The Upland Almanac – July 2019

UA For the Birds

The North American Grouse Partnership works to insure the health of not only the

various grouse species but also the habitats that serve as homes to them. (Photo/

NAGP)

officials and agency personnel are doing what’s best for the

future of grouse, their habitats and our chances to enjoy them.

Last spring, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife

Agencies (WAFWA) decided to reassess its role in the

management of lesser prairie chicken (LPC) and the mitigation

programs it runs. The North American Grouse Partnership

(NAGP) has been at the forefront, working with WAFWA and

other partners to ensure that LPC programs are effective and

efficient and that the right actions are being taken at the right

places at the right times and at the right costs.

In 2017, NAGP and our conservation partners held

our inaugural Dream Hunt for greater prairie chickens and

sharptailed grouse in South Dakota. We are exploring hosting

our second dream hunt in Kansas in late December or early

January, which will give you the opportunity to hunt greater

prairie chickens, quail and pheasants. If you are interested in

participating, please contact us at NAGP@grousepartners.

org with Dream Hunt as the subject line. Participation will be

extremely limited and filled on a first come, first served basis.

Ruffed Grouse Society/American

Woodcock Society

Sean Curran Named Vice President of Mission

Sustainability

The mission of creating

wildlife habitat has been

part of the motivation

and demonstrated skillset

of the newly appointed

Vice President of Mission

Sustainability Sean Curran, who began working for the Ruffed

Grouse Society and American Woodcock Society (RGS/AWS)

on April 1, 2019, with the focus to provide strategic leadership

and oversight for all major donor and corporate partner

programs.

Curran previously served in a similar role the past five

years as vice president of membership and development with

the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance.

Woodcock Limited

In April, Woodcock

Limited was a sponsor for the

Woodcock Wingbee. The event

has been held annually since

1964, with this year’s event

hosted by Michigan’s DNR

at the Ralph A. MacMullan

Center in Roscommon,

Michigan. About 30 woodcock biologists from Denver to

the Moosehorn Refuge in northern Maine, from Michigan to

Louisiana, and from Minnesota to Tennessee examined about

11,000 wings this year. They represented five state agencies,

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the U.S.

Geological Survey. Interestingly, woodcock can be both sexed

as well as aged by examining their wings. Information gleaned

from the Wingbee is used by the USFWS to help determine

seasons and harvest limits for woodcock.

By sending in wings from their harvested woodcock,

hunters can “participate” in the Wingbee and identify with

being part of an ongoing 55-year study beneficial to our

understanding of the bird.

Biologists from across the U.S. gathered in Roscommon, Michigan, for the 2019

Wingbee, during which they examined about 11,000 woodcock wings. (Photo/

Michigan DNR)