New Habitat Recovery Program Aims To Curb Ruffed Grouse Decline

A relative of wild turkey, the ruffed grouse, is a game bird found in woodland habitats across the northern United States and Canada — including much of Appalachia.

But its population has rapidly declined, partially due to the destruction of young-growth forest areas. Last year, researchers at the Pennsylvania State University found that their state’s ruffed grouse population is roughly 70 percent smaller than it was half a century ago.

Officials in West Virginia say they want to protect wildlife populations without disrupting the timber industry. That is why they are launching a new incentive program for landowners to plant fast-growing tree and shrub species on their timbered lands.

Gov. Jim Justice announced the new Ruffed Grouse and Wildlife Restoration Program during a virtual press briefing Tuesday.

Through the program, land owners will be reimbursed for up to 75 percent of replanting costs on 5 percent “of the land that was disturbed or timbered or clear cut,” Justice said. They will also receive technical and planning assistance during the replanting process.

Justice emphasized that the program will cause “no disturbance to the timber,” and will function as “purely a wildlife program.”

During the press briefing, Brett McMillan, director of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, said protecting habitats like West Virginia’s woodlands means protecting the animal species that call them home.

“Timber management is one of our primary tools in forest wildlife management,” he said. “Managing that timber and vegetation will give us some opportunities to hopefully see some return of these species.”

McMillan said the program will not only incentivize landowners to proactively replant on timbered lands, but it will also enhance habitat cover for wildlife statewide.

“The benefits will be multiple,” he said.

The program specifically focuses on planting “soft-mast” shrub and tree species with a faster growth rate and a higher survival rate to expedite the overall restoration of West Virginia woodland habitats, McMillan said.

Similar publicly funded reforestation programs exist in other states, too.

Maryland currently offers a free tree planting program for lands in the Chesapeake Bay watershed with reduced forest cover. With more tree roots along waterways, the program aims to reduce sediment runoff into the bay itself.

In the future, Justice said he hopes the program will receive federal support and grow in scale.

“We don’t want to lose any of our wildlife,” he said.