Maybe this is too simplistic (especially after all of the in depth analysis) but is it a coincidence that grouse and  whip-poor-will populations have declined as turkey and deer populations have increased?

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 4, 2015, at 11:27 AM, Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> 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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