If you have ever been fortunate enough to take a long dreamed about hunting or fishing trip to one of the western states or to an overseas destination, then you know that a great part of the enjoyment of such a venture is the planning and preparation for the occasion. You also learned both during and after such a trip that the outcome of the entire trip was greatly influenced by the detail of the planning that you did prior to your departure.
A solid and specific management plan is equally critical when it comes to doing habitat improvement for wildlife on any property. To do so requires that you establish your realistic short and long-term goals and then develop a plan, or roadmap if you will, to reach those goals.
Obviously, money and available equipment available might be a limiting factor; thus, some short-term goals may have to be stretched out to the category of long-term goals. Keep in mind that there is some money available through federal programs such as CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program). Certain equipment may be available at little or no cost from some government agencies.
In the last installment of this column, we covered the need for mapping out your property and the surrounding properties. These maps are critical to laying out your game plan for habitat improvement. Knowing what resources are already available on your property will guide you in determining what work you can do that will result in the greatest return for your money and time. What wildlife species do you want to attract and hold on your property? What projects can be accomplished over the next several months? What improvements will be set as long-term goals?
Is your main interest in improving the deer hunting on your property? Or do you want to increase the successful hunting of spring or fall turkeys on your land?
If you are a rabbit hunter or an upland game hunter who wants better grouse hunting, there are numerous things you can do for each of these game animals and birds – some improvements may be expensive to implement and time-consuming, and yet some are low cost and take little time to complete. But initially, you need to list the wildlife species you want to benefit most and then list whether your desire is to provide better cover or better food sources, or both – depending on the initial inventory of the land’s resources that you have completed.
Establish a section of your plan for the management of your fields and open areas and another section for the management of your woodlots and forested tracts. You can liken caring for either the fields or the woods as like caring for a vegetable garden. In a vegetable garden, you must continually eliminate weeds and sometimes fertilize the vegetable plants. If you do not, the aggressive weeds will soon overtake the good plants, and the garden will not be productive.
The very same occurs if you leave fields or woods completely unattended. The fields will be slowly taken over you undesirable invasive species such as multiflora rose, autumn olive, barberry, and Tartarian honeysuckle. Periodic mowing and perhaps occasional spraying should keep these things in check and benefit the desirable plants that you want to promote.
Woodlots and forests in north-central Pennsylvania can easily become overrun with undesirable species such as striped maple and New York or hay-scented ferns. Spraying herbicides is the most effective way of eliminating these invasive plants. Based on your goals for your desired species of wildlife, you might also consider some type or types of harvesting some of the trees. A timber stand improvement with emphasis on removing less desirable trees and leaving the healthier and more desirable species is usually a good step to include in your plan. It may provide some income that can be used to complete other projects in your plan. Clearcuts are usually not recommended over large areas, but when accomplished in small plots, can create beneficial openings in an otherwise completely forested area.
Once you have completed these steps and you have all of your ideas in writing, it is time to turn to the “experts” so that they may analyze and help fine-tune your game plan. They can help develop a timetable for your overall plan and suggest some programs that may be available to you, maximize your time and help control costs.
