ALTERING EXISTING COVER 



653 



The word "desirable" here coiiiioles Irces and shrul).s furnishing food and shelter for wild- 

 life as well as those that provide forest products. In England, such thinnings are commonly 

 employed to maintain the open character of the young stand so desirable for game produc- 

 tion. The same practice, applied in New York, can often be made to encourage much sum- 

 mer and fall feed for grouse, and to develop excellent winter shelter and spring breeding 

 grounds as well. 



How best to carry this out to serve the needs of both forest and game has accordingly 

 been carefully considered. The brief guide, currently in use on the State game management 

 areas, is reproduced on p. 777 to p. 7o2 in the Appendix. 



The pruning of softwoods is one practice which it is well to use sparingly on grouse areas. 

 Where conifers are abundant, as in a platitation. the lower limbs on possibly 1.50 crop trees 

 per acre can be cut without seriously impairing the shelter value of the stand as a whole. 

 Where this is carried to the point where the stand liironies open beneath the crown cover, 

 one finds grouse notably absent. 



In carrying out forest stand iniproxcnicnt operations over a large area, it i.s .-cldom neces- 

 sary or desirable to open up the woodland to such an extent that parklike conditions result. 

 Where heavy cuttings are needed to create the jiroper com|)osition. it is suggested that they 

 be spread over a number of years, thus encouraging lielter tree form and lengthening the 

 period in which abundant summer food is available. If llic existing woodland cover is of 

 little value, it may be considered a nurs(> crop ;ni(l In- xi bandied as to cncouraiic llic reproduc- 

 tion of the more valuable species. 



As the woodland becomes older, good foic-si piaclicc calls for llic rcmliuiicd rcnunal of 

 dead or defective trees, as well as for the fuilhcr release of those thai arc lo provide the 

 final timber crop. Here forest stand improvement practices can be carried out in a manner 

 to encourage wildlife b\ so opening up the forest canopy as to maintain beneath it a fairly 

 abundant undergrowth. On New York game areas this has been aci-oniplishcd b\ cutting 

 enough trees so that the remaining crowns occupy from .50 to 00 per cent of the available 

 space. Even if the stand is of inferior quality, lo open up the forest cover further may 

 encourage erosio?i. stimulate grass beneath, and forfeit the advantage of a canopy sheltering 

 the reproduction so desirable if one is to maintain a sustained timber yield. On the other 

 hand, to leave too many trees is to encourage a relatively bare forest floor acceptable, per- 

 haps, to grouse as a nesting area, but deficient in sununer and fall food as well as in desir- 

 able young growth. 



As the forest matures, the method of harvesting the timber mav likewise increase or de- 

 crease the productivit) of the area for grouse. The selective removal of crop trees creates 

 small openings thereby maintaining sufficient shelter and food for the birds. Relatively clear 

 cutting even to a diameter limit of six to eight inches, over large areas, on the other hand, 

 is usually detrimental by creating a super-abundance of summer feeding area. To prevent 

 this, scattered small slashings are always more desirable, where practical, than is a single 

 large lumbering operation. By giving some thought to the maintenance, on each acre, of half 

 a dozen trees providing food and shelter and by encouraging their reseeding and growth, the 

 game-producing attributes of the stand may be maintained. By skillful cutting, it is often 

 possible, over a period of years, to secure an even better distribution of species which collec- 

 tivelv will produce a forest and encourage a grouse crop. 



Other ways of increasing the crop of wildlife and of forest products will suggest them- 



>^- 



