Beneficial Habitat Management Practices

Listed below are some of the options available to wildlife managers to adjust the habitat for a healthier animal population:

• Conducting controlled burning
• Controlling brush or grass mechanically
• Controlling nuisance plants or animals
• Creating brush piles
• Creating diking/levees
• Creating nest boxes
• Creating watering holes
• Creating wetlands
• Cutting timber
• Ditching
• Enhancing soil (fertilizing and liming)
• Preparing/planting food plots (where legal)
• Pruning/thinning
• Restoring streams

Balancing Act

Habitats must be in balance in order to support wildlife. Remove a certain population of plants or animals from a community, and the community may not survive. This typically happens when urban development pushes into wildlife areas.