From the Editor

A stamp of approval for woodcock

    I’ve long been a fan of woodcock. Call them what you will—timberdoodles, bogsuckers, mudbats—the odd little gamebirds thrill and intrigue me. I remember years ago in Vermont holding the first one I ever shot, turning the small, warm body over and over in my hand, admiring the russet chest feathers and white-tipped tail, marveling at the short wings that had produced the whistling flight.
    Since then my fascination with woodcock has grown. I have come to look forward to their spring courtship ritual (as described by Charles Fergus on p. 22), and I have gained appreciation for their habit of holding ever so tight—taking advantage of this for training dogs in both spring and fall. I’ve become equally appreciative of their flush—their erratic vault often causing misses with both barrels—and the fact that they’ve provided action consistently, even when other bird numbers have fluctuated.
    But how long is this likely to last? We all know the woodcock population has been declining steadily in the US, and some biologists have put the loss at more than 50 percent in the past 40 years. The major problem has been the fragmentation of habitat throughout the birds’ range.
    Thankfully, woodcock recently have come into focus as a species needing help, and a number of conservation organizations and state and federal agencies have made the recovery of the birds a top priority. In 2005, for example, the Wildlife Management Institute’s Northern Forest Woodcock Habitat Initiative—a program to assist landowners in creating woodcock cover on private land—kicked off, and in October ’06 the National Woodcock Conservation Plan was rolled out by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA).
    Now with such initiatives in place, what’s needed to make them work? Money. True, there are limited state and federal funds available for management projects, but West Virginia woodcock enthusiast Dennis LaBare has an idea for a way to generate enough dollars to not only jumpstart the programs but also perpetuate them: a federal woodcock stamp. LaBare envisions a $10 stamp whose funds would be dedicated exclusively to woodcock, and with an estimated 150,000 woodcock hunters in the US, that’s a cool $11/2 million going to create prime habitat for woodcock and the other species that would benefit.
    Currently, what LaBare needs from sportsmen is input. Before a stamp can become reality there needs to be a resolution of support from the AFWA, and before that can happen there need to be comments—either positive or negative—from the people who would buy the stamp. Which is why I agreed to partner with Steve Smith at Pointing Dog Journal and Retriever Journal and Rick Van Etten at Gun Dog to encourage readers to contact LaBare with their thoughts. If there is enough grassroots support for a stamp, LaBare has the connections to move the process forward toward legislative action.
    And why wouldn’t there be support? The woodcock hunters I know are enthusiasts who wouldn’t hesitate to ante up to help. In fact, a lot of them have expressed interest in doing more; they simply haven’t had a way to channel their energies.
    We all know that hunters are America’s greatest conservationists, and we’ve seen sportsmen step up before to aid wildlife and wild lands. Today duck hunters, pheasant hunters and others have stamps dedicated to their gamebirds; why shouldn’t woodcock hunters? Here’s a chance to be proactive in helping preserve a valuable resource for future generations.
    To offer your two cents about a woodcock stamp, contact Dennis Labare, HC 62, Box 34, Upper Tract, WV 26866, 304-358-3154; dennislabare@earthlink.net.
    And remember: any communication helps.

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