COVER ORGANIZATION 



617 



A THEORETICAL B PRACTICAL 



I I Open Land Fx??| Hardwoods 



Shrubs |^%^ Conifers 



FIGURE 67. MORE PRODUCTIVE DESIGN FOR PLANTING OPEN LAND TO PROVIDE GOOD GROUSE COVER 



by just two types of cover — mixed woods and overgrown lands. The simplest design, then, 

 which might be followed in planting open land to provide these combinations, would be a 

 series of units as shown in "A" of figure 66. Because of planting costs, though, it might bet- 

 ter be organized as shown in "B". 



In the most productive coverts analyzed, an advantage seems to accrue when winter shelter 

 and spring breeding grounds are separate and when summer and fall feeding grounds are, 

 likewise, represented by different types. In New York the best winter shelter is furnished by 

 conifers, a block of which is accordingly included in suggesting the design of a theoretically 

 productive grouse habitat (figure 67). 



A narrow strip of open grassland, from 30 to 50 feet wide, may well separate each group 

 of habitats. The Investigation has been unable to demonstrate any positive value accruing 

 from such strips, yet those coverts which grouse use the most usually contain such openings. 

 These strips can be made into good firebreaks. 



The best summer feeding grounds over most New York grouse range are clear-cut areas 

 or slashings from three to ten years old. Obviously this type cannot be utilized in designing 

 grouse habitats arising from lands to be planted. Unless woodlands, in which small clear- 

 cut units may be established, are found adjacent to open fields, it is still necessary to com- 

 bine summer and fall feeding grounds in the form of edge development. 



With the right species properly arranged in strips across open fields ("B" of figure 67), a 



