Folks--
        A reply to Nancy Howell's post of yesterday. I want to make few points
about the plight of the ruffed grouse, points that seem too often
ignored. First of all, I think reasonable people would agree that
descriptions and assessments of this bird's ideal habitats should
properly be based on its natural survival and behavior in days long long
ago, before we altered them. That means starting with Audubon's
observations, and going back, not forward, from there.
        As forest practices were professionalized and adopted by governmental
agencies, most interventions on behalf of forests came to be ruled by
professional silviculture, which meant several things. We were told that
forests were best properly controlled by human interventions; that
monetary profit must play a central role (if only to fund more
silviculture), and that--along with income from logging-- hunting
and/trapping would provide funds for operations as well as a rationale
for maintaining "wild" forest surroundings. These practices
have--barely--prevented the complete eradication of wild forests, but
have employed some strange and untenable dogma.
        One of the points of what I said was to illustrate how what  experts
had to say about grouses* has changed over the past 150 years.
The early observers seem to have viewed the grouse as a denizen of the
old forests, in which certainly fires, floods, etc. caused local
eradication of intact old growth from time to time, to which the birds
adapted because they had done so for millenia. Observers of more recent
times--now that undisturbed old growth is a very rare thing--have
adopted a new doctrine which too conveniently accommodates--and even
endorses--the harvesting of valuable timber. And this bias has changed
the official view of the habitat requirements for this species, and
others. And it has contributed to its loss. It is wondrous to realize
what is meant when we "manage" natural settings. When you care most
about income, grouses don't count as much as sales of mature timber. And
when they're gone, you don't have to care at all.
        Yes, it is hard to get ordinary folks to understand why silviculture is
the right way to go--for grouses and other fauna--and for good reasons.
Bill Whan
Columbus

*I write "grouses" instead of "grouse" because I cringe at the use of
the collective plural, which reduces animals to prey rather than
species. Howell, lamentably, writes "raccoon" and "turkey" in her post
of yesterday, rather than "raccoons," and "turkeys" as if they were mere
commodities.







On 10/3/2015 11:20 AM, Nancy Howell wrote:
> Birders,
>
> Seems as though there is a similar lament about seeing grouse in the
> past, but not a lot of sightings presently. I have included a website
> that has a lot of information on species, other than ruffed grouse,
> that benefit from shrubland/young growth forests. Managing forests
> through controlled burns, timbering, brushhogging - while we see as
> destructive, open up areas for other species, but it needs to be done
> in a careful manner.
> http://www.youngforest.org/sites/default/files/Under_Cover-010412_FINAL.pdf
> (it does take a long time to download, many pages and photos) Deer
> certainly like this habitat as well and deer have made a huge impact
> on so many species, plant and animal.  Raccoon predate on wild turkey
> eggs and young, yet there seems to have been an increase in wild
> turkey in Cuyahoga Co., OH. I also have a feeling that suburban wild
> turkey (along with deer) are being fed by people ...
>
> I'd love to see ruffed grouse either return or increase in number in
> the Cleveland Metroparks and into the Cuyahoga Valley National Park
> ... and surrounding park systems. Getting the public to understand
> some forest and wildlife management is another story.
>
> Nancy J. Howell Museum Educator/Docent Coordinator The Cleveland
> Museum of Natural History 1 Wade Oval Drive Cleveland, OH 44106 T
> 216.231.4600 x. 3225 F 216.231.9960 [log in to unmask]
> [cid:00BB6585-B5CE-4CB8-8B68-4755EFEF1CDA]
>

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