from the department Web site at www.mefishwildlife.com.

According to a report late Friday afternoon from spokeswoman Deborah Turcotte, IF&W published the magazine for more than 40 years to showcase the work and dedication of department employees to preserve and protect Maine’s inland waters and woods.

‘Facing extinction’

“But, given recent tight economic considerations, the magazine was facing extinction because of reduced funding,” Turcotte said.

After being asked to find an inexpensive way to continue producing it, Martin said the best solution was to put it online.

“The Maine Legislature didn’t want to see the decades-old magazine cease in existence and neither did we,” he said.

“By putting the magazine online, not only are we saving money but now a greater number of people will have access to the publication and at no charge.”

More than 3,000 people had paid subscriptions to the magazine’s paper editions. By going online, the department expects to reach more than 90,000 potential readers through e-mails and its Web site, Turcotte said.

Help from FlipSeek

The online version is produced in cooperation with FlipSeek LLC of Lyndhurst, Ohio, which created software that gives publications like magazines the electronic look of hard copies.

Using FlipSeek’s user-friendly application, readers can flip through pages, zoom in and out of articles and pictures, and print copies.

The electronic version isn’t much different than the paper one.

It still features insightful articles, colorful pictures, “Field Notes” on game warden activities or cases they’ve closed, insights into events biologists experience, reader favorite “Kid Bits,” and more, Turcotte added.