FLATWOODS, W.Va. — One of the biggest challenges facing the future of wildlife in West Virginia, both game and non-game species, is a lack of suitable habitat.
“A lot of us look back at the 80’s and 70’s and we had a lot of woodcock, grouse, and even non-game species like whippoorwill-wills and a lot of those populations have declined,” said Gary Foster, Game Management Supervisor for the DNR. “Now those areas that were really good in the 70’s and 80’s are no saw timber stands. Our forests have grown up and we’re just out of balance right now.”
The DNR is launching what it hopes will be a plan to restore at least some of that habitat on the state’s Wildlife Management Areas. The agency estimates about 175,000 acres of public hunting land in the state is eligible for management timber sales to improve wildlife habitat. They began an experimental program of habitat management cuts four years ago. There have been successes with the program and now they are ready to move to a new level.
“We’ve put together a five-year forest management plan which will drive where we want to do commercial timber sales geared toward wildlife habitat improvements,” said Foster. “As well as doing other non-commercial type improvements like field border cuts, savannas, and clear cuts. We’re definitely trying to step it up a notch and improve our management areas.”
The plan, unveiled recently at a meeting with a number of stakeholders in Flatwoods, allows for a maximum of 2,000 acres a year to be harvested for management related activities on Wildlife Management Property. Some believed that was too low, but given the level of difficulty to get timber sales approved, Foster actually thought that would be an aggressive plan.
“Everybody has a little different view on that. There’s a lot of folks who think we’re cutting too much if we go to that level,” he said. “We know there’s a lot of turkey hunters and grouse hunters would like to see that increased. But we feel it’s a good balance right now moving forward for the first four or five years of our plan. It’s a good target right now.”
There are several challenges for the agency. The red tape is one of the obstacles. Selling timber on state lands is a cumbersome and often lengthy process which requires the approval of several agencies heads, the governor, and several endangered species and historical studies which must be done prior to approval. Another obstacle is the cutting window. Most of the timber cutting will have to be done in the late fall, winter, and very early spring. Summer cutting will be forbidden because of rules to protect bats which may be reproducing in the forest canopy.
Despite the difficulty, Foster believes it’s a worth while pursuit and the mission of DNR to manage for all species. He says diversification of the habitat will benefit a lot of species.
“Those species that are depending on grasslands and saplings have seen the biggest decline in the last 50-years;. We’re hoping to see those populations having a positive response,” he said. “There’s no doubt the things were are doing are going to be very beneficial to turkeys for brood rearing, or grouse, or deer for browse. It’s going to be a win-win for a lot of wildlife species.”