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RGS

Healthy Forests, Abundant Wildlife, Conservation Ethic

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Covers Magazine

RGS & AWS Adds Chandler Buie as Northeast Forest Conservation Director

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Chandler Buie is a forestry and conservation leader with 20 years of experience dedicated to sustainable forest management, wildlife habitat and community stewardship across Maine and New England. His career has focused on ensuring working forests remain productive, healthy and resilient while supporting the ecological and economic values that depend on them. Throughout his career, Buie has managed large-scale forestry and procurement operations, working closely with landowners, contractors, businesses and public agencies to balance responsible resource use with long-term conservation goals. He brings a practical, solutions-oriented approach to forest management informed by hands-on experience in silviculture, infrastructure planning and environmental compliance....

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Keeping Your Shotgun Running

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by Steve Felgenhauer I see more than my share of dirty shotguns. As a gunsmith I have found weed seeds, sand, feathers and even a .22 rifle shell inside of a shotgun – I’m still trying to figure that one out. I’ve always said if hunters treated their trucks like they did their guns, they’d be walking. Shotguns from waterfowlers are the worst because they’re often exposed to unfavorable conditions for a firearm like water and mud. Pumps and semi-autos get nasty inside the receivers that become caked with burnt powder residue and excess carbon. Break-action shotguns are generally much cleaner as...

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Lost and Found

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by Keith Schopp This one goes out to Mary, my friend’s two-year-old English Pointer that went missing one morning last January. Just a month ago, in late December, I watched Mary point a wild rooster in Central Illinois and retrieve that bird.  Good potential. But potential lost one Friday morning when she didn’t come back after her routine morning airing. “Mary’s been missing all day,” Bob texted me that afternoon – nearly eight hours after the pointer disappeared. “What the heck?” I responded.  “I’ll come over to help look.” We drove around the country roads. Walked the 40-acre property. Surveyed the landscape looking for a...

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Hidden Dangers in the Uplands: Poisonous Plants and Grasses That Threaten Your Bird Dog

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by Britney Booth, Covers Magazine Editor-in-Chief Many poisonous plants can be found out in the field, and include common shrubs, trees and flowers that can make your dog very sick if consumed. Some can be deadly, while others can cause discomfort or make your dog feel downright miserable. No matter your location, it’s critical that you’re aware of the dangers of poisonous plants while upland hunting. The most prevalent and dangerous plant in upland bird hunting covers isn’t a chemical toxin in the traditional sense. Foxtail grass awns, especially from barbed varieties like wild barley, cheatgrassandgiant foxtail, pose a serious threat to upland...

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Woodcock Banding Wisconsin: The Catch-and-Release Season

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by Luke Statz, RGS & AWS Western Great Lakes Regional Engagement Coordinator Early this spring, I had the privilege of attending the first-ever Wisconsin Woodcock Banding Workshop hosted by Woodcock Minnesota, a nonprofit organization with years of experience running similar workshops at Pineridge Grouse Camp in Minnesota. The Wisconsin event was actually the second attempt. The prior year’s was unfortunately canceled due to a miscommunication with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR). This program is spearheaded by biologists Kyle Daly, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bailey Petersen with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Kyle holds the state...

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Restoring Forest Diversity Across 110 Acres at Grass Mountain in Vermont

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by Amelia ‘Melly’ Napper, RGS & AWS Vermont Public Lands Forester Grass Mountain is a stewardship project associated with the Early Successional Habitat Creation project. It is located on the only U.S. Forest Service parcel within the Taconic Mountain biophysical region of Vermont. Grass Mountain is unique within the Green Mountain National Forest, featuring a diverse mix of tree species that are less common across the forest. Regenerating red oak is a key goal of the project. While red oak is present on the landscape, heavy competition from diseased American beech sprouts has prevented successful regeneration in the understory. Without disturbance, this forest...

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