UPDATED | Information Center The below resources and links provide new and updated information regarding the RGS & AWS Model of Working Forests as well as organizational changes to staffing and conservation delivery programs. Special Edition Podcast | RGS & AWS AddressPress Release | RGS & AWS Announces Re-StructureFrequently Asked QuestionsThe Hunting Dog Podcast Interview with Ron BoehmeUpland Nation Interview with Scott Linden Creating a Scalable Model for Healthy Forest Management and Wildlife Habitat When the RGS & AWS Board of Directors and I first met nearly two years ago, we focused on a central theme – the need to scale up...
Read
Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society Announces Re-Structure
Coraopolis, PAFor Immediate ReleaseMarch 30, 2020 The Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society (RGS & AWS) announced that the group is moving forward with a planned re-structure of its conservation delivery programs. The re-organization will replace the Regional Biologist job title with a new Forest Conservation Director position. “We have been working on re-organization plans over the past 18 months,” said Ben Jones, RGS & AWS President and CEO. The change is among RGS & AWS efforts to increase engagement in forest management issues, and will result in the layoff of three biologists in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Eastern Great Lakes...
Young Forest Initiative Creating Habitat for Grouse and Woodcock in New York – RGS
Forest Management at Mongaup Valley WMA | Photo by: Gregory Cerne Young Forest Initiative in New York Creates Habitat for Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock 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...
RGS Supports Ruffed Grouse Symposium in Wisconsin Rapids – RGS
Upper Great Lakes Ruffed Grouse Symposium
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 – RGSCOVID-19 Update from RGS/AWS President and CEO Ben Jones
A brief update on COVID-19 and it’s implications to the RGS/AWS mission.
Fellow Conservationists,
As we enter our peak event season, we also enter a time of great uncertainty due to COVID-19. One where we may not be able to gather and enjoy each other’s company as we would like.
We are keeping a diligent eye on the COVID-19 situation so we can respond as information comes available. True to RGS/AWS tenets, we will act pragmatically, led by science and expert recommendations.
[Read more…] about COVID-19 Update from RGS/AWS President and CEO Ben JonesTake Action Now! Help Secure Conservation & Outdoor Recreation Funding: Support the Great American Outdoors Act
The Great American Outdoors Act (S. 3422) was introduced this week by Senators Manchin (D-WV), Portman (R-OH), Warner (D-VA), Gardner (R-CO), Daines (R-MT), Heinrich (D-NM) and 50 other bipartisan cosponsors. The bill integrates the Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act (S. 1081 by Senators Manchin and Gardner) and the Restore Our Parks Act (S. 500 by Senators Portman and Warner), but with critical expansion to also address crumbling infrastructure on National Forests, National Wildlife Refuges, and lands under the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Education schools. The legislation would provide full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), dedicating $900 million annually to a program that...
