Wildlife and Forest Management Resources for Private Landowners
Please note: this is by no means an exhausted list of resources (e.g. websites, publications) available to private landowners who are interested in managing their woodlands for wildlife. Please contact Jamie Nack (jlnack@wisc.edu) if you encounter a problem linking to a publication or website or if you have a suggestion for a resource to include.
Wildlife – General
Wildlife and Your Land Series (DNR, publications): a 14 publication series designed to offer suggestions to private landowners on how to manage their land for wildlife.
- Calling All Wildlife: Wildlife Management Basics
- Putting Pen to Paper: Developing Your Wildlife Management Plan
- Getting the Help You Need: People and Dollars for Wildlife
- How to Inventory and Monitor Wildlife on Your Land
- Wisconsin Wildlife Primer: Wildlife Habits and Habitat
- So, What Should I Plant? Trees, Shrubs and Vines with Wildlife Values
- To Cut or Not to Cut? Managing Your Woodland for Wildlife
- Critter Condos: Managing Dead Wood for Wildlife
- Rabbitat: Brush Piles for Wildlife
- On Edge: Managing Edge for Wildlife
- Gimme Shelter: Shelterbelts & Food Plots for Wildlife
- Home on the Range: Restoring and Maintaining Grasslands for Wildlife
- Just Add Water! Restoring Shallow Wetlands for Wildlife
- The Wealth of Waterways: Managing Stream Corridors for Wildlife
A Landowner’s Guide to Woodland Wildlife Management with Emphasis on the Ruffed Grouse (UW – Extension, publication)
Woodland Stewardship: A Practical Guide for Midwestern Landowners, 2nd edition (website and publication)
Young Forest and Associated Wildlife
Wisconsin Young Forest Partnership (website)
Managing Your Land For Woodcock (brochure)
Best Management Practices for Woodcock & Associated Bird Species: Upper Great Lakes Woodcock and Young Forest Initiative (publication)
Golden-winged Warbler Habitats in the Great Lakes Region: A Guide for Land Managers and Landowners (publication)
Wildlife – Specific
Wisconsin Wildlife and Habitat (DNR, website) – checklists, ecology, survey data, etc. for game species, non-game, furbearers, etc.
Habitat Management Guidelines for Amphibians and Reptiles (Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, website)
The Amphibians & Reptiles of Wisconsin – ordering information for Snakes of Wisconsin, Amphibians of Wisconsin, and Turtles & Lizards of Wisconsin (DNR, website)
Wisconsin eBird (website)
Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II (website)
Wisconsin’s Endangered Resources (DNR, website)
Habitat Management
Ecological Landscapes of Wisconsin (DNR, website)
Wetland Restoration Handbook for Wisconsin Landowners (website with publication)
Woody Cover for Wildlife – A Guide to Planting for Wildlife (publication)
Beyond the Bird Feeder: Creating a Bird-friendly Yard with Native Wisconsin Plants (publication)
Ordering Tree and Shrub Seedlings (DNR) (Wisconsin State Nursery Program)
Tree Planting (DNR/ Wisconsin’s Reforestation Program)
Tree Planting Tips (DNR, website)
Plant Native Plants to Help Nature (DNR, website)
Wisconsin Restoration Contractors (DNR, PDF)
Shelves, Houses and Feeders for Birds and Mammals (UW Extension, publication)
Build a Bat House (DNR, website)
Bat Houses (Bat Conservation International, website)
Wildlife Damage Management and Nuisance Wildlife
Living with Wildlife in Wisconsin: Solving Nuisance, Damage, Health & Safety Problems
(UW – Extension, DNR, and USDA APHIS Wildlife Services; website with factsheets)
Nuisance, Urban and Damaging Wildlife (DNR, website)
Wisconsin Damage Abatement and Claims Program (DNR, website)
Wisconsin Hunting Regulations (DNR, website)
Wisconsin Trapping Regulations (DNR, website)
USDA-APHIS Wildlife Damage Management (website)
Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management (website)
Living with Black Bears in Wisconsin (DNR, factsheet)
Wisconsin Trappers’ Association, Inc. Nuisance Wild Animal Removal Referral List (website)
Forestry
Forestry Facts: brief articles available for free download about subjects of interest to forest landowners, loggers, sawyers, and others. Subjects covered include forestry best management practices for water quality, Wisconsin’s Managed Forest Law property tax program, soil and site selection for plantings, processing trees to lumber, and many others. (UW Extension, factsheets)
