11 



Management of the Ruffed Grouse 



The grouse is essentially a bird of tlie woods. Hence its manage- 

 ment, so far as it concerns its habitat, must be woodland manage- 

 ment. To be intelligent this management should be derived from a 

 broader base of interest than tlie production of wood products alone. 

 It must be based as well on the whole ecology of the grouse; on its 

 cover preferences, food requirements, principles of interspersion; 

 the need for drumming logs, dusting sites, and escape shelter; and 

 the relations of the bird to other animals and to man. Merely the 

 considerations of timber growing will not suffice. The assurance of 

 a stand of the most valuable lumber species, well-formed trees prop- 

 erly spaced, handled by "sustained yield" methods will not auto- 

 matically care for the development or maintenance of good grouse 

 habitat. It can operate to depreciate the grouse cover value. 



We have heard much in recent years of the conflict between game 

 and forestry interests. Some have held them to be irreconcilable. 

 This feeling was well summarized by Davenport ( 1941 ) : "By now, 

 I presume it is quite generally understood and taken for granted 

 . . . that stands of timber trees such as are in condition to produce 

 the most high-quality timber per acre per year are automatically 

 low in their game carrying capacity. In general, therefore, the prac- 

 tice of intensive forestry on any sizable area is due to eliminate 

 game management as a major consideration on that area." 



I believe that this clashing is unnecessary and that we cannot 

 aflFord to continue it. Fundamentally it has resulted from a conflict 

 of personalities, one which will gradually disappear with greater 

 understanding. When we can have the wisdom to look at our forests 

 and woodlands for all that they are— sources of a great variety of 

 vegetable products from ferns to ship masts; sources of many valu- 

 able animal products; modifiers of local climate, watershed pro- 



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