#07–105 April 9, 2007

May 31 deadline for Adopt-A-Covey Program

Time is running out for interested landowners to sign up for the Adopt-A-Covey Program sponsored by Quail Unlimited (QU) and Budweiser.

Almost 300 landowners participated in the inaugural year of 2006, enrolling more than 100,000 acres in projects to enhance habitat for quail and other upland species. Each landowner submitted an enrollment form that was reviewed by a panel of judges, primarily state wildlife and QU biologists.

The quality of the management practices, not acreage, determined which submissions were enrolled.

Judy Barnes, Certified Wildlife Biologist, Small Game Project, S.C. Department of Natural Resources judged a number of the applicants from the southeast and provided comments regarding appropriate management techniques. She was presented with a framed print in appreciation of her efforts with the program at a recent wild quail management seminar.

Please visit the QU website for more information on the Adopt-A-Covey program and to download an enrollment form. The deadline for 2007 applications is May 31, 2007.  For more information on quail management in South Carolina, contact Judy Barnes at (803) 734-4306 or barnesj@dnr.sc.gov.

Each landowner who submits an enrollment form receives an attractive metal gate sign showing that they are good land stewards who practice sound wildlife management. They will also receive a wildlife management handbook detailing practices that are beneficial to quail and other upland species.

Quail Unlimited was founded in 1981 to battle the problem of dwindling quail populations and declining wildlife habitat and is the oldest national, nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to the wise management of America's wild quail. The National Headquarters building, 9 miles outside of Edgefield, stands on 90 acres of Quail Unlimited prescribe burned and actively managed habitat adjacent to the 13,000 acre Sumter National Forest.