Farm Habitat
Rural landowners receive on site habitat technical assistance to improve land management practices for a wide variety of upland wildlife species. Technical assistance includes recommendations for wildlife plantings and maintenance of existing habitats. Landowners will receive a written habitat management plan to follow.
Cost share programs to assist landowners in implementing habitat management vary considerably. Biologists can provide up-to-date information on the various programs currently available. Basic cost share information on conservation programs in Virginia is available at the Virginia Department of Forestry's web site as well as local USDA Service Centers and DGIF offices.
Workshops are held at various locations throughout the state. Topics include quail habitat management, prescribed burning for wildlife, timber management for wildlife, and establishment and management of native warm season grasses.
The Department has planting and prescribed burning equipment which it loans out to landowners on a first-come first-served basis.
Over 100 demonstration farms are located on private and public land across the Commonwealth. These are used to show landowners what to expect as they implement their habitat management plans. Demonstration nurseries are located on several wildlife management areas to show landowners what the various plants that are typically recommended for habitat plantings will look like in mature plantings.
Numerous publications are available to guide landowners on how to manage various species and their habitats, including:
Booklets
- Successful Wildlife Plantings
- Beyond the Food Patch: A Guide to Providing Bobwhite Quail Habitat
- Native Warm Season Grasses for Virginia and North Carolina
- Managing Pines for Profit and Wildlife
- Successful Wildlife Plantings
- Beyond the Food Patch: A Guide to Providing Bobwhite Quail Habitat
- Native Warm Season Grasses for VA & NC
- Managing Pines for Profit and Wildlife
Species Management Information Sheets
- Managing for Nongame Birds
- Hawks
- Owls in Virginia
- Woodpeckers
- Bobwhite Quail Habitat Management
- Providing for Quail Broods
- What About Predators?
- Habitat Management for Rabbits in Virginia
- Attracting Mourning Doves to Your Property
- Eastern Wild Turkey Habitat Management
- Management of White-tailed Deer in Virginia
- Plantings to Attract Deer in Virginia
- Management of Cavity Nesting Species
- Ruffed Grouse Habitat Management
- Canada Goose Management
- Dabbling Duck Management
- Wood Duck Management
- The Coyote in Virginia [PDF]
- Sea Turtles in Virginia [PDF]
Habitat Management Information Sheets
- Disc and Burn Management
- Establishing Field Borders
- Key Habitat Areas
- Managing Pine Stands for Wildlife
- Thinning Timber for Wildlife
- Open Field Management for Wildlife
- Establishing Field Borders to Improve Wildlife Habitat
- Food Plots
- Creating Brush Piles
- Creating Herbaceous Woodland Openings to Improve Wildlife Habitat
- Beaver Pond Management
- Wildlife and Pesticides
- Upland Hardwood Management for Wildlife
Plant materials often recommended in Virginia for wildlife habitat plantings: