Facts:

• Timber harvesting is an important tool for the creation of diverse wildlife habitat.
• Wildlife populations have steadily increased, and according to the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, West Virginia currently has more wildlife than at any time since the mid - 1930's.
• Before the mid - 1930's the deer harvest in West Virginia had not surpassed 1,000 animals.  Hunters now harvest 175,000 to over 2000,000 deer each year in the Mountain State.
• According to the West Virginia Division of Forestry, the majority of West Virginia timber harvests are partial harvests and less than 200 acres in size.  The variety of ages and sizes of trees in the forested areas, along with open areas such as hayfields, pastures, lakes and ponds, creates a diverse landscape that provides habitat for all types of wildlife species.
• West Virginia's forestland are the source of approximately 400 native brook trout streams.  In addition, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources stocks 180 waters (all in forests) with trout each year.
• Timber harvesting creates opening that allow grasses, berries, new tree seedling and other early successional plants to grow, creating a condition that is critical to the habitat of turkey, grouse, rabbit and many other wildlife species.
• Wild turkey is West Virginia now occur in abundance in all 55 counties.  This has permitted a statewide spring gobbler season with expanded fall turkey hunting opportunities in several western counties.
• West Virginia's diverse forestland provides some of the best habitat in the eastern U.S. for neotropical migratory song birds.
• The Wildlife Resources Section of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources conducts fish and wildlife management activities on 400,000 acres of Wildlife Management Areas and State Forests; 1.2 million acres of National Forest land; 21, 000 acres of public impoundments; and 100,000 acres of fishable streams and rivers.