06-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 7, 1998
JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
YORK (York Co) - The crow
ing of nngnecked pheasants
once echoed around the fields
and meadows of southcentral
Pennsylvania But the numbers
of these brilliantly-plumed
birds have plunged over the past
few decades, until they have
become almost a rarity on may
area farms.
A national group of pheasant
enthusiasts has dedicated itself
toward reestablishing the popu
lations that were once common
place in some parts of the coun
try, but which have diminished
in recent times
Several active members of
the Susquehanna Valley chapter
of Pheasants Forever are work
ing diligently in York County
with farm and conservation seg
ments toward helping to
reestablish the once prominent
game bird
"We don't stock pheasants,
we are about habitat and educa
tion," emphasized York countian
Mike Thoman, habitat chairman
for the local chapter Much of
that educational effort is direct
ed toward helping landowners
establish plots of habitat and
nesting cover catering to the
preferences of nngnecks.
Thoman compares the plight
of the nngnecks to that of the
Eastern bluebird, which, until
recently, was also becoming a
rarity By building and siting
bluebird houses across the coun
tryside, an involved public has
helped to restore the bluebirds
to more plentiful numbers
Pheasants Forever members
would like to replicate that
effort with the nngneck species
"If they don't have the proper
conditions, they'll go by the way
side," Thoman said, of the
pheasant's short lifespan of two
to three years "So, it doesn't
take too long to wipe out a popu
lation "
Pheasants need suitable win
ter habitat to maintain popula
tions through the periods of
short feed and reduced cover
While corn and small gram
residue once provided such cover
with abundance, those acres
have steadily diminished over
the years And while farmers
have found it economical to fol
low small grains with soybean
plantings, soybean stubble
leaves sparse cover for game
birds.
Thus, a key focus of Pheasants
Forever habitat restoration is
planting of plots of suitable
cover grasses, with special
emphasis on switchgrass
Though notoriously slow to start
and become established, this
native perennial grass offers
ideal habitat for pheasants
One established, switchgrass
holds up well in drought, main
tains a stand for about 20 years
once well established, and will
generally yield at least one good
cutting of hay that is well suited
for both dry dairy cow and beef
cow feed And, though it gives
less yield, switchgrass' drought
resistant tendencies keep it
growing when other hav crops
succumb to lack of moisture
While snow cover will partial
Iv flatten thi dried standing
stalks of swilchgiass it does not
collapse completely to the
giound \ bunch grass, it helps
form "tunnel " beneath a cover
of snow pissages m which birds
ukl small ,1111111 ds can seek food
Pheasants Forever Pursue Habitat Development
in relative safety.
Switchgrass has become part
of the vocabulary of one of
Thoman's fellow Yorkers and
enthusiast is the pheasant pro
ject, Kevin Roland.
"In 1992, the word 'switch
grass' could have been French,
for all I knew about it," said
Roland, who works actively with
public relations and promotion
for the local chapter.
In York County, the
Susquehanna Valley Pheasants
Forever group is cooperating
with the Army Corps of
Engineers to establish plots of
switchgrass habitat on State
Game Lands which form part of
the flood plain maintained for
the Indian Rock Dam
The dam on the Codorus
Creek, an emergency one closed
periodically when unusually
heavy rams threaten downtown
York, backs up water on acres of
flood plain, then releases it slow
ly to prevent the flooding of the
city.
The chapter is also beginning
to work with the Pennsylvania
Game Commission, Chesapeake
Bay and various United States
Department of Agriculture con
servation-related programs
aimed at helping farmers and
landowners develop habitat
favorable for pheasant habitat.
The Wildlife Habitat
Incentive Program (WHIP) is
one of the most recent programs
developed from the 1996 Farm
Bill which may offer a further
boost toward the goals of
Pheasants Forever. Information
on that program is available
from local offices of USDA's
Farm Service Agencies.
"We're still getting our feet
wet in experimenting with
plantings," Thoman said. Much
of that effort starts with their
annual auction, which is the
prime source of the funds the
chapter raises toward financing
its pheasant restoration pro
grams.
