MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Illinois Federal Aid Project W- 66 -R 
> Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
March, 1 976 
Vol. 19, No. 3 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat r. g. Warner 
Success of the I DC's seeded roadside program is dependent upon the 
extent to which farmer cooperators adhere to the agreed delayed mowing date 
of 3 ! July. One of the purposes of establishing the Ford County Management 
Unit (FCMU) was to determine the acceptance of the seeded roadsides by farm 
operators by monitoring their adherence to the delayed mowing schedule. 
Agreements were reached with farmers on the FCMU prior to roadside 
seeding in the fall of 1968 . Cooperators were notified by letter that 
spraying and reseeding would be done as needed during I 969 , that signs inform¬ 
ing the public about the seedings would be placed on each road entering the 
16-square-mile area, and that mowing operations should be delayed through 31 
July of each year. Subsequently, letters in 1969 , 1970, and I 97 I informed 
farmers of progress in reseeding and of cooperation in delayed mowing, and 
reminded them that roadsides should not be mowed until 31 July in future 
% years. The final letter (May 1971) stated that no letter of reminder would 
be forthcoming in 1972 . 
Results of delayed mowing along the 73 cooperator-miles of roadsides in 
the FCMU were as follows: 72 percent unmowed as of 31 July 1970, 81 percent 
•n 1971, 78 percent in I 973 , and 87 percent in 1974. A general decrease in 
the percentage of roadsides mowed prior to 31 July occurred through I 974 , but 
delayed mowing of roadsides in 1975 declined to 63 percent. 
Because farmer cooperation is important to the success of the roadside 
program, farmers on the FCMU were interviewed during January 1976. Each 
farmer was contacted personally or by telephone. The purpose of the interviews 
was threefold; ( 1 ) to determine the extent of the farmers' recollections of 
their agreement in 1968 to participate in the seeded roadside program, ( 2 ) to 
measure the present attitudes of the farmers toward the program, and ( 3 ) to 
encourage future participation in the program in accordance with the terms of 
the 1968 agreement. Results of the farmer interviews will be reported In 
next month's research letter. 
Ecology and Management of Squirrels c . Nixon, 
S. P. Havera 
Fifteen years after clear-cutting, the developing stand is considerably 
less dense than after 7 years, particularly for good sites. Trees range from 
NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY 
APR 12 1976 
