WANTED:  New Growth for Ol' Ruff

Ruffed Grouse Society and Iowa DNR partner to improve habitat for
Ruffed Grouse in NE Iowa.

by
Bob Kurtt,  Wildlife Biologist
Upper Iowa Wildlife Unit 
Decorah, Iowa

Iowa's native ruffed grouse population is found primarily in the NE counties of Allamakee, Clayton, Dubuque, Fayette and Winneshiek.  Ruffed grouse are creatures of woodlands and more specifically, the woodland edge.  Grouse are essentially browsers and tend to eat green leaves, buds, catkins, poison ivy berries, tick trefoil seeds, Red Cedar berries, twigs and a host of other plant parts throughout the year.

The biggest problem with Ruffed Grouse habitat is that it is ever-changing.  Woodlands inevitably mature over time, and with maturity comes a decline in habitat quality for ruffed grouse.  As woodlands age, tree canopies close in, less sunlight reaches the forest floor, and shrubs and saplings begin to die.  This natural succession reduces the high stem densities that ruffed grouse need to survive.

To reverse this trend, wildlife managers in northeast Iowa are using management practices on State Wildlife Management Areas (WMA's) to showcase habitat management that can be done for ruffed grouse. These WMA's and other public lands in NE Iowa provide a significant part of Iowa's grouse habitat and probably the greatest grouse hunter densities each year.  But the future of grouse in Iowa rests squarely on private land habitat.  The acreage and distribution of privately owned woodlands make them a critical element for future grouse populations.

Grouse habitat management on NE Iowa WMA's is evolving with more funding opportunity and our woodland management experience.  There are approaches available now that will show how both timber harvest and grouse management can work together.  For instance, we know that woodland edge has the highest carrying capacity for grouse.  Maintaining high stem densities in these transition zones for the greatest length of time will improve grouse cover.  This condition can be extended by simply suppressing the grass-sod conditions where a timber and meadow meet.  Edge effect can also be enhanced by simply not seeding a 50' band of idled row crop edge next to a timber.  Cultivating the same edge will often cut and stimulate new shrub root expansion. Once chemical grass control is completed or cultivation along the edge is complete, more shrub and aspen encroachment will occur. 

Once the initial shrub and tree root suckering has begun and is noticeable, selective tree girdling can occur in a 30-50' wide band along the forest edge.  Root energy once headed for the parent tree, will be re-routed to the "New Edge" that you have prepared over the past 1-2 years.  Cutting or girdling Aspen, Wild Plum, Dogwood, Chokecherry,  and Hazelbrush will speed expansion into the idled cropland.  The increased sunlight penetration into the old edge will render it more useable for grouse for an extended time as well.

Both public and private lands have sites where reforestation is the chosen management tool. When practical or compatible, mixed shrub, cedar and aspen plantings can be incorporated into the management plan.  Pine plantings mixed with Cedar and aspen is another approach.  Planting occasional "Winter Cover" blocks of Red Cedar and Aspen is another ready made recipe for grouse cover that is most often confined to State land management.

One of the most widely utilized practices in NE Iowa has been the simple thinning or clear-cutting of easily identified aspen clones.  This simple tool has resulted in greatly improved grouse cover on many WMA's in this corner of the State.  It could easily be stated that "aspen management = grouse management".  Most wildlife managers agree that aspen, in various stages of growth, is very important in the life cycle of ruffed grouse.

In NE Iowa, ruffed grouse are mainly associated with what we often call "Oak-hickory communities" as opposed to sites dominated by maple, basswood, elm and ironwood.  Many of our NE Iowa woodland progressions lead directly to shade tolerant maple communities. This seems to be brought about by fire suppression, selective high value tree cutting and less vigorous timber harvest than at the turn of the century. Therefore, any timber management strategy that favors shade intolerant species will generally favor grouse.

Hopefully this cooperative venture with the Ruffed Grouse Society will continue into the future.  As with any wildlife population,  Habitat is the key.

For further information about the Wildlife Bureau's work to improve Ruffed Grouse habitat contact Bob Kurtt at (319) 382-4895.

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