Division of Extension Forestry, UW-Madison (website)
Wisconsin Forest Management Guidelines (DNR, publication)
Wisconsin’s Forests: The Private Landowner’s Handbook (Wisconsin Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Committee, publication)
Forest Landowners (DNR, website)
Harvesting Your Woods (DNR, website)
Conducting a Successful Timber Sale (publication)
Understanding the Sample Timber Sale Contract (publication)
Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Water Quality (DNR, website)
10 Ways to Protect Your Woodland Property (publication)
Forest Trees of Wisconsin – How to Know Them (publication)
Wildlife Health, Diseases, and Rehabilitation
Wildlife Heath and Rehabilitation (DNR, website)
Keep Wildlife Wild (DNR, website)
Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin (DNR, website)
Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance (website)
White-nose Syndrome.org: A Coordinated Response to the Devastating Bat Disease (website)
Saving Wisconsin’s Bats: White-nose Syndrome (DNR, website)
Wisconsin Bat Program (website)
USGS National Wildlife Health Center: White-Nose Syndrome (website)
Invasive Species
Invasive Species (DNR, website and factsheets)
Common Terrestrial Invasive Plants in WI (publication)
Regulated Terrestrial Invasive Plants in WI (publication)
Additional Regulated Terrestrial Invasive Plants in WI (publication)
Common Wetland Invasive Plants in WI (publication)
A Field Guide to Invasive Plants in WI (publication)
Invasive Plants Association of Wisconsin (IPAW) (organization, website)
Midwest Invasive Plant Network (website)
Renz Weed Science – UW-Madison (website, factsheets)
Invasive Plant Control Database (searchable, web-based database)
Forest Insects and Health
DNR Forest Health (website, publications)
Oak Wilt (DNR website, publications)
Spongy Moth (DNR website, publications)
Emerald Ash Borer (DNR website, publications)
Wisconsin’s Emerald Ash Borer Information Source (website)
Management Plans and Conservation Programs & Practices
Wisconsin Coverts Project Management Plan Template
MyLandPlan.org (American Forest Foundation, website)
Women on the Land: A Landowner’s Guide to Stewarding Her Woodlands (publication, website)
Web Soil Survey (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, website)
Wisconsin Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Programs (website)
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – Partners for Fish & Wildlife (website)
Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologists (PF, website)
Forestry Assistance Locator (DNR, website)
Wisconsin’s Managed Forest Law (DNR, website)
Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) (DNR, website)
Wisconsin Young Forest Partnership (website)
Succession and Estate Planning Resources
Estate Planning for Forest Landowners: What Will Become of Your Timberland? (USDA Forest Service, publication)
Your Land, Your Legacy: Planning for Every Wisconsin Landowner (publication)
Family Estate Planning in Wisconsin (publication)
National Timber Tax Website
Tax Tips for Forest Landowners for the 2024 Tax Year (publication)
Citizen Science
Who’s Who of Citizen-based Monitoring in Wisconsin (website)
Wildlife and Forestry Research – Citizen Monitoring (DNR, website)
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology – Citizen Science (website)
Climate Change Effects on Forests and Wildlife
Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (website)
Climate Change Response Network (website), Wildlife (webpage), Forests (webpage)
National Audubon Society: Climate Change Report (website)
Climate Change Projections for Individual Tree Species in the Northwoods (publications)
Other Resources, Organizations, and Websites
Wisconsin Coverts Project (website)
Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, UW – Madison (website)
Division of Extension Forestry, UW-Madison (website)
The Ruffed Grouse Society & The American Woodcock Society (website)
Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association (website)
My Wisconsin Woods (website)
Division of Extension, University of Wisconsin – Madison (website)
Division of Extension Learning Store, University of Wisconsin – Madison (publications)