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Healthy Forests, Abundant Wildlife, Conservation Ethic

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Featured Habitat Project – Southwest Virginia Update

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by: Charlie Mize, RGS & AWS Public Lands Wildlife Forester – Southwest Virginia There it went, exploding out of the rhododendron and beelining for refuge in the next holler, the elusive Virginia public land grouse. It was my first encounter on the job as the RGS & AWS Southwest Virginia Public Lands Wildlife Forester, a post I took up in February 2022. I was deep in one of the more remote forests in southwest Virginia with two colleagues from the U.S. Forest Service, surveying some stands slated for harvest under an upcoming Environmental Assessment. We’d left the pavement hours ago but were...

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More than 950 acres of wildlife habitat to be improved in the Daniel Boone National Forest through Stewardship Agreement with USFS

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This RGS & AWS project will be a catalyst for wildlife habitat restoration, which is urgently needed in Kentucky (October 31, 2022) – RGS & AWS signed a stewardship agreement with the USFS on the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky to assist with implementation of the Little Flat Creek Stewardship Project, which is part of the South Red Bird Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Project on the Redbird Ranger District. The South Red Bird Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Project is the area of focus within the Daniel Boone National Forest, where RGS & AWS will be targeting the work. This area, covering more than...

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Know Your Cover: Southern Appalachian Forest Types

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Southern Appalachian forests are some of the most biologically diverse forests on the planet. Western North Carolina alone contains all the major forest types you would see driving from Georgia to Maine, concentrated in one region and distributed by elevation. The incredible diversity of forest types makes active forest management in the region exciting, complex and challenging! Across our diverse Southern Appalachian forests, we observe the same trend, an unnaturally high level of closed canopy, middle-aged forests and a lack of appropriate levels of young, open and old forest structure. The lack of structural diversity across the regions’ forest types...

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Working Lands for Wildlife — The Long View: Sustaining Our Oak Forests

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Register today for this virtual event: Wednesday, May 12, 11 am – 1 pm EST This FREE working lands webinar hosted by Ruffed Grouse Society &American Woodcock Society and the NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife program will educate landowners and natural resource professionals on working lands conservation programs intended to benefit wildlife species and promote forest diversity. This webinar has been approved for the following. Please register here to receive credit. 2 CFE credits (category 1) with the Society of American Foresters2 CEUs (category 1) of the Certified Wildlife Biologist® Renewal/Professional Development Certificate Program for participation in the webinarUSDA-NRCS Conservation Planner Certification [Read...

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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...

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Appalachian Ruffed Grouse: Ecology and Management

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A synopsis and review of the book Appalachian Ruffed Grouse: Ecology and Management

The Appalachian ruffed grouse population is like a classic, small-market major league baseball team battling the Yankees or Red Sox; the odds are against them because of a disparity of resources. Unlike their kin of the North Woods, Appalachian grouse lack aspen trees for food and cover, which Gordon Gullion, a leading expert on grouse during his lifetime, considered their prime habitat. Nevertheless, ruffed grouse are adaptable birds that have thrived in Appalachia for thousands of years. 

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