Shell’s Covert
(Quail Grunts)
August 2011
For many of us in Virginia it’s hard to believe that as of July 1, 2011 we began the third year of implementing our latest Quail Recovery Initiative. We have two eventful years and many accomplishments behind us. Our newest quail team is pictured below.
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Photo Credit: Allen Boynton – VDGIF
Left to right (standing): Bob Glennon, Jay Howell, David Bryan, Andy Rosenberger, Marc Puckett, (kneeling) – Katie Martin, Debbie Wright, Galon Hall.
All of our partners (partnerships – the first key to success), including the hundreds of private landowners who have done more than “talk the talk,” are indispensible to quail recovery in Virