Undisturbed grassland habitat is the principal limiting factor for pheasant populations throughout Ohio.  Creating and protecting grasslands provides essential nesting and brood-rearing cover not only for pheasants, but also for bobwhite quail, wild turkey, and a host of songbirds and other wildlife.  MVPF specializes in building and managing native grasslands and supports programs encouraging the development of this critical habitat on private lands.

Below, you will find information concerning habitat programs and projects that we support, as well as information on our methods for creating and managing native grasslands.

 

Northern Bobwhite Quail Habitat Initiative (CP-33)

The Northern Bobwhite Quail Habitat Initiative (NBQHI) is a new continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) that pays farmers to create borders of native grasses around crop fields.  Enrollment began late in 2004.  To qualify for the program, fields must have a cropping history in 4 of the 6 years between 1996 and 2001. Sign-up is continuous and will remain open until the 14,200 acres allocated to Ohio have been enrolled, or until a new Farm Bill is passed.  Because sign-up is automatic, there is no bidding process or waiting to learn whether an application is accepted.

For more information about the Northern Bobwhite Quail Habitat Initiative, contact your local FSA office.  Check out the FSA fact sheet for the NBQHI.

Woodland Trails Wildlife Area Habitat Improvement Project

Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Woodland Trails Wildlife Area offers over 700 acres of public hunting and other recreation near Camden, in southern Preble County, OH.  A 40-acre portion of the property was selected by MVPF for a special habitat restoration project (map). Following a plan approved by the Division of Wildlife and NRCS, MVPF’s habitat team created an oak savannah by replacing invading bush honeysuckle, tall fescue, and other exotics with a native short-grass prairie.  Thriving amongst the hilltop oaks, these grasses and wildflowers will furnish critical nesting and brood-rearing cover, while also checking soil erosion. Other improvements included tree pruning and release, building numerous brush piles, and constructing a turn-out that will allow visitors to safely park off the road. The seeding was completed in June 2006.  Major funding for the labor-intensive, $9,500 project was provided primarily by MVPF and the Shady Hollow Longbeards chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.  MVPF gratefully acknowledges in-kind contributions and financial support from Wysong Gravel Company, Schmidt Signery, and various members and friends.

Butler County Department of Environmental Services' Facility Naturalization Project

With the aide of MVPF, Butler County Department of Environmental Services (BCDES) has begun to implement an innovative "Facility Naturalization Project."  BCDES manages 73 facility sites within its service area in southeastern Butler County.  These sites, which range in size from a few hundred square feet up to 3 acres, support the water tanks, water booster stations, sewage lift stations, and wastewater treatment plants that serve the region.  BCDES will convert areas of exotic lawn turf to a rich diversity of native grasses and wildflowers.  The upgrade will reduce mowing and lawn maintenance costs while simultaneously providing food and cover for local wildlife and enhancing the appearance of the facility sites.  MVPF’s role in the project is to provide technical advice and seeding materials at discounted cost, and to make available a broadcast seeder that is specially designed to plant the fluffy seeds of warm-season grasses.

 

Creating  and Managing Native Grasslands

Seeds and Planting Materials

Miami Valley Pheasants Forever strongly encourages landowners and project managers to use only high quality planting material obtained from a trusted source.   We obtain the majority of our seed for food plots and native grass/forb projects, as well as tree and shrub stock, from Ernst Conservation Seeds, a leading supplier of native and naturalized planting materials.

We use carefully-researched seeding mixtures that are well-suited to the particular soil and site conditions of each grassland project. We no longer use Indiangrass, which is extremely aggressive and prolific in our region and quickly dominates and out-competes most other grasses and forbs.  We do not use annual forbs (wildflowers) in our seeding mixtures except for a few proven reseeders. Though attractive in the first year, these plants do not persist in grasslands in our region. The forbs used in our projects are easily established and vigorous, and many are resistant to imazapic (Plateau® or Journey®) applied at minimum effective rates.  The seeding mixtures we use on most projects contain 4-6 species of grasses and 21 species of forbs, all natives. Download a list of our common seeding mixes here.

Planting Methods

Miami Valley Pheasants Forever usually plants native grasses/forbs in spring, generally from late May through early June.  Frost seeding is not a reliable method in our region, as winterweather can be too warm. Planting in late May usually ensures that most annual weeds have germinated and been killed by herbicide application, and that imazapic applied at planting time will persist throughout the entire growing season.  Such plantings may be risky, however, if summer rainfall is below normal.  We routinely use the no-till drill method of seeding forlarge areas (see our Quick Guide to Establishing Native Grassland Habitat-pdf).  Smaller areas are planted by the broadcast method (see Spring Planting of Native Grasses and Wildflowers on Small Areas Using the Broadcast Method-pdf).

Management of Native Grasslands

Miami Valley Pheasants Forever firmly believes that any grassland that was worth establishing is also worthy of proper maintenance.  All too often grasslands become too dense to support wildlife nesting and brood rearing activities.  We are experimenting with combinations of various management techniques (e.g., prescribed burning, herbicide application, tillage, forb interseeding) with the aim of developing effective methods for maintaining these grasslands in peak condition. The University of Tennessee Extension Service has published an excellent landowner's guide (pdf) to managing native grasses.