After three years of work by more than 50 natural resource professionals in the United States and Canada, the Ruffed Grouse Conservation Plan for North America has been completed, reports the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI). The Plan is designed to provide wildlife and habitat managers' with guidance on how much grouse habitat is needed within ruffed grouse range to stabilize grouse numbers at 1980 levels. The Plan complements the other bird conservation planning efforts accomplished under the North American Bird Conservation Initiative.

"The ruffed grouse is one of North America's most widely distributed upland game birds and is hunted annually by approximately 1 million sportsmen and women," said Dan Dessecker of the Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS). "The Ruffed Grouse Conservation Plan is intended to help secure a bright future for this incredible bird and the hunters who pursue it with such passion."

The ruffed grouse is a so-called "edge species," and is found primarily in early successional deciduous and mixed-forest habitats.

The Plan documents trends in ruffed grouse populations and habitats between 1980 and the present, and it outlines management recommendations to maintain populations and habitats at 1980 levels. Farm abandonment throughout much of the eastern United States in the early- to mid-20th Century may have allowed ruffed grouse populations to reach densities higher than historical norms during this period. Therefore, 1980 was selected as the base year because it likely represents a point in time when abandoned lands had moved beyond the early successional stage.

The authors of the Plan were challenged by the absence of a range-wide population monitoring database for ruffed grouse. Instead, the Plan bases grouse population estimates on the availability of forest habitats and expected grouse densities to be found in those habitats. Because of the consistency used by the planners in estimating grouse populations, comparisons were available between regions and between time periods.

Results of this comparison show that ruffed grouse numbers are relatively stable in the Great Lakes states but declining throughout much of the eastern United States, as eastern forests mature. On the other hand, substantial increase in young forests through harvest of mature forests in portions of eastern Canada have likely led to increases in ruffed grouse populations on these landscapes.

Ruffed grouse are not as numerous in the West as in the East, but are found there primarily in aspen and other deciduous forest land. The vast, hillside, coniferous forests of the West support ruffed grouse at relatively low population densities. Due in part to recent large-scale fires throughout the western U.S. and Canada, the amount of early successional forest habitat has increased there and, so too, have ruffed grouse.

At the northern edge of the species' range in Alaska, ruffed grouse populations appear to be reasonably stable. Here, too, recent wildfires have created vast areas of young forest, some of which are developing into quality ruffed grouse habitat.

In total, disregarding the regional differences in population trends, the estimated rangewide ruffed grouse population has increased from 3.6 million in the 1980s to 3.7 million in 2005.

One issue affecting the ability of wildlife management agencies to outline and implement ruffed grouse conservation strategies effectively is a lack of basic information on ruffed grouse populations in some regions. Few states or provinces annually gather data on spring breeding populations, reproductive success, and hunter effort and harvest. These informational gaps complicate efforts to assess accurately grouse population response to changes in habitat conditions or hunting regulations.

The Ruffed Grouse Conservation Plan clearly outlines the relationship between ruffed grouse and young forests. It also reveals serious ramifications to ruffed grouse numbers if young forest habitats are eliminated or allowed to mature in some regions. Other bird conservation planning efforts, such as the American Woodcock Conservation Plan, the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative and those for songbirds, carry the same message. Only by providing a full array of managed forest habitats, from early succession to old-growth, can the needs of all forest wildlife be met.

Financial support for development of the Ruffed Grouse Conservation Plan was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Ruffed Grouse Society, Wildlife Management Institute, and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The Plan was edited by Dan Dessecker, RGS, Gary Norman of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and Scot Williamson, WMI.

The Plan may be viewed or downloaded at www.ruffedgrousesociety.org. For more information, contact Dan Dessecker, RGS, at 715-234-8302.