Are you a landowner who wants to make young forest and shrubland on your property? A land manager who’d like to learn more about this important habitat? A natural resources professional or researcher looking for technical information? An educator, student, or communicator? You will find much useful information among these collected resources.
Brochure explaining the importance of young forest and shrubland habitat and how to create it.
Non-technical guide explaining how to create young forest to benefit wildlife and increase people's enjoyment of nature and the land, for private landowners and those who oversee state wildlife areas, parks, or forests; town or county forests; and nature preserves, land trust properties, and hunting clubs (24 pp.).
Mini-field guide of wildlife that may be seen in young forest as it grows back in the years following a habitat management project such as a timber harvest (24 pp.).
Brochure on creating young forest and shrubland habitat for wildlife, while also providing for carbon storage and promoting forest health.
Brochure on the initiative to conserve and restore the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis).
Detailed report on 65 birds, mammals, and reptiles that need young forest and shrubland, including recommendations on how to manage habitat for them (88 pp.).
Brochure on creating shrubland and young forest for the American woodcock (Scolopax minor).
Comprehensive report on the broad scope of efforts to create young forest and shrubland for wildlife (58 pp.).
Technical guide on how to plan for, protect, and create habitat for pollinating insects (52 pp.).
Research paper in The Auk on the importance of young forest habitat to forest-interior birds studied on the Allegheny National Forest and private industrial timberlands in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Regional land manager's guide explaining the best ways to create, enhance, and maintain habitat for the New England cottontail, Sylvilagus transitionalis (24 pp.).
Brochure from the Virginia Department of Forestry explaining how to build brush piles for wildlife.
Guide to the biology, habitat use, and reproduction of the wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta), as well as threats to the species and how to manage its habitat (32 pp.).
Conservation plan for the Eastern box turtle (Terrapena carolina) in the Northeastern United States (78 pp.).
Status Assessment and Conservation Plan for the spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) in the Eastern United States (285 pp.).
Popular article explaining how habitat management on forested lands of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) contributes to wildlife conservation while mitigating effects of climate change.
A report helping landowners make informed decisions about their woods by explaining the role that carbon plays in a forest and the impacts of various land-use options on forest carbon (28 pp.).
A review of the status of the golden-winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) and a conservation plan for the species (216 pp.).
Research paper in the Wildlife Society Bulletin describing the use of noninvasive genetic sampling to monitor a population of New England cottontails (Sylvilagus transitionalis) introduced to Bellamy River Wildlife Management Area in New Hampshire.
Research paper in Land reviewing the effectiveness of Working Lands for Wildlife, a program administered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and describing how managing public lands alone will not sufficiently address the habitat needs of most at-risk wildlife.
Guide explaining how natural resources professionals can effectively explain the need for creating and managing young forest habitat for wildlife on public and private lands (40 pp.).
Article in Pennsylvania Game News magazine describing young forest and explaining its importance to wildlife.
Brochure explaining how prescribed burning can safely create and enhance wildlife habitat in the Northeastern United States.
Information sheet explaining how managing forests in Connecticut helps wildlife while promoting climate change mitigation, the economy, and recreational opportunities.
Guide to creating and enhancing habitat for birds through the use of forest management practices (52 pp.).
Research paper in Frontiers in Genetics examining gene flow and genetic diversity in the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) and the eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus).
Research paper in Ecology and Evolution examining effects of different habitat management actions on the use of early successional habitat by the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) and the competing eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus).
Research paper in Northeastern Naturalist examining how native bees use flowering plants in habitat areas managed as young forest and shrubland for species such as American woodcock (Scolopax minor) and New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis).
Research paper in the Wildlife Society Bulletin evaluating the accuracy of rangewide surveys in detecting changes in local populations of New England cottontails (Sylvilagus transitionalis), and pointing to a continued and severe decline in the species' numbers.
Best Management Practices for creating habitat for the American woodcock (Scolopax minor) in the Appalachian Mountains Region in Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, West Virginia, and western Maryland and Virginia (28 pp.).
Best Management Practices for creating habitat for the American woodcock (Scolopax minor) in upland areas in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and the Adirondack Mountains in New York (12 pp.).
