Additional Resources: Wildlife and Forest Management

Online Resources

Extension web sites

• Michigan State University Extension
• University of Minnesota Extension
• University of Wisconsin Extension

Wildlife agency websites

• Michigan Department of Natural Resources
• Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• U.S. Department of Agriculture APHIS– Wildlife Services

Wildlife Organization Web Sites

• National Wild Turkey Federation. The NWTF is a national nonprofit conservation and hunting organization that works for conservation of the wild turkey and preservation of our hunting heritage.
• Ruffed Grouse Society. The RGS and its members are mainly grouse and woodcock hunters who support national scientific conservation and management efforts to ensure the future of the species. It employs a team of wildlife biologists to work with private landowners and government agencies that are interested in improving their land for ruffed grouse, American woodcock and the other songbirds and wildlife that have similar habitat requirements.
• Quality Deer Management Association. The QDMA is a national organization that works to ensure the future of white-tailed deer, wildlife habitat, and hunting heritage.

Wildlife Damage Management Resources

• Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management. This website consolidates a large amount of information on integrated pest management of wildlife species. Look up information by wildlife species.
• Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage (two volumes). Information on preventing and controlling wildlife damage, organized by species. Book edited by Hygnstrom, S.E., R.M. Timm, and G.E. Larson and available from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture – Wildlife Services. This website contains fact sheets and technical assistance to other agencies. Some fact sheets may be useful to landowners.

Wildlife Management and Identification Resources

• Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles of the Midwest. This document lists amphibians and reptiles found in several different habitats and how to manage each of those habitats Edited in 2012 by Kingsbury, B.A. and J. Gibson for the Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.
• How to Inventory and Monitor Wildlife on Your Land. This document describes Wisconsin’s ecoregions and habitats, then offers practical advice about how to inventory and monitor wildlife species or groups of species in each area. Published in 2000 by R. Christoffel, D. Covell, S. Craven, and R. Ruff. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Publ-WM-294-00. Wildlife and Your Land Series. 72 pp.

Woodland Habitat Management Resources

• Beyond the Suburbs: A Landowner’s Guide to Conservation Management Published by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in 2001,this publication aims to help Minnesota landowners with 1 to 40 acres understand the benefits and consequences of your land-use activities, establish realistic goals, find management alternatives for a variety of land features, develop a plan of action, link to additional resources, and answer questions most commonly asked by landowners.
• Managing Michigan Wildlife: A Landowners Guide. Published by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in 1999, this resource offers very specific wildlife management solutions from the perspective of habitat (forest, wetland, grassland, cropland, and backyard) and wildlife species. There are dozens of habitat classifications and it provides a list of wildlife organizations.

• Ponds: Planning, Design, Construction (Agriculture Handbook 590). This handbook describes embankment and excavated ponds and outlines the requirements for building each. An embankment pond is made by building an embankment or dam across a stream or watercourse where the stream valley is depressed enough to permit storing 5 feet or more of water. The land slope may range from gentle to steep. The criteria and recommendations are for dams that are less than 35 feet high and located where failure of the structure will not result in loss of life; in damage to homes, commercial or industrial buildings, main highways, or railroads; or in interrupted use of public utilities. An excavated pond is made by digging a pit or dugout in a nearly level area.

Print Resources

• Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Lakes Region. 1997. Harding, J. H. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. 378 p. This book provides information on 75 species of snakes, turtles, toads, and lizards, including: identification, other confusing species, distribution and status, habitat and ecology, reproduction and growth, and conservation.
• Bird Tracks and Signs: A Guide to North American Species. 2001. Elbroch, M., and E. Marks. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. 464 p. This fully illustrated guide offers instruction for identifying bird families or individual species by examining the unique sign they leave behind, such as tracks, trails, discarded feathers, feeding leftovers and caches, pellets, nests, droppings, and skulls and bones. It includes songbirds, waterfowl, owls, shorebirds, warblers, woodpeckers, nightjars, and birds of prey.
• Ecology and Management of Large Mammals in North America. 2000. Demarais, S., and P. R. Krausman. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. 778 p. This book  provides authoritative, state-of-the-art, single-source coverage of the full range of North American big game species from an ecological perspective.
• Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region. 1996. Stokes, D. W., and L. Q. Stokes. 1996. New York: Little, Brown. 496 p. This is an identification guide with 900 photographs. All information pertaining to a species is on the same page: color photograph, range map, and detailed text information (e.g., behavior, voice, feeding, nesting, and habitat).
• Mammals of the Great Lakes Region (3rd edition). 2017. Kurta, A. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. 416 p. This book provides natural histories of 83 mammals living in the Great Lakes ecosystem along with numerous black-and-white photographs and drawings, range maps, multiple views of mammal skulls, and chapters on capturing small mammals and specimen preparation.
• Mammal Tracks and Signs: A Guide to North American Species. 2003. Elbroch, M. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. 792 p. For 135 mammal species, this book provides track and trail illustrations, range maps, and full-color photographs showing feeding signs, scat, tunnels, burrows, bedding areas, remains, and more.
• Planning for the Birds: Things to Consider When Managing Your Forest. 1998. Pearson, C. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 35 p. This illustrated booklet for private landowners and public land managers describes the benefits that forests provide to birds, and how bird habitat can be improved on their woodland property. It also explains how Minnesota’s 150 species of forest birds provide important economic benefits and ecological services as a vital part of the forest ecosystem. Common timber harvest methods and the birds helped by each are discussed, with sections focused on various regions of the state.
• Managing Northern Forests for Wildlife. Published by Gordon Gullion in 1984, this book offers a how-to approach to managing aspen and other northern forest types to benefit wildlife, with an emphasis on ruffed grouse.