Local-level quail conservationists are the foundation of the movement to restore bobwhites. No matter how tall the states may stand in pursuit of their quail stewardship duty, the states cannot succeed without the full partnership of a vigorous grassroots support base. 
A central theme of the NBCI and of our strategy for restoring bobwhites range-wide might now be coming into focus. I call it the NBCI “pyramid strategy,” which aims to address head-on the societal reality that bobwhite restoration has less to do with science and technology than it does with people, politics and money. One of the greatest strengths of bobwhite conservation is we are loaded with brilliant scientists and managers who have amassed an impressive record of knowledge and experience about quail biology and management. Conversely, our weakness is our tepid organizational skills to make effective use of all the people who are crucial to our success. The NBCI aims to begin fixing this weakness, by catalyzing a “quail machine,” of people who collaborate synergistically among all three essential levels – local, state and national.
