GPS tool to help restore dwindling Pa. ruffed grouse population

As the population of the state bird collapses, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced a new GPS tool to identify prospective locations to restore numbers of ruffed grouse.

Population decline has been blamed on West Nile virus killing the birds and the scarcity of young forests, according to the Game Commission.

The Game Commission developed a GPS-driven tool to identify prime grouse recovery areas.

“It’s not enough to simply create grouse habitat,” said Lisa Williams, the agency grouse biologist who identified West Nile’s role in Pennsylvania’s grouse population collapse.

“For best success, habitat must be created in areas buffered from disease-carrying mosquitoes and close to existing grouse populations so birds can quickly colonize new sites,” Williams said in a PGC press release.

Dubbed the Grouse Priority Area Siting Tool (G-PAST), this new approach to deal with bird population decline identifies areas with landscape features that stave off mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus. When combined with information on local grouse populations, G-PAST identifies priority sites where disease risk is low and probability of grouse benefit is high.

“G-PAST has the potential to be a game-changer in grouse restoration, because it focuses the attention of all conservation partners on areas where grouse can best recover,” stated PGC in a press release.

Now, anyone in Pennsylvania can look at the G-PAST map and identify the best areas to invest in grouse habitat work, Williams noted.

Local hunting clubs and others interested in increasing grouse habitat can use G-PAST to identify the best locations for habitat restoration and use the information to develop grant proposals and enlist the help of others including private landowners.