A summary of and recommendations for conserving the American woodcock (Scolopax minor) in North America (168 pp.).
An older but still helpful guidebook providing non-technical advice to landowners on how to make and refresh habitat for the American woodcock (25pp.).
Research paper in Journal of Wildlife Management explaining how small openings created in areas of older forest attract shrubland birds whose populations are dwindling in the Northeast.
Research paper in PLOS ONE on use of habitat that includes overstory trees by New England cottontails (Sylvilagus transitionalis) and competing eastern cottontails (Sylvilagus floridanus).
Report to the New England Cottontail Conservation Initiative on estimating the population of New England cottontails (Sylvilagus transitionalis) on habitat sites by collecting rabbit fecal pellets, identifying species through genetic testing, and developing an optimal survey protocol (23 pp.).
Frequently asked questions about the Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge in southern New England and eastern New York State.
Research paper in Journal of Mammalogy on behavior of New England cottontails (Sylvilagus transitionalis), including wild catch-and-release rabbits; wild-caught translocated rabbits; and rabbits introduced into the wild from a captive population.
Research paper in Journal of Wildlife Management evaluating best management practices designed to retain greater tree canopy closure to boost local populations of New England cottontails (Sylvilagus transitionalis) without encouraging competing, non-native eastern cottontails (Sylvilagus floridanus).
A guide explaining how to control invasive plants in upland and wetland natural communities, developed by New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau Invasive Plants Working Group (38 pp.).
Banner for public information meetings presenting the Young Forest Initiative of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.
Table-top or poster display for workshops, conferences, and public meetings.
Display showing wildlife use of different ages of forest.
Sign explaining importance of young forest to wildlife, for use on habitat management projects.
Sign for display on young forest and shrubland habitat creation projects.
Fact sheet explaining viral Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease or RHD.
Illustrated technical guide on how to create, restore, and manage habitat for New England cottontails in New York (38 pp.).
Popular article in Pennsylvania Game News magazine on the ruffed grouse population decline in Pennsylvania.
Guide for planting for pollinators in New Hampshire.
Research brief in North Atlantic Fire Science Exchange on how eastern hognose snakes (Heterodon platirhinos) use managed habitat in a pitch pine and scrub oak ecosystem in western Massachusetts.
Illustrated technical guide explaining how to manage grasslands, shrublands, and young forest habitats for wildlife in the Northeast, by biologists in the Northeast Upland Habitat Technical Committee and published in 2006 (148 pp.).
Conservation strategy for the New England cottontail updated 3/17/2023.
Research paper in Environmental Management on habitat management options and trade-offs in areas where at-risk wildlife species live among invasive shrubs and other plants.
Fact sheet explaining the Kunjamuk Young Forest Demonstration Project in New York's Adirondack Region. Includes a map.
Habitat guide on wild apple trees for wildlife published by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service.
Two-page information sheet on Helen W. Buckner Memorial Preserve at Bald Mountain in Vermont.
Map of hiking trails at Buckner Preserve in Vermont
Research paper in Biological Invasions on how introduced nonnative eastern cottontails (Sylvilagus floridanus) can affect the density and abundance of New England cottontails (Sylvilagus transitionalis) through competition for food and cover resources.
Six-page best management practices report for creating habitat for ruffed grouse in Pennsylvania.
Ten-page report on how to manage habitat for ruffed grouse in Pennsylvania.
Map of Mt. Nebo Wildlife Management Area, Maryland
Newsletter of the New England Cottontail Conservation Initiative.
Newsletter of the New England Cottontail Conservation Initiative.
Display panel on young forest habitat that visitors can view at an overlook in Groton State Forest in Vermont.
Map showing timber harvests and areas of young forest on Sparta Mtn. Wildlife Management Area, New Jersey.
Forest stewardship plan for creating young forest and native shrubland on Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area, New Jersey
This 144-page guide is focused on Vermont but has applicability elsewhere in the Northeast. It includes sections on managing for shrubland and young forest, and for wildlife including snowshoe hare, ruffed grouse, American woodcock, bats, reptiles and amphibians, and bees and other beneficial insects.
A 36-page guide published in 2008 explaining how landowners can create and manage habitat for New England cottontail rabbits.