Because of limited funds and
the increasing costs of habitat
establishment Pheasants
Forever activists can only tackle
a handful of their ambitious
goals
In working with landowners
interested in establishing habi
tat, the chapter focuses on help
ing provide seed for the planti
ngs But switchgrass seed, for
instance, nearly' tripled in cost
from only one year ago In 1997,
it was available for $3 10 per
pound, while this season's cost
jumped to the sll-per-pound
range.
Recommended seeding rate is
10 pounds per acre; thus, seed
cost increases further limit the
chapter's ability to help develop
additional habitat So m addi
tion to their funding efforts,
sometimes these dedicated
gamebird enthusiasts offer their
own labor
At the Steve Martin farm
near Spring Grove, the chapter
has jumped in to help with state
and local agency conservation
program efforts under way to
restoie meadow wetlands
The site was once a pond
which w'ashed away during
extremely heavy rainfall many
years ago As part of the restora
tion of the meadow, steambank
fencing and cattle water troughs
are being installed as well as an
emergency spillwav tn handle
possible future flood threats to
the low-King area
From the left, Mike Thoman, Kevin Rohland and Wendy Zwally look over a wildlife
cover planting done through the effort of the Susquehanna Valley Chapter of Pheas
ants Forever, an international organization devoted to the restoration and preserva
tion of pheasant habitat. Thoman and Rohland are with Pheasants Forever, while
Zwally is with the the York County Soil Conservation District. The planting incorpo
rates switchgrass.
A
'*V
Conservation staffers work with leveling equipment in the conversion effort to
make a washed-out pond into a wetlands-wildlife area, on the Spring Grove area farm
of Steve Martin.
Pheasants Forever members
have helped with physical labor,
primarily helping to clear multi
flora rose stands, and will fur
ther fund costs of seeding.
Grasses such as redtop and tall
fesuce will be incorporated for
the particular planting.
"Part of our motivation is to
have demonstration sites at
places visible to the public,"
Thoman said. The Martin farm
roadside location, between
Seven Valleys and Jefferson in
southwestern York County, pro
vides an ideal site where
improvements being made are
easily visible to the public.
In an effort to maximize their
limited funds, the chapter earli
er donated $l,OOO for State
Game Lands plantings of
switchgrass in Cumberland
County With seed harvested
from that developing stand,
n
BUILDINGIKFUTURE
m
at* *
/S'
• «fo
' M *
* * * *//
Pheasants Forever has been
able to expand their involve
ment to Adams County.
"Pheasant habitat does not
need to be in the 'back 40's,"
Thoman said, explaining how
even small corners of land can
be useful for wildlife. "It can
enhance something that was
wasteland. And it's something
you may be able to do with just a
few acres; it doesn't have to be a
big area."
Participation in seeding pro
grams with Pheasants Forever
does not require a landowner to
open the land to hunting or pub
lic access. And, while most gov
ernment-related conservation
programs have specific require
ments to meet, Pheasants
Forever does not ask landown
ers to sign contracts of any sort.
However, they supply seed on
good faith, expecting partici-
pants to utilize the results
toward wildlife enhancement.
For instance, Pheasants
Forever is sometimes able to
obtain outdated seed from com
mercial seed companies for use
by landowners interested in
planting cover crops for wildlife
feed through the winter.
However, landowners who
receive and plant such donated
seed must leave the crop stand
for wildlife use; harvest from
such donated plantings may not
be used commercially.
The Susquehanna Chapter of
Pheasants Forever is interested
in working with landowners to
establish more habitat and pro
vide cover for ringnecks
Landowners seeking more infor
mation on their programs and
activities may contact the group
at PO. Box 7253, York, PA
17404-7253, or call Kevin
Rohland at 717-767-6548
Through this groups' untiring
devotion and efforts, working
hand-m-hand with cooperating
landowners, perhaps one day
the proud crow of the cockbird
nngneck will once again be a
commonplace sound across the
fields and meadows of southcen
tral Pennsylvania