6]P, DESICMXG CROrSE COVERTS AND SETTING UP MANAGEMENT PLANS 



combination may be secured which should produce not only a good crop of grouse but also 

 of other forest products. 



As regards the size of each type to be planted, no minimum dimensions have been deter- 

 mined. The area required is, in part, dependent upon the composition of the type some years 

 after planting. Naturally this, in turn, is influenced by many local factors. To avoid diffi- 

 culty the dimensions of each type suggested here are considered to be sufficient assurance 

 against possible inadequacies. 



The open land development pattern common 1) used in .\ew York provides for winter 

 shelter by utilizing a central strip of conifers from 300 to 500 feet in width and of any desired 

 length. Here the trees may well be planted 8x8 feet apart, so that a crop of forest products 

 may result. However, if grouse are the sole consideration, the spacing might better be further 

 apart unless the site is poor. This is less expensive, results in a bushier tree and tends to 

 encourage a more desirable mixture of conifers and hardwoods by giving the latter more 

 open space in which to establish themselves naturall). This band may be flanked on either 

 side by strips from 200 to 300 feet wide in which conifers and hardwoods are planted in irreg- 

 ular clumps to furnish spring breeding grounds. When such an area can be placed close to 

 existing woodlands, it may be practical to plant only the conifers, leaving the hardwoods to 

 seed in by natural means. 



To allow for fall feeding grounds it is suggested that a strip from 50 to 100 feet wide be 

 left. Over this, at irregular intervals, may be planted small clumps of conifers edged with 

 broad-leaved trees and shrubs that normally produce attractive food at this season of the year. 



Theoretically these strips might well be placed as indicated in figure 67. although, in actu- 

 ality, there is no value to the geometrical regularity of the design. In fact, a scalloped outline 

 is desirable. Full advantage should be taken of any food species already present. Hedge- 

 rows, woods' edges and stream borders, where attractive plants normally occur, make ideal 

 units around which to organize a fall feeding strip. The small, open strip previously men- 

 tioned may then be left before repeating, in reverse, this planting design. 



Overgrown Land Design 



In New York State, Nature is a past master at producing brushy spots attractive to grouse 

 in summer and early fall. Most of these result from the abandonment of once-cleared fields, 

 pastures, or from hedgerows. Some predominant characteristics which make them desirable 

 are: — 



1. A variety of trees and shrubs, many of which furnish feed as well as shelter for brood 

 and adult alike. A scattering of such species as apple, thornapple, cherry, wild grape, viburnum 

 and dogwood, throughout overgrown lands materially increases their usefulness not alone to 

 grouse but to Tnam other forms of wildlife a> ucll. 



2. The replacement of grass, asters or goldenrod bv other ground covtM- more character- 

 istic of a woods" edge environment. 



3. In general, a rather open stand of trees and sliriii)s although the presence of occasional 

 small, dense thickets of shrubs seems imt to be (lelririieiital. 



4. Few, rather than many, conifers. 



Every grouse hunter ])ictures, from his own experience, the necessary composition of over- 

 grown areas for it is there that birds are most likely to be found in the early part of the 



