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Healthy Forests, Abundant Wildlife, Conservation Ethic

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Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society partner with onX Hunt to support our mission for healthy forests and abundant wildlife

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CORAOPOLIS, Pa. (April 5, 2021) — The Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society are excited to announce a new corporate partnership with onX Hunt. onX Hunt is a mapping app that enables users to know where they stand, and features multiple disturbance layers where grouse and woodcock thrive. The onX Hunt partnership will directly contribute to the RGS & AWS mission, supporting healthy forests, abundant wildlife, and conservation ethic in 2021. RGS & AWS will also work with onX to increase access and opportunity afield.

onx logo and rgsaws logo
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Beyond The Bellwether of Our Forests – RGS

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Photo Credit | Steve Oehlenschlager

While the perils and challenges faced by ruffed grouse and American woodcock may be familiar to our conservation-minded members, the continental and even global significance of these issues may not be fully recognized.

In a study published by the journal Science, it was noted that wild bird populations have declined by nearly 30% since 1970 in the continental U.S. and Canada. Sadly, we know these declines to have effected ruffed grouse and American woodcock too. Yet the ruffed grouse and woodcock are not alone in their struggles and we are not alone in our concerns for these birds. Others have taken notice, too.

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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.

[Read more…] about Todd Waldron hired as RGS & AWS Forest Conservation Director for the Northeast Region

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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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.

[Read more…] about Becoming a Member of the Ruffed Grouse Society

An Important Day for Grouse and Woodcock | Giving Tuesday

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Today is GivingTuesday and forest wildlife need your support

Thank you to the folks who have already donated early! We have $30,000 available to match donations for today. Don’t miss the opportunity to double your impact.

Two ways you can donate:

  • The Upland Store
  • Our Facebook #GivingTuesday Page: Please share our fundraiser with your friends and family! You can donate in the Upland Store AND invite your Facebook friends and share the fundraiser through Facebook. If you’d like to join us and learn more about RGS & AWS and our work, we’ll be live on CrowdCast this evening from 6 – 8 pm ET, which will be streaming on Facebook and YouTube as well.
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Tackling Ruffed Grouse Habitat in Southern Appalachia

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grouse-habitat

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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RGS & AWS Support 30 by 30 Initiative

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30 by 30 Initiative

RGS & AWS along with other hunting, fishing and habitat conservation groups issue support of 30 by 30 initiative.

October 19, 2020 (Washington, D.C.) – Today, the nation’s leading hunting, fishing, and habitat conservation organizations released a statement on the Thirty by Thirty Initiative (30 by 30 Initiative) to establish a goal of placing 30% of the planet’s lands and waters under protected status by the year 2030.

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Modern Carnivore Podcast Features RGS & AWS

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Join Mark Norquist, host of the Modern Carnivore Podcast, for an interview with RGS & AWS President and CEO, Ben Jones.

LISTEN | Modern Carnivore Podcast – Episode #15

About The Episode | Modern Carnivore

“Just days before the pandemic required our country to close down I was able to sit down with Ben Jones who is the President and CEO of two hunting conservation organizations: The Ruffed Grouse Society and the American Woodcock Society. We were at Pheasant Fest which is the annual meeting of the organization Pheasants Forever, and great conservation partner of both Ben’s organizations and Modern Carnivore. We talk about forest health and how proper management can help replicate natural disturbances that have been eliminated as the human population continues to expand across our continent.”

West Nile Virus in Ruffed Grouse and Test Kit How-To Video

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Photo By | Timothy Flanigan

An update on West Nile Virus in Ruffed Grouse and a test kit how-to video.

The second-year results for the Great Lake states’ collaborative West Nile Virus (WNV) study are in, and there’s good news, bad news and hope, for ruffed grouse in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

The good

In total, hunters provided 786 samples in all three states from the 2019 hunting season: 281 from Michigan, 188 from Wisconsin and 317 from Minnesota. The total number of samples was up a bit from the 721 submitted the year prior, though Wisconsin’s individual sample total went down. In 2018, Michigan tested 213 samples, Wisconsin tested 235, and Minnesota tested 273. While some birds did test positive for WNV antibodies, the percentages were low. The results from 2018 and 2019 also showed that these birds can survive being infected. 

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