Hard times in WV for ruffed grouse

By Chris Lawrence


For avid grouse hunters in West Virginia, these are difficult days.   Even in a good brood year, the ruffed grouse continues to be a fragile species in the Mountain State and throughout the Appalachian region.

“I have reports this year of people going in during archery season and putting up multiple broods on their way into a tree stand in certain parts of the state,”  said DNR Biologist Keith Krantz who oversees grouse research for the agency. “I thought that was pretty encouraging.”

But even encouraging reproduction cannot counter what has become the single biggest obstacle for grouse populations in West Virginia, habitat loss.

“Grouse hunting is on the decline just based on habitat,” said Krantz. “We’re just not cutting as many trees across the state and without that early successional habitat, the grouse just doesn’t do as well and that’s what we’re seeing.”

Gone are the days of vast tracts of land timbered and left to regenerate anew.  The new growth becomes the prime living condition for the ruffed grouse.  The downturn in the housing market caused a substantial reduction in timber sales across the state.   Environmental activism is another difficult obstacle to overcome.

“The Forest Service used to cut many, many millions of board feet a year and they don’t anymore due to the pressure they’ve been put under,”  Krantz said.  “They still do some timber sales, but where it used to be more than 30-Million board feet, now it’s more like 2-Million and doesn’t get a lot of emphasis.”

The DNR has taken a more active approach to habitat restoration.  Several wildlife management areas in the state have been slated for select timber sales.  The sales are purely managed to enhance habitat, but even still are merely a drop in the bucket.

“We’re slowly working toward putting more of our areas into a greater percentage of that young frest habitat, but we own a very small chunk of real estate in West Virginia.”

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