Habitat Management - Wildlife Management Pro

Amazing New Research on Soil Hydrology

We may have to discard some of the assumptions made regarding what we once thought about soil hydrology. It seems that water and soil to not act the way we though they did. This could have huge ramifications for modeling, as well as on the ground applications regarding ecosystems and wildlife management.

Researchers have discovered that some of the most fundamental assumptions about how water moves through soil in a seasonally dry climate will have to be reconsidered. A new study by scientists from Oregon State University and the Environmental Protection Agency showed — much to the surprise of the researchers — that soil clings tenaciously to the first precipitation after a dry summer, and holds it so tightly that it almost never mixes with other water! Continue reading Amazing New Research on Soil Hydrology

Quail Management Assistance Program

In an effort to provide more comprehensive quail management assistance, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) is starting has implemented the Quail Management Assistance Program (QMAP). While no additional habitat cost-share is available through QMAP, being a QMAP participant will insure landowners are updated on available cost-share opportunities.

To enroll in QMAP, complete the application provided on the VDGIF website and follow the instructions. QMAP cooperators will be asked to provide an aerial photograph of their property, an optional e-mail address and GPS coordinates, if available. QMAP will help VDGIF establish a QMAP listserv for rapid communications with program participants. It will also provide a link for like minded landowners to work together. In addition, it will facilitate establishing a quail habitat database, helping track habitat additions as they occur throughout Virginia. Continue reading Quail Management Assistance Program

Grazing Land Stewardship: A Manual for Texas Landowners

Texas’ grazing lands are a critical natural resource and managing them is both a science and an art. With the introduction of the “Grazing Land Stewardship: A Manual for Texas Landowners,” even those who are new to land ownership and/or habitat management will have the tools and information needed to be good stewards of the land and manage for quail, turkey, and white-tailed deer. The how-to manual has three sections that include Grazing Basics (what makes land healthy, livestock nutrition, forage quality, water and fences, grazing behavior), Getting Started (setting goals, land inventories, grazing strategies), and Follow Through (record keeping, managing livestock, managing wildlife habitat).

The Grazing Lands Stewardship manual helps connect landowners and managers with trained professionals in the field. Many of these professionals have received specialized training and have worked with ranchers throughout the state and across the U.S. They have seen have practices have endured and have developed a core set of principles that can build a foundation for successful land management. Continue reading Grazing Land Stewardship: A Manual for Texas Landowners

Galveston Oyster Reef Restoration

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has received a $50,000 grant from the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (SARP) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to continue and expand oyster reef restoration in Galveston Bay. They recently completed the first phase of the restoration project in September of 2009.

Phase 2 will restore at least 2.5 acres of oyster reef habitat, divided up into several smaller patches of reef habitat. The purpose is to improve recreational fishing in the area and to to provide other “ecoystem sercies” from oyster reefs. The reefs will be located near privately owned piers and in waters currently closed to commercial oyster fishing due to high bacteria counts. Continue reading Galveston Oyster Reef Restoration

Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife

An updated and revised version of the book “Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife” will be available through Texas A&M Press and fine booksellers everywhere beginning on November 14, 2009. Author Kelly Conrad Bender of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Urban Wildlife Program worked with many partners to create the update, which comes with a new companion DVD. As Bender says, “No more long, confusing tables in the back of the book–all that has been replaced by a convenient, easy-to-use DVD that will help you look for just the right grouping of plants for your Wildscape.”

She credits “a huge debt of gratitude” to the Capital Area Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists, who were instrumental in completing the DVD. For those who want to manage small acreage properties, there’s even new a “Virtual Biologist” in the Planning section of the DVD that asks questions about the landowner’s goals and property, then produces a habitat management plan consistent with 1-d-1 tax valuation, wildlife option. Continue reading Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife

State Battles Giant Salvinia at Toledo Bend

During the first weekend in November (2009), helicopter crews sprayed EPA-approved herbicides on floating mats of giant salvinia and water hyacinth at Toledo Bend Reservoir, where recent floods had flushed the floating, invasive water weeds into more areas of the rain-swollen reservoir, affecting some 2,000 total surface acres. Late last week, the worst infestations were reported on the Texas portion of the reservoir, with many plants being pushed by southerly winds against the shore and into small south-facing coves, some of which were 100 percent covered.

The herbicide application was done by crews from North Star Helicopter, Inc., of Jasper under contract with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Officials had said the spraying of salvinia might take up to seven days depending on weather, but the company started Saturday morning and completed work by mid-day Sunday using two copters equipped with special spraying gear. It will now take several weeks for plants to turn brown, sink to the bottom and die. Continue reading State Battles Giant Salvinia at Toledo Bend

Wildlife Management: Soybeans for Deer

Soybeans can be great for supplementing white-tailed deer. Soybeans are warm season legumes that require more fertilization with additional phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in order to provide a high level of protein and growth. Forunately, soybeans can be easily planted from seed and will germinate in only a few days if adequate moisture is present. In addition, the beans can be fed directly to whitetail if purchased in bags. Whole soybeans can be purchased in the “raw” or roasted form.

Soybeans are often eaten in food plots by whitetail in both the foliage stage (green beans) and after the beans have matured. Some varieties of beans can easily reseed after the seed falls to the ground. A few varieties will produce plant material into the late season up until frost. Inoculation improves growth by allowing the plants to develop their own nitrogen. Continue reading Wildlife Management: Soybeans for Deer