Forests as a Wildlife Habitat 



569 



roads. If they are built too close to 

 stream banks, erosion and damage to 

 fishing values result. Properly located 

 roads in forests make it possible to sell 

 forest products in small quantities and 

 thus to encourage variations in ages 

 and types of vegetative cover. Forest- 

 edge effects along roadways improve 

 food for many forms of wildlife. A net- 

 work of roads can also be important in 

 distributing hunters. 



Log-loading areas frequently pro- 

 vide open areas in the forest that can 

 be retained as valuable wildlife clear- 

 ings between periodic cuttings. Other 

 small openings in the forest ( 5 acres or 

 less) can be retained for their wildlife 

 value. Plantations of conifers inter- 

 mingled with hardwood stands fur- 

 nish good cover. 



ON PUBLIC FOREST LANDS, as on pri- 

 vate lands, the greatest benefits to for- 

 est wildlife will accrue, by and large, 

 through the coordination of wildlife 

 needs with the timber use. But on pub- 

 lic lands, cover is often manipulated 

 and improvements installed directly for 

 the benefit of the fish and game species. 

 In the eastern half of the country, edges 

 have been created in the solid second- 

 growth forest stands by clearing small 

 areas of a quarter or half acre on the 

 better sites. Often such plots are 

 cleared by cutting back the forest and 

 shrub growth that invades old fields. 

 Such steps are regarded as initial meas- 

 ures, because the long-time programs 

 should be based on the development of 

 clearings as a step in coordinating wild- 

 life needs with sales of timber. 



Although the work has been of a lim- 

 ited nature, both Federal and State 

 agencies have planted shrub and tree 

 species in forest and woodland areas to 

 provide food and cover for the newly 

 stocked or underpopulated wildlife 

 species. However, on wild land such as 

 national forests, emphasis has been on 

 the manipulation of the native vegeta- 

 tion, rather than on the introduction 

 of nonnative species. 



Stream improvement has been done 

 on many miles of streams in the na- 



tional forests and on other lands. The 

 aim has been to convert a stream of 

 continuous riffles into a mixture of 

 pools and riffles, so that there will be a 

 combination of food-producing and 

 resting areas for trout. The best results 

 were obtained with simple log or rock 

 dams, that looked like a natural part 

 of the stream. Many more lakes and 

 ponds could be created on forest lands. 



COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS are a useful 

 development. Thirty-two cooperative 

 wildlife-management areas, nearly 2 

 million acres in all, have been estab- 

 lished on the national forests in the 

 South and the Southeast. In each of 

 the projects, at least 30,000 acres of 

 Federal land has good wildlife food 

 and cover, and boundaries suitable for 

 hunter and fisherman control are ordi- 

 narily included. 



In the projects, the States and other 

 public agencies work to build up the 

 numbers of wildlife. The protection is 

 intensified. The kill is adjusted to the 

 available portion of the wildlife popu- 

 lation; for the most part, hunting, fish- 

 ing, and trapping are regulated. 



Without such controls, the excessive 

 demand would result in the overhar- 

 vesting of the animals and in one 

 season could seriously reduce the popu- 

 lations built up over a period of several 

 years. But, as in timber management, 

 it is possible to maintain a sustained 

 yield of fish, fur, and game, so they 

 will be available to more people in the 

 long run than would be possible if the 

 areas were open to unlimited hunting 

 and fishing. 



The cooperative programs also pro- 

 vide for carrying out work on habitat 

 improvement. This phase has perhaps 

 been carried further in Virginia and 

 West Virginia than any of the other 

 States. As in other cooperative-man- 

 agement areas of the East and the 

 South, the Forest Service may provide 

 a dwelling in the area; the State hires 

 a man as the resident game man on 

 the area or part of it. His responsibility 

 is to carry out the activities related 

 to the intensive wildlife-management 



