As I've received many helpful comments on my initial query about the utility of wildlife habitat structures, it occurs to me that I wasn't all that clear to begin with. Let me try and be more precise.
On wetland mitigation sites, I frequently see piles of brush (often underwater), wood duck boxes, goose nesting structures, and snags (dead trees implanted in the ground) all installed in the name of wildlife habitat improvement. I rarely see any wildlife use these structures (especially the submerged brush piles :-D ) and by the time the 5-year permit is up, these are frequently falling down or in bad repair. So I wonder about the utility of spending the time and the money to install these in created wetlands. It just doesn't seem worth it at all. Is there any refereed literature on this subject relative to wetland mitigation sites? Hopefully, that's more clear. Thanks. Andy Charles Andrew Cole, Ph.D. Associate Director Center for Watershed Stewardship Penn State University 301a Forest Resources Laboratory University Park, PA 16802 814-865-5735 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.larch.psu.edu/watershed/home.html
