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Healthy Forests, Abundant Wildlife, Conservation Ethic

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RGS & AWS Northeast Forest Conservation Update: Part 2

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How the Northeast’s public and private landownership patterns influence RGS & AWS conservation approach.

By Todd Waldron, Northeast Forest Conservation Director

In the most recent RGS & AWS conservation update from the Northeast Region, we looked at the Northeast Upland Gamebird Technical Committee 2017 findings in terms of how diminishing forest habitat diversity is impacting grouse, woodcock and many other forest wildlife populations. One consideration for how RGS & AWS and our partners will need to approach this challenge is to consider land ownership patterns across the Northeast.

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RGS & AWS Northeast Forest Conservation Update: Part 1

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A primer for those curious about ecological issues impacting the Northeastern Region of the U.S.

By Todd Waldron, Northeast Forest Conservation Director

Photo by Todd Waldron

February 22, 2021 – If you and your dog have been covering countless miles through New England’s autumn woods and have only been flushing a fraction of the birds that you used to see – there is a reason for it.

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Todd Waldron hired as RGS & AWS Forest Conservation Director for the Northeast Region

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Waldron brings a wealth of forest management experience and will help scale up habitat improvement for wildlife.

Todd Waldron profile

January 21, 2021 – Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society (RGS & AWS) announced today that Todd Waldron was selected for a new Forest Conservation Director position in the Northeast Region. In the newly developed position, Waldron will build and manage a network to achieve forest wildlife goals across several states. The region includes New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. He will be based in New York.

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Coalition Supports Conservation on Indiana’s Hoosier National Forest

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Photo By Steve Oehlenschlager

Amicus brief filed in support of Indiana’s Hoosier National Forest habitat project by Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society, coalition of conservation groups

The ruffed grouse was listed as an endangered species in Indiana on December 16, 2020.

January 12, 2021 (New Albany, IN) – The Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society led a coalition of conservation groups that filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, related to the Houston South Vegetation Management and Restoration Project (Houston South Project) within Hoosier National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service faces a lawsuit that aims to shut down the project; RGS & AWS is not a party on the lawsuit, but the brief supports the Houston South Project and its objectives to restore habitat for ruffed grouse and other wildlife. The State of Indiana officially listed the ruffed grouse as a state endangered species on December 16, 2020.

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Ruffed Grouse in the Catskills, Then and Now

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The history, significance and future of ruffed grouse in the Catskills.

A sense of loss is wedded to hunting. When we’re in the woods, we fight the inevitable passing of time like characters in a tragedy whose ending is assured. Though it’s not the reason why we hunt, death is the logical conclusion of the enterprise, and a tinge of mourning follows the balletic descent of a shot grouse. Our beloved bird dogs barrel through the brush, and we smile, but we know they only have so many seasons in their short lives, and we want to hold on to those moments we share with them. We also develop an attachment to grouse habitat itself. Will birds still be here next year, or will the woods have aged just enough to crowd them out? Will parcelization decrease the integrity of the remaining habitat?

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Pennsylvania Wilds Upland Bird Hunt: The Ruffed Grouse and American Woodcock Society Celebrate the Upland Lifestyle

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Recapping the fun and fervor of the Upland Bird Hunt hosted annually in the Pennsylvania Wilds.

Upland hunting is a lifestyle. The conscious uplander is part hunter, conservationist, art lover, biologist, chef and storyteller. When people gather at the Ruffed Grouse Society’s Upland Bird Hunt (UBH) in the Pennsylvania Wilds, they celebrate that lifestyle, contribute to scientific research, and have a positive impact on the local community. 

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Becoming a Member of the Ruffed Grouse Society

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Improving the community and investing in the future of the ruffed grouse and American woodcock

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Photo by Zack Griswold

Like many age-old notions in life in which we can never remember the exact instance of discovery or introduction, I cannot recall the moment or setting in which I first learned of or heard about the Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS). The organization as I knew it was innately synonymous with the ruffed grouse, bird hunting and conservation altogether. Although ruffed grouse and bird hunting were not an integral part of my upbringing, the day would come when the “the birds” and the “organization” would become something extremely near and dear to my heart.

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Early Successional Habitat Creation Project in Vermont

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Featured in Fall 2020 issue of Covers Magazine.

Authored by: Brent Rudolph, PH.D and Anthony Giattino

People born east of the Hudson River extend this prayer of John Winthrop’s when hunting grouse in the west: “May the Lord make it like that of New England.” Writers like Burton Spiller and William Harnden Foster helped enshrine New England as a “City Upon a Hill” for grouse hunters. Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society members in New England recognize that much work needs to be done if the revered heritage memorialized by Spiller and Foster are to endure. Fortunately, other partners also understand the serious conservation needs that demand commitment to this work.

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Oswayo Valley Student Artist Featured at Upland Bird Hunt in the PA Wilds

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Zane Malogrino and Jed Hamberger, Superintendent of Oswayo Valley School District show samples of Zane’s custom made wood pieces.

St. Marys, Pa.:  Zane Malogrino of Shinglehouse, Pa., and a student at the Oswayo Valley School District in Potter and eastern McKean Counties, was the featured artist at the 12th Annual Upland Bird Hunt in the PA Wilds on 11/6.  Zane’s fine artwork specializes in laser engraving of wooden “home use” pieces, such as serving trays, hat racks, key racks, coasters, clocks, and bottle openers.

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Tackling Ruffed Grouse Habitat in Southern Appalachia

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Checking in on Southern Appalachia’s Grouse Habitat Projects

Steeped in history and rich with grouse hunting culture, the Southern Appalachian Mountains have long been associated with ruffed grouse habitat. Landowners and hunters in this area may fondly recall hunting ruffed grouse in the area many years ago, but have noticed their growing absence and watched prime grouse habitat disappear. This has spurred a real sense of urgency for Ruffed Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society (RGS & AWS) and its members in this region. In this article, we caught up with Nick Biemiller, Forest Conservation Director for the Southern Appalachian region (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, and VA) to discuss what’s going on in this neck of the grouse woods.

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