RGS & AWS Director of Conservation Policy was recently featured on an episode of the Project Upland Podcast.
WASHINGTON – This week, U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Forestry, and Natural Resources, introduced the bipartisan Rural Forests Markets Act to help small-scale, family foresters access new economic opportunities through climate solutions like carbon markets.
“Big or small, our forests are an important part of the solution to the climate crisis,” said Ranking Member Stabenow. “For too long, environmental market opportunities have been out of reach for many family foresters due to high upfront costs. Our bipartisan bill is a win-win for forest owners and the environment.”
[Read more…] about Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society Applaud Senators Stabenow, Braun for New Bipartisan Bill to Help Family Forests
SUBMIT ONLINE COMMENTS HERE – Deadline July 30th
Ruffed grouse in Indiana need our help. With just a little effort, you could take an opportunity this week to speak up on their behalf.
Two Indiana Natural Resource Commission (NRC) public hearings will take place on July 29th and July 30th to address proposed fish and wildlife rule changes. These amendments include adding ruffed grouse to the list of state endangered species. We strongly urge speaking up in support of this listing, and have included some talking points and rationale below, reiterating the reasons for the Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society (RGS & AWS) long-term commitment to this cause.
[Read more…] about Action Alert | Indiana Ruffed Grouse Need Your Help
Our staff at Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society (RGS & AWS) would like to inform hunters and conservationists of multiple upcoming opportunities to influence forest and wildlife conservation and management within the state of Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and the Governor’s Advisory Council for Hunting, Fishing and Conservation have reached out to RGS & AWS to engage our members in these opportunities. We encourage you to provide input pertaining to the new Bureau of Forestry Strategic Plan, and consider whether you or other allies for conservation may be in a position to fill upcoming board vacancies. You can find additional details and opportunities to respond below.
[Read more…] about Influence Forest Management and Conservation Policy in Pennsylvania
July 15, 2020
For Immediate Release
Coraopolis, Pa. – The nation’s top 50 hunting conservation organizations today released their policy recommendations for the next White House Administration and the next two Congresses. The groups that participate in the American Wildlife Conservation Partners (AWCP) developed Wildlife for the 21st Century: Volume VI to provide specific actions that could be taken to improve wildlife conservation and management. The 10 recommendations made by the AWCP focus on conservation funding, access and management of federal lands, habitat conservation in a changing climate, integrating wildlife goals into energy planning, private land and species conservation, wildlife disease management, and big game migration corridors. All of the recommendations encourage collaboration and cooperation between federal agencies, state fish and wildlife agencies, and private landowners.
[Read more…] about American Wildlife Conservation Partners Share Conservation Policy Recommendations in the Sixth Edition of Wildlife for the 21st Century
Some great news came from Capitol Hill heading into the 2020 Fourth of July holiday weekend. On Wednesday, July 1, the House of Representatives voted to pass an infrastructure bill (H.R. 2) that had been amended to include the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA). The Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society (RGS & AWS) has been working towards passage of RAWA legislation for nearly three years as a member of the Alliance for America’s Fish and Wildlife, a broad coalition of organizations and businesses.
[Read more…] about Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Update
The above photo showcases one of my favorite memories from this past hunting season and I’m so grateful to Durrell Smith, host of The Gun Dog Notebook Podcast, for capturing it. Durrell, Tyler Ross (featured along with his son, Brennon), and I gathered for a day of ruffed grouse hunting in western North Carolina. Wil Sensing tagged along with his two cameras in tow to film the southeast segment of Public Grouse. That morning Brennon knew his dad was headed out to follow a few bird dogs and refused to stay home. His smile in the photo is the result of a breakfast of the few oreo cookies I slipped him, an homage to the diet coke and powdered donuts of my childhood. Treats reserved only for hunting Saturdays.
[Read more…] about Friendship, Access, Opportunity: A Call to Action for the Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan Revision
Numerous forest wildlife are at-risk in the southern Appalachians due to lack of forest diversity and an unnaturally single-aged forest (i.e., lacking very young and very old forest interspersed across the landscape). Many, including ruffed grouse and American woodcock, are listed as species of greatest conservation need in North Carolina’s State Wildlife Action Plan. Some are even considered species of concern at the federal level (golden-winged warbler and Appalachian cottontail). The conservation needs of these species center mainly on habitat restoration and management.
[Read more…] about RGS & AWS Shares USFS Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan Revision Fact Sheet and Position Statements
Mongaup Valley Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is nestled against a part of the Delaware River that slithers between New York and Pennsylvania. In 2016, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) completed a project to create new wildlife habitat at Mongaup Valley as part of its Young Forest Initiative (YFI), an ongoing effort launched in 2015 to increase habitat within 93 WMAs for species dependent on early successional forests and whose populations are in steep decline.
[Read more…] about Young Forest Initiative Creating Habitat for Grouse and Woodcock in New York – RGS
On February 25, 2020, Wisconsin hosted an Upper Midwest Ruffed Grouse Symposium. This event was geared towards professional wildlife biologists, foresters, and researchers managing ruffed grouse in the Upper Midwest.
In total, 120 professionals from eight different states attended the symposium. The day was well rounded with talks on current research, management efforts, and planning. Discussions also focused on learning about factors impacting ruffed grouse such as disease, policy, forest product market trends and climate.
[Read more…] about RGS Supports Ruffed Grouse Symposium in Wisconsin Rapids – RGS
