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Success Stories

Lebanon Reservoir Access Trail on State Game Lands 211

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Dauphin, Lebanon & Schuykill Counties An ATV access trail was built to get contractors into an isolated portion of State Game Lands 211 to complete a noncommercial cutting project that will create young forest blocks. The 2.2 mile trail was completed in the summer of 2023 and opens up roughly 800 acres of mature forest that can now be managed as young forest blocks. Over the next 10 years 400 acres of cutting is planned to begin balancing the age class of this portion of game lands. This should create areas for grouse to disperse from other areas that have been...

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Fightingtown Creek Habitat Improvement Project on the Chattahoochee National Forest

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by Daniel Kutschied | RGS & AWS Forest Wildlife Specialist – Public Lands Georgia Ruffed grouse in North Georgia are at the southernmost extent of their range in the Eastern United States and face unique challenges and vulnerabilities. Conserving and improving habitat through active forest management in North Georgia — at the fringe of their range — is critical to ensure the continued presence of ruffed grouse in the Southern Appalachians. In the Chattahoochee National Forest (CNF), young hardwood forests with high stem density and herbaceous cover have become increasingly rare. Forest conditions are dynamic and can change rapidly. Common hardwood trees...

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Featured Habitat Project – Dynamic Forest Restoration on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee

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by Nick Biemiller | RGS & AWS Forest Conservation Director – Southern Appalachian Region The Cumberland Plateau is located at the southwestern edge of the Appalachian Mountains and includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee with portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. In Tennessee, the Cumberland Plateau is dominated by very flat, dry sites at the top of the plateau known as tablelands, with deep gorges and ravines dropping off the plateau into the Ridge and Valley Ecoregion. The plateau contains one of the largest expanses of continuous forests in the eastern U.S. and is dominated by a variety of...

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Little Flat Creek Stewardship Project (Kentucky)

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Agreement Narrative: Little Flat Creek Stewardship Project
Primary Funder: USDA Forest Service
Location: Daniel Boone National Forest, Peabody, Kentucky
Innovation: This is a stewardship agreement between RGS & AWS and the Daniel Boone National Forest. The purpose of this agreement is to promote forest health and improve wildlife habitat. Commercial timber harvests will create young and open forest conditions across 255 acres. Service work items include noncommercial habitat improvement treatments across 757 acres. RGS & AWS’s forest wildlife specialist in Kentucky will administer the project on-the-ground.
Impact: The project will accomplish the following outputs: 1.) 255 acres commercial timber harvests, 2.) 166 acres of...

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Domtar’s 3-year partnership pledge with RGS and the Dynamic Forest Partnership (DFP particularly including American Bird Conservancy and Indiana University of PA; Audubon Mid-Atlantic; and PA Game Commission) 

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Proposal/Agreement Summary: Domtar’s 3-year partnership pledge with RGS and the Dynamic Forest Partnership (DFP particularly including American Bird Conservancy and Indiana University of PA; Audubon Mid-Atlantic; and PA Game Commission) Primary funder: Domtar ($20k/yr for three years, beginning in June, 2023) Location: North-central PA Innovations: 1) Audubon Mid-Atlantic (AMA) is a partner, 2) we are working on late-successional habitat and carbon (through AMA enrolling landowners in Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP)), 3) Domtar’s sourcing is a key part of the program Impact:  1. Improve forest habitat quality and diversity, forest stewardship and resiliency, and increase carbon storage within new or near established ‘Dynamic Forest...

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Partnering to improve forest habitats, connectivity, and climate resilience through implementing and planning cross-boundary dynamic forest restoration blocks along the Kittatinny Ridge (Pennsylvania)

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Proposal/Agreement Summary: Partnering to improve forest habitats, connectivity, and climate resilience through implementing and planning cross-boundary dynamic forest restoration blocks along the Kittatinny Ridge Primary funder: NFWF Ches WILD (Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense) Location: Three focal regions along the Kittatinny Ridge (map below) Innovations: 1) TNC, DCNR, and two municipal water agencies (Duncannon Borough and Capital Region Water) are main partners; 2) using TNC Resilient and Connected Landscapes data as rationale for project location; 3) DCNR pledged $46K in match (staff time); 4) we will form and coordinate an informal collaborative to coordinate agencies and partners Impact: 1,695 acres improved, including 600 acres...

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