Wildlife Habitat Management

I often get calls from folks asking about how to attrack wildlife to their farm land or farm. There is lots of information out there but the most reliable will be from university and agencies. With that in mind, during 2006 and 2007 the Missouri Department of Conservation, USDA ,NRCS and MU Extension cooperatively developed a series of 21 “wildlife habitat management technical fact sheets” that provide information on specific practices that can be conducted to enhance habitats for a variety of wildlife species. These have been revised for 2008 and are easily accessible through the following two links:

http://efotg.nrcs.usda.gov/efotg_locator.aspx?map=MO (click on any county)

http://www.mo.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/forms/wildlife.html

The complete series includes the following:

Forest stand improvement for wildlife
Prescribed burn for wildlife
Permanent forest openings for wildlife
Shallow water management for wildlife
Edge feathering
Quail covey headquarters
Quail covey headquarters appendix (shrub planting guide)
Native forb and non-native legume interseeding
Downed tree structure
Woody cover control – fencelines and woody draws
Woody cover control – prairie, glade, savanna
Light disking
Food plots
Herbicide application for plant succession management
Temporary forest openings for wildlife
Wildlife watering facility
Forest trails and landings
Controlling undesirable species
Managing native hay prairies
Glade, prairie and savanna herbaceous establishment
Shrub lespedeza establishment

I will soon have these on the MAC website as well. They will be listed under the letter "W" for wildlife, attracting.