New groups show a flush of interest in bobwhite quail

11/21/2005

Missouri now has two quail conservation groups and three new local organizations dedicated to restoring the bobwhite quail to its former numbers.

JEFFERSON CITY-Two organizations devoted to quail restoration have opened new chapters in Missouri, adding to the surge of interest in quail conservation generated by the Missouri Department of Conservation's quail management initiative.

To generate interest in bobwhite quail management, the Conservation Department provides private landowners with technical and financial help in creating habitat for the popular game bird. Other wild animals that share quail's habitat needs benefit, too. Citizen conservation groups figure prominently in the plan.

In recent months the nation's oldest citizen quail conservation group, Quail Unlimited (QU), has chartered two new chapters in Missouri. QU, with headquarters in Edgefield, S.C., was formed in 1981. The nation's third QU chapter was formed in Lafayette County, Mo., and it still is active. QU now has hundreds of chapters nationally, including 23 in Missouri.

The Show-Me State's newest QU chapter actually is a reincarnation of the former chapter in Farmington. The Mineral Area Chapter of Quail Unlimited was inactive for several years, but now is back in business. Chairman T. J. "Doc" Cooper is looking for members who are willing to roll up their sleeves for quail and dove conservation. For more information, call Cooper at (573) 756-3781.

Dexter is the home of another new QU group chaired by Kyle Outzts. To make a difference for quail in southeastern Missouri, call (573) 624-5505 or Jerry Eddy at (573) 624-9346.

Information about other QU chapters and programs in Missouri is available from QU Regional Director Jef Hodges, (660) 885-7057, bobwhite@iland.net. For information about QU nationally, visit http://www.qu.org/ or contact QU National Headquarters, P.O. Box 610, Edgefield, SC 29824-0610. Phone: (803) 637-5731, ext. 224, E-mail tdean@qu.org.

QU offers dozens of ways for its chapters to pursue quail restoration. These include planting bobwhite food and cover, farmer subsidies for leaving crops standing through winter, assistance for controlled burning and water site development, loan of equipment for habitat work and technical assistance for landowners interested in pursuing quail management. These programs enable QU to enhance habitat on hundreds of thousands of acres annually.

For more information about QU's Bring Back Bob quail restoration program, or landowner assistance available for quail management in Missouri, visit www.mdc.mo.gov/cgi-bin/news/arc0-2004.html or www.mdc.mo.gov/landown/wild/quail/.

There is a new quail conservation organization on the scene. Pheasants Forever (PF), headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., recently broadened its mission to include bobwhite quail. It formed Quail Forever as a division of PF focused on restoring huntable quail populations throughout the bobwhite's range. The group has chartered 16 chapters in its first three months of existence.

Quail Forever is patterned after the successful PF model, which emphasizes local chapter development, local habitat initiatives and national leadership in public policy and advocacy.

Missouri has the distinction of chartering the nation's first Quail Forever chapter. The Gateway Chapter organized in St. Louis just three days after PF announced the formation of the new national organization. Chapter founders include David Bub, Steve Fleming, Bob Davis, Jay Milhuka and John Kuhn. All are members of the St. Louis PF chapter.

"I have been hunting quail my whole life and have seen their populations plummet over the past two decades," said Bub. "Quail are in serious, serious trouble, and I believe Quail Forever is the vehicle to help prevent their demise."

To learn more about the Gateway Chapter of Quail Forever, contact David Bub at (314) 242-5264, dbub@bjpc.com.

PF was founded in 1982 and like QU has grown to more than 600 chapters nationwide. It has six chapters in Missouri. The organization proudly proclaims that 100 percent of money raised by local chapters stays at the local level to be spent on habitat development and conservation education.

"Pheasants and quail don't migrate, so we believe locally raised funds shouldn't migrate either," said PF President and CEO Howard Vincent.

Pheasants Forever's new emphasis on quail recognizes the fact that bobwhite quail and ring-necked pheasants' habitat needs overlap across much of the two species range.

"With our experience in enrolling bobwhite buffer acres and the recent completion of the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative plan, the time was right for us to lend our habitat conservation expertise to help implement the NBCI," said Vincent. "We want to do what we can to make a difference for quail and quail hunters before it becomes too late."

PF promoted its senior wildlife biologist and director of field operations, Jim Wooley, to oversee Quail Forever biologists. Wooley called the Gateway Chapter startup "the first step in helping us implement the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative's plan for quail recovery."

Those who join Quail Forever now have the distinction of being founding members. To learn more about Quail Forever, call (866) 457-8245, E-mail jwooley@quailforever.org, or visit www.QuailForever.org.

-Jim Low-

Click Here To Return To The Previous Page