Recruiting Forum Football Talk IV

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#149,254
#149,254
SoilVol said:
Wildlife like bear, deer, turkey, grouse, etc need a variety of habitat types, transition zones, and early successional habitat. Much of the Smokies is contiguous old growth that doesn't provide that. That's why the wildlife is concentrated around places like Cades Cove, the trails, and the edge of the park. I don't have the link currently but they did some tracking collar studies on bears at one point and the same bears getting into trash in North Carolina were getting into trash in Gatlinburg and they traveled along road corridors and hiking trails. Never passing through the center of the forest. Other surveys have observed similar things. Additionally think of elk. Elk are actually grazers and thats why the do so well at Big South Fork where they have a lot more meadows and pasture.

Clear cutting isn't necessarily the answer, but its actually helpful in some instances and simulates natural setbacks like fire, tornadoes, etc that may take out a section of forest. What comes up is highly nutritious browse, soft mass food like berries, cover for bedding or egg laying, etc. A mosaic of habitat types is the most wildlife friendly option for forests. You need patches of old growth for some species. Patches of mid-tier forest. Patches of open ground. Etc. It looks like a total mess to humans, but its best for wildlife. The fire that hit the Smokies in 2016 was actually great for the park from a biologic point of view. We even have pine species up there that require fire for their cones to open.

Ruffed Grouse Society has been advocating logging operations where they take out 5-10 acre patches in the mountains and leave the debris. It provides a ton of habitat for everything from small game to bear and deer.

Tennessee used to be a mosaic. It had old growth with open understories, oak savannahs, prairie grasslands, oak-hickory forest, cedar glades, etc etc.
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Blame the clearcutting in the early 1900s by Little River Lumber Co. and others, and Smokey Bear's push for fire prevention/suppression. Super thick regrowth that's impossible to move through... also provides an enormous amount of fuel loads for potentially massive fires, especially in drier conditions. About 25% of the Park is old-growth according to NPS.

FWIW, Henri Grissino-Mayer used to be the fire expert at UTK-Geography, but he got kicked out for messing around with female students... Anyway, he's got a bunch of research out there.. lol
 
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#149,256
#149,256
thistime said:
I have a friend that his wifes family owns a ranch that abuts the Eastern side of Yellowstone in Wyoming. They run a ranch where as he puts it "City folk can play Cowboy for a week". Anyway he was telling me about the Grizzles and Wolves around their ranch. He said up until about 20 years ago it was rare to see a Grizzle on the ranch and Wolves were not that big of a deal but now when his daughters, wife, farm hand or whom ever goes to feed the horses (they raise them for the business) they have got to carry a gun. He said you never know what or how many are on the other side of the barn.

He also said that every person that lives in Los Angles or New York should have a bear or a wolf that lives really really close. He said it gives you a different perspective for sure.
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There’s quite the conflict going on out there because the wolves are now thriving and doing what they do. Ranchers aren’t happy because the wolves are running out of prey in places like Yellowstone NP and are leaving the park to hunt. The elk population is way down.
Cattle are being killed all around.

Supposedly, many years ago when they reintroduced wolves to Yellowstone, they didn’t use the native wolf. (There’s disagreement over this.). Again supposedly, the native wolf is the Timberwolf, not the larger gray wolf. Some who have no problem with wolves being there think it should’ve been the smaller, less aggressive Timberwolf.
 
#149,260
#149,260
bignewt said:
Understandable. What I get from that is that all was good till the white man showed up.
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Only one solution...
LWr9OS.gif
 
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#149,261
#149,261
SoilVol said:
Wildlife like bear, deer, turkey, grouse, etc need a variety of habitat types, transition zones, and early successional habitat. Much of the Smokies is contiguous old growth that doesn't provide that. That's why the wildlife is concentrated around places like Cades Cove, the trails, and the edge of the park. I don't have the link currently but they did some tracking collar studies on bears at one point and the same bears getting into trash in North Carolina were getting into trash in Gatlinburg and they traveled along road corridors and hiking trails. Never passing through the center of the forest. Other surveys have observed similar things. Additionally think of elk. Elk are actually grazers and thats why the do so well at Big South Fork where they have a lot more meadows and pasture.

Clear cutting isn't necessarily the answer, but its actually helpful in some instances and simulates natural setbacks like fire, tornadoes, etc that may take out a section of forest. What comes up is highly nutritious browse, soft mass food like berries, cover for bedding or egg laying, etc. A mosaic of habitat types is the most wildlife friendly option for forests. You need patches of old growth for some species. Patches of mid-tier forest. Patches of open ground. Etc. It looks like a total mess to humans, but its best for wildlife. The fire that hit the Smokies in 2016 was actually great for the park from a biologic point of view. We even have pine species up there that require fire for their cones to open.

Ruffed Grouse Society has been advocating logging operations where they take out 5-10 acre patches in the mountains and leave the debris. It provides a ton of habitat for everything from small game to bear and deer.

Tennessee used to be a mosaic. It had old growth with open understories, oak savannahs, prairie grasslands, oak-hickory forest, cedar glades, etc etc.
Click to expand...
I too am an advocate for the return of megafauna to certain habitats around the world
 
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#149,271
#149,271
thistime said:
They do a lot of guided Elk hunts and things like that as well. I never have been and he wants us to stay with them out there. The only way my wife is camping is if they can haul a NICE hotel everywhere on the ranch they make camp.
Click to expand...
Just out of curiosity how many elk line up to go on these guided hunts? . Does not sound like a sustainable business model to me.
 
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#149,273
#149,273
Wife's bday tomorrow sheesh she's the world worse for Its my Bday she would take Ballon animals and cupcakes at the park if I would do it lol..I do what I can but sh*t ain't easy out here I'd love to say im searching for a new Tacoma or Dodge but I'm doing good to keep gas in the one I got.Imma have to start a Go Fund my Refrigerator before long
 
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