Revision of Desired Forest Conditions for Wildlife On the Way

A full revision of the LMVJV’s “Restoration, Management, and Monitoring of Forest Recourses in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley: Recommendations for Enhancing Wildlife Habitat,” much better known as Desired Forest Conditions for Wildlife (DFCW), is now underway.  The document, originally developed and published by the JV’s Forest Resources Conservation Working Group (FRCWG), has been widely accepted and utilized by numerous conservation organizations within the LMVJV region and beyond, since its release more than 14 years ago (2007).   

Within five years of its initial release, the JV began discussing the need for revising the document and in 2012, a sub-committee of the FRCWG initiated an extensive update.  That exercise, however, was never fully completed, and in late 2019 JV staff, FRCWG leads and other key partners gathered to discuss the need to reinitiate and complete the revision and update the document. The acknowledgement of that need was unanimous and ultimately the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation (LWFF), in direct collaboration with Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries staff, accepted the charge to draft and submit a grant proposal to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to fund the effort.  Gratefully, in fall 2020, the grant was awarded and we are pleased to share that the LWFF has contracted with two former and now retired members of the original FRCWG, Jeff Denman (former Forester for White River NWR, DeWit, AR - now private consultant) and Brian Lockhart (former Research Forester at USFS Center for BHW Research, Stoneville, MS - now private consultant).  

In recent months, Jeff and Brian have been working closely with a newly established Revision Steering Committee to form up ranks and pulled together a new DFCW Revision Working Group. In early February, that working group, ~50 strong and comprised of a diversity of forest managers and resource professionals from across both the MAV and WGCP regions of the LMVJV, met for the first time to kick-off the revision effort. The goal will be to complete the full revision by fall 2022. Though there is much work ahead, as always, it will be the innate trust, collaborative spirit and fundamental commitment to partnership with the LMVJV, that will bring the project to a successful and much anticipated outcome. To get involved, email Steve Brock or call him at 601-529-4235.