I used to give signed copies of it to deer hunter friend/customers as Christmas gifts. John was quite gracious and quite informative during the signing sessions when I would stop by his home in Munising. Deer and Deer Hunting editors compiled his articles into this text, probably one of the most definitive whitetail biology at northern latitudes compilations available. There is currently a winter habitat work group here in the U.P. of Michigan that has worked very hard to apply his research conclusion on the importance of Winter Deer Complexes, to save the "Green Barns" (John's term). To date, the Upper Peninsula Habitat Work Group has been able to map all the WDCs in the western and central U.P., compile a percent species array to match with GIS imagery, coordinated forest management plans on Corporate, National Forest, and State lands within these WDCs, as well as recently launching an outreach habitat management consultation initiative to Private landowners who own land blocks of forty acres or more inside the WDC boundary or within five miles of their exterior margins. Two mass mailings to private land owners have garnered sixty and 80 percent response rates, requesting on-site walk through and habitat management plan write-up.
The eastern U.P initiative is currently being mapped and planned. There are still several large blocks of northern white cedar in this area of the U.P.
A private forestland owner presented a quite ingenious germinated acorn planter that enables him to inject 600 oak acorns per hour at the spring UPHWG meeting. It is likely superior to broadcast planting efforts, since his technique enables the user to simply view the forest over story to select planting sites best exposed to incident sunlight. One forester observer offered a suggestion of PVC tube placement, both to deter grazing, but also to enhance soil moisture retention and improve the micro-climate around the seedlings.
John walked away from the MDNR because they would not focus on winter habitat enhancement issues that were looming...he was right.
The UPHGWG effort will eventually bear fruit, but not significant benefits to the current deer herd within my lifetime. We have a too high fawn predation via the canid predator load (coyote and wolves). Toss in 200" plus snowfall winters and diminished WDC size and individual habitat content quality issues and you have the broad causation issues that have brought us to an record low current whitetail density estimate.