The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recently launched a new program that is helping the Wildlife Management Institute advance its Upper Great Lakes Young Forest Initiative. The program, called Grouse Enhanced Management Systems (GEMS), currently has seven units in the state's Upper Peninsula and the northern part of the Lower Peninsula, with at least three more units planned over the next two years. The first GEMS site will be dedicated on Drummond Island in Chippewa County at the eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula on September 4.

When people think of gems, they envision bright, multifaceted objects with great value. That's an apt description of the GEMS program. GEMS are bright ? lush green with new growth of aspen and other plants in spring and summer, gold and orange in autumn when thousands of acres of young forest light up with fall colors. GEMS are multifaceted, used by hunters, birdwatchers and recreationalists, and inhabited by a wide range of wildlife including ruffed grouse and American woodcock, two popular game birds in Michigan. And GEMS are valuable, to local communities that profit from hunters' visits and purchases, and to national forests and private companies managing lands where GEMS are located and who will conduct timber harvests on the 1,500- to 10,000-acre tracts.

At the Drummond Island GEMS site dedication on September 4, Keith Creagh, director of Michigan DNR, will speak, as will John Eichinger, president and CEO of Ruffed Grouse Society/American Woodcock Society. Also on hand will be Al Stewart, DNR's Upland Game Bird Specialist and Program Leader, as well as representatives of the Drummond Island Tourism Association and others who have helped make the GEMS program a reality.

On GEMS units, aspen harvest rotations are being shortened from the normal 60 years to 40 years. All of the timber on the units will be harvested at different intervals over that 40-year span, with cutting taking place generally every 3 to 5 years somewhere on a unit so there's always fresh habitat coming along.

Says Stewart, "Cutting has already taken place on all seven of our current GEMS areas. Michigan DNR is committed to developing a total of ten GEMS sites statewide by 2016. The idea is to move these harvest areas from being good habitat for grouse, woodcock and other young forest wildlife, to being excellent habitat."

Two-track logging roads crisscross each unit. The roads are gated off at entry points to provide walking trails through the intensively managed habitat. Grouse and woodcock hunters can let their dogs range on either side of the trails without worrying about danger from passing vehicles. Well-mapped and marked, the trails should attract youth, senior and inexperienced hunters as well as veterans.

GEMS will likely become destination points for hardcore bird hunters ? including many from other states ? who want to hunt their way across Michigan. "The GEMS program is a great new initiative that promotes hunter recruitment and also bridges that important gap between hunters, local communities and businesses," adds Stewart. Although the lands are managed specifically for grouse, other hunters will also enjoy success in finding snowshoe hares, deer and bear.

GEMS will be great places for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, to hike and view wildlife, and to enjoy the long views and scenery of these productive natural settings. "Birders will find early successional species that they don't get to view very often in older, more-mature forested habitats across much of northern Michigan," Stewart says. "Whip-poor-wills, towhees, golden-winged warblers, white-throated sparrows ? those are just a few of the many birds that need shrubland and young forest. They'll thrive right along with the woodcock and grouse."

At present, Michigan is the top-ranked state for American woodcock harvest and is an important production state for this game bird. In 2012, Michigan woodcock hunters harvested approximately 106,900 birds (some 35 percent of the nationwide total) during 213,000 days afield. Michigan is one of the top three states in the nation for ruffed grouse hunting, with grouse hunters spending 615,628 days afield. The GEMS program should help keep Michigan at or near the top in these categories into the future.

Partners in the GEMS program include Michigan Department of Natural Resources; Ruffed Grouse Society/American Woodcock Society; U.P. Habitat Fund; Upper Great Lakes Young Forest Initiative; Plum Creek Timberlands; Hiawatha, Ottawa, and Huron-Manistee National Forests; and the City of Marquette. Michigan DNR continues to look for partners with large landholdings to create additional GEMS sites, and local businesses that can help in promoting the trails system. Some businesses offer discounts when hunters come in with a photo of themselves standing by a GEMS sign. (cf)