Safely operating a chainsaw, from the moment you start the engine to the moment you turn it off, is a critical piece of safe habitat management in many ecosystems. In our final episode of our 5-part Habitat Safety Miniseries, forestry educator and chainsaw expert Chris Evans from the University of Illinois takes Adam through every step of safe chainsaw maintenance, operation, and use. 

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Resources mentioned in the show:

 You can learn more about the wildland fire chainsaw class (S212) Chris mentioned at this link: https://www.nwcg.gov/training/courses/s-212-wildland-fire-chainsaws-2012/administration

Safety and Woods Workers training resources: http://sawwtraining.com/index.html

Chainsaw safety video series from Husqvarna: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VcazyXHqErUd8ib-OKs6sZkfGFQ5shu&si=LwGG9mEA1Un-3kSE

Chainsaw safety tips from Penn State Extension: https://extension.psu.edu/chainsaw-safety-tips

Chainsaw safety tips from Missouri Extension: https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g1959

From large bulldozers to small ATVs, habitat management often necessitates the use of heavy machinery. And safely transporting and using that equipment ensures we protect the people and the land engaged in this critical work! In this episode, the fourth in our Habitat Safety Miniseries, Adam visits with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Heavy Equipment Manager for Region 3 in the upper Midwest, Clint DeMenge. Clint shares his knowledge from a career operating and training others to safely operate all kinds of heavy equipment to help habitat managers think about safely transporting and operating equipment! 

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Resources mentioned in the show:

Determine if you need a CDL and how to get one by searching your state DOT. Here’s the page from Iowa: https://iowadot.gov/mvd/cdl/How-to-get-a-CDL/Do-I-need-a-CDL

Ritchie Brother’s equipment specs to learn your load size: https://www.ritchiespecs.com/ 

811 Call Before You Dig: https://call811.com/811-In-Your-State

Logging safety videos from Minnesota OSHA: https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/workplace-safety-and-health/mnosha-wsc-logging-safety-videos

Clint mentioned “safety walk arounds” and suggested you Google it. Here’s one we found! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIZcC_NRoOE

Herbicides can be a critical tool for habitat management, especially when it comes to invasive species. But their use does not come without risk to the applicator or the environment. In this episode, Adam visits with Dr. Fred Whitford, clinical engagement professor and director of the pesticide programs at Purdue University. Fred talks through the critical steps of making sure you’re using the right tool at the right time to confront the right challenge and then how to do it safely for you and the environment! 

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Resources mentioned in the show:

You can learn more about Integrated Pest Management from regional hubs indexed at this site: https://www.ipmcenters.org/

 Basic PPE for Pesticide use article from Iowa State: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/Basic-PPE-for-Pesticide-Use

 Fred mentioned state certification manuals – Here’s resources from his unit at Purdue: https://ag.purdue.edu/department/extension/ppp/resources/training-manuals/ Search online for those in your states too.

Learn more about the unit Fred works in here: https://ag.purdue.edu/department/extension/ppp 

Prescribed fire is crucial for managing fire-adapted ecosystems worldwide. To ensure this tool remains effective, the safety of those who use it and those nearby is essential too. In this episode, Adam talks with Jennifer Fawcett from North Carolina State University. Jennifer is the Prescribed Fire Work Group Coordinator for the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) and a forestry educator at NCSU. She assists landowners and foresters in the Southeast and beyond in managing their properties using fire. Listen along as Jennifer outlines practices and considerations to make sure you can keep using fire as the critical tool it is for years to come!

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Resources mentioned in the show:

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group is the main resource for agency professionals doing prescribed fire. You can check out their website here: https://www.nwcg.gov/

·       Watchout Situations: https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/pms118/18-watch-out-situations-pms-118   

·       Incident response pocket guide (IRPG) - https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/pms461

o   You can buy one here: https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/p/49218/39770/incident-response-pocket-guide?%26itemnum= 

Asynchronous Online courses to learn about prescribed fire:

·       eFIRE Equipment Videos – The eFIRE site guides prospective burners through the process of planning, conducting, and evaluating prescribed fire. The Equipment site includes videos about options for various parts of PPE.

·       Online course: https://campus.extension.org/ (search “prescribed fire”)

·       Rx Fire Training online course: https://ifas-cesrxfire.catalog.instructure.com/courses/wildland-fire-training 

Learn more about prescribed burn associations here: https://go.ncsu.edu/pba

Guidebook for Prescribed Burning in the Southern Region has tips for planning, implementing, and follow up on a prescribed burn that applies nationwide: https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B1560&title=guidebook-for-prescribed-burning-in-the-southern-region  

Smoke Management Guidebook for Prescribed Burning in the Southern Region: https://bugwoodcloud.org/resource/files/18519.pdf

Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service Prescribed Burn  Equipment Fact Sheet summarizes the different parts of prescribed burn equipment, including PPE: https://ucanr.edu/sites/forestry/files/283877.pdf

3-part blog post series on “Prescribed Fire PPE: Practical Options for Landowners”

o   Part 1: The first post in this series highlights practical personal protective equipment (PPE) pant and shirt options for landowners conducting prescribed fires. https://sites.cnr.ncsu.edu/southeast-fire-update/2019/09/09/ppe-for-landowners-practical-clothing-options/ 

o   Part 2: This post discusses options for other PPE items including head coverings, face coverings, and eye protection. https://sites.cnr.ncsu.edu/southeast-fire-update/2021/06/11/ppe-for-landowners-practical-clothing-options-part-two/ 

o   Part 3: This post addresses boots and shoes, gloves, and overall considerations for choosing PPE items.https://sites.cnr.ncsu.edu/southeast-fire-update/2021/06/29/prescribed-fire-ppe-practical-options-for-landowners-part-three/ 

Kestrel tool to take weather readings on site for a safe burn: https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/p/89574/38050/kestrel-3500fw-fire-weather-meter 

Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center: https://lessons.fs2c.usda.gov/ 

Nebraska Prescribed Fire Council has a bunch of resources on fire, including a nice practitioner-contributed section on “Lessons Learned” that are available on their website: https://www.nefirecouncil.org/

Nothing is more important in habitat management than the people doing habitat management! That’s why this month we’re focusing on the basics of habitat safety with a series of episodes featuring experts in the field. In this first episode, Adam and Jarred set the stage for the mini-series. Then Adam interviews Rich Gassman from Iowa's Center for Agricultural Safety and Health at the University of Iowa. Rich sets the stage for the series and challenges us to think about who we’re being safe for. Stay tuned for four more episodes in the mini-series coming this month.

Resources mentioned in the show:

Iowa's Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH)

Twelve centers for agriculture safety in the U.S. are linked at this website. Find the one nearest you to explore their resources and programs: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/extramural-programs/php/about/ag-centers.html

National Farm Safety and Health Week is led by the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) – Learn more about the 2024 week here: https://www.necasag.org/nationalfarmsafetyandhealthweek/

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Interested in improving your property for ruffed grouse or American Woodcock? Tune in as we travel north and chat about all things grouse and woodcock with Jon Steigerwaldt, Great Lakes and Upper Midwest Region Forest Conservation Director from the Ruffed Grouse Society. 

Topics include: grouse ecology and habitat, woodcock ecology and habitat, grouse as bellwethers for healthy forests, forest ecology of the Great Lakes states, forestry, forest management, habitat management for grouse and woodcock, grouse and woodcock habitat fundamentals, boutique forestry, and more.

Jon Steigerwaldt - https://ruffedgrousesociety.org/author/jon-steigerwaldt/ 

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This week we talk with Dr. Jessica Outcalt one of the creators of the Forestry for the Birds program in Indiana about how Hoosier conservationists are leveraging the connections between people and birds to help encourage landowners and foresters to provide better homes for Indiana’s forest birds.

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Dr. Jessica Outcalt - https://extension.purdue.edu/cdext/about-us/our-team/profile/jessica_outcalt/jessica-outcalt.html

Saving Indiana Songbirds Starts in Our Forests - https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/indiana/stories-in-indiana/forestry-for-the-birds/

Forestry for the Birds Pocket Guide: https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/Forestry-for-the-Bird-Pocket-Guide-April2022.pdf  

Forestry for the Birds Silviculture Guide: https://www.nature.org/content/dam/tnc/nature/en/documents/TNC-Forestry-for-the-Birds-Silviculture-Guide.pdf

Forestry for the Birds Virtual Tour: https://extension.purdue.edu/pondwildlife/forest-management.html

How can forest management be used to improve habitat for various songbird species? And what resources are available to help guide landowners, managers, and foresters to help be intentional about creating songbird habitat through their forest management? Listen in as we chat with Steve Hagenbuch from Vermont Audobon about a program called Foresters for the Birds. 

Steve Hagenbuch - https://vt.audubon.org/contact/steve-hagenbuch

Audubon Vermont - https://vt.audubon.org/

Resources mentioned in episode:

Foresters for the Birds: Vermont - https://vt.audubon.org/conservation/foresters-birds

Foresters for the Birds Demonstration Sites - https://vt.audubon.org/conservation/forestry-birds-demonstration-sites

Foresters for the Birds: Birder’s Dozen - https://vt.audubon.org/sites/default/files/static_pages/attachments/birdersdozen.pdf

Forest Bird Habitat Assessment - https://vt.audubon.org/sites/default/files/assessment-guide.pdf

Birds with Silviculture in Mind - https://vt.audubon.org/sites/default/files/bird-guide.pdf

Silviculture with Birds in Mind - https://vt.audubon.org/sites/default/files/silviculture-options_0.pdf

Bird Friendly Maple Project - https://vt.audubon.org/conservation/working-lands/landing/bird-friendly-maple-project

Often, the term “clearcut” is viewed as a 4-lettered word when it comes to forest or wildlife management. But, can clearcuts provide vital resources for songbirds – including those species typically associated with mature closed canopy forests? Join us for our conversation with Dr. Patrick Ruhl as we explore his research into songbird use of clearcuts in Indiana.

Dr. Patrick Ruhl - https://ruhlresearch.wixsite.com/patrickjruhl

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UEACzAEAAAAJ&hl=en

Resources mentioned in episode:

Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment - https://heeforeststudy.org/

Confirmation of Successful Chestnut-sided Warbler Breeding in South-Central Indiana - https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/ias/article/download/23245/22567/37006

Ecological factors explain habitat associations of mature-forest songbirds in regenerating forest clearcuts - https://doi.org/10.1676/1559-4491-132.1.145

Characterization of Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum) breeding habitat at the landscape level and nest scale - https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/1677/

Roost preference, postfledging habitat use, and breeding phenology of adult female Worm-eating Warblers (Helmitheros vermivorum) on the breeding grounds - https://doi.org/10.1676/16-222.1

Using stable isotopes of plasma, red blood cells, feces, and feathers to assess mature-forest bird diet during the post-fledging period - https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2019-0109

View from a clearcut

Relationship between Scarlet Tanagers and Ripe Blackberries

What distinguishes a forest, woodland, and savanna? How does wildlife and plant diversity differ between them? How do we restore woodlands and savannas? Join Jarred as he talks with Dr. Andy Vander Yacht about his research into restoring oak woodlands and savannas and the wildlife that thrive within in.

In part 2, we discuss how birds and bats responded to restoration treatments (thinning and fire), and how Andy’s research can inform oak woodland restoration on public and private land.

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Research & Resources discussed in the episode

Dr. Andy Vander Yacht - https://www.esf.edu/faculty/vander_yacht/index.php

Ecology and Management of Oak Woodlands and Savannahs - https://utia.tennessee.edu/publications/wp-content/uploads/sites/269/2023/10/PB1812.pdf

Bat response to prescribed fire and overstory thinning in hardwood forest on the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112715005435

Avian occupancy response to oak woodland and savanna restoration - https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jwmg.21097