Date: Fri 01-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Coverts-Eckenrode-Project

Full Text:

Coverts Program Helps Assure Quality Of Life For Wildlife

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A tall, dark, angular California contemporary home sits in a thickly wooded

area off Wildcat Road, overlooking a variegated landscape replete with rock

ledge outcroppings, steep slopes, a cave, hardwoods, conifers, brush, a vernal

pool, a brook and wetlands.

From a deck positioned high above the forest floor, the view westward is of

the verdant forest canopy and understory, with birds in flight seen above and

mammals moving below.

Although it's a relatively compact five acres, the property has a range of

habitat attractive to various wildlife. The site abuts a large undeveloped

forest parcel.

Through his work as a volunteer coverts project cooperator, resident Bob

Eckenrode of 7 Wildcat Road is managing his woodlot to produce a steady supply

of firewood, as well as to promote plant and wildlife diversity.

The Coverts Project is jointly sponsored by the University of Connecticut

Cooperative Extension System and The Ruffed Grouse Society. A covert is a

hiding place for game, such as underbrush or a thicket.

Cooperators have received formal training in forest and wildlife ecology. They

have developed forest stewardship plans for their land.

On July 25, about 15 people interested in forest management gathered at Mr

Eckenrode's home to learn more about The Coverts Project and to tour his

property.

Stephen H. Broderick, a forester for the extension system, and Peter Picone, a

state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) urban wildlife biologist,

provided expert commentary on the site.

Mr Broderick pointed out only about five percent of the three million acres of

forest land in the state is owned by the state. The rest is in private hands.

There are 90,000 owners of forest land in Connecticut, he said. The coverts

program seeks to have forest owners improve the quality of such land through

good management practices.

Diversity

Diverse vegetation in the forest will encourage diverse wildlife.

Noting that Mr Eckenrode has created a trail system on the Wildcat Road

property, Mr Picone said such features make for personal enrichment through an

expanded understanding of forest dynamics.

Through the coverts program, participants seek to maintain and expand a wooded

area's food supply, water supply, shelter, and livable space, he said.

As the forester and the biologist described his property, Mr Eckenrode created

labels, placed them on sticks and put them in the ground to denote the species

present.

Walking up to a densely-grown thicket, Mr Picone explained the value of such

growth to a turkey hen and her poults trying to escape an aggressive fox on

the forest floor.

In the woodlot, Mr Eckenrode has placed piles of saplings against trees and

ledge to serve as coverts.

He also explained ways to attract screech owls, grouse and rabbit to wooded

areas.

"Remember our allegiance to diversity," Mr Broderick said.

"Wildlife is as finicky as people when eating things," he said, noting that

animals prefer white oak acorns over red and black oak acorns due to their

sweetness.

The forest walkers gathered around a vernal pool which holds water during wet

times of the year. When holding water, the pool is a breeding ground for

amphibians such as salamanders, newts and frogs.

For its size, the parcel is a "remarkably diverse property," Mr Broderick

said.

Mr Eckenrode said he wants to make his property available for tours and nature

study by conservation-oriented groups such as the Newtown Forest Association,

local garden clubs, and the Conservation Commission.

"This stuff exists here in someone's backyard in Newtown...It's all valuable.

The ecosystem is all in your backyard," he said.

For more than 300 years, forests in the state have been cut down, burned and

abused for short-term profit, according to Mr Broderick. Neglect of the

forests has alternated with intense cutting, he adds. Poor forest health and

productivity and the loss of forest and wildlife diversity have resulted.

Rapid development coupled with poor cutting practices threatens forest and

wildlife resources, he adds.

The Coverts Project was created to break the vicious cycle of forest and

wildlife habitat destruction, according to Mr Broderick.

"One of the most beneficial and satisfying projects a small woodlot owner and

gardener can do is create a covert or thicket. Many residential properties in

Fairfield County consist of open lawns bordered by mature forests. What is

most often missing is the `edge,' or transition of vegetation between the two,

called a covert. A covert is dense brush and seedling stand that provides both

food and cover for nesting and sheltering wildlife. Here in New England, a

covert occurs naturally when a portion of lawn or field is allowed to grow

uninterrupted," according to Mr Eckenrode.

As a coverts cooperator, Bob Eckenrode will discuss forest-related interests

and needs with woodland owners; refer people to professionals in the forestry

and wildlife fields; provide information about financial assistance and tax

benefits available to forest owners; and explain forest and wildlife

stewardship.