#07–34 February 5, 2007
Lee County landowner praises buffer programs for quail
Landowners
may be eligible for a program to establish habitat for quail and other
upland bird species. The program would require establishing or retiring a
border, commonly referred to as “quail strips,” around row-cropped fields.
CP33 Habitat Buffers for Upland Birds through the Continuous Conservation
Reserve Program is aimed at creating 250,000 acres of habitat for the
northern bobwhite quail across its range. This initiative provides an
opportunity for private landowners to make a difference on the landscape and
provide critical nesting and brood-rearing habitat for bobwhite quail as
well as other grassland birds by establishing habitat buffers for upland
birds.
Contact your
local Farm Service Agency office for more information on CP33. For
information on suitable habitat management for quail, contact the DNR Small
Game Project at (803) 734-4306 in Columbia.
See a two-part video on quail strips entitled "Common Sense
Conservation." See
part 1>>> --
See part 2>>>
Dr. Frank Boysia owns about 2,300 acres in Lee County and for the past 20
years has been leasing the farming rights. In 2000, he started establishing
riparian buffers around ditch banks in the agriculture fields for a total of
328 acres and in 2006, established CP33 field borders on about 116 acres.
Boysia said, “For the first time in many years, I am finding quail on ditch
banks. The buffers on the ditch banks and the buffers around the ‘ag’ fields
are the reason for the increase in quail numbers.” He said he conducted call
counts on 16 points in 2005, and on four of the points, he did not hear
birds calling. But in 2006, he heard birds on all 16 points, and “I have to
attribute this to buffer establishment, that is the only change on my
property.”
Evan Myers, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife biologist
working out of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources
Conservation Service office in Lee County said, “CP33 buffers have been
established on 538 acres on 14 farms in Lee County and additional acres are
pending approval.” Riparian buffers are planted in trees on the land
adjacent to a water body (creeks, streams, rivers) and usually a grass
buffer is established in the upland area. “Working in combination, these
buffers can provide additional acreage of bobwhite quail habitat as well as
protection for the stream,” Myers said.
South Carolina received an allocation of 10,000 acres for landowners who may
enroll eligible lands that have been row cropped at least four years during
1996 to 2001. Landowners may sign up at any time at a local Farm Service
Agency for both CP22 (riparian) and CP33 buffers. The agency can provide
information on eligibility, actual payments and other questions regarding
riparian and upland bird habitat buffers. Approved contracts will receive
annual rental payments for a 10-year period, a signup bonus of $100 per
acre, cost-share and practice bonus payments for the installation of the
CP33 practice.
A landowner must establish a buffer around the perimeter of the agricultural
field (minimum 50 percent of perimeter) at 45 feet minimum and 120 feet
maximum. The buffers are to be maintained by fall or winter discing or
prescribed burning. Woody plants, Bermuda grass, tall fescue and bahia grass
must be controlled. The buffers are not food plots and are not for the
production of hay, forage or crops. The buffers cannot be used as turn rows,
roads or storage areas for crops or equipment.
Biologists offer several theories for the decline of bobwhite quail
populations throughout the Southeast, which the DNR and U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service estimate as high as 4 percent annually.
Among these theories are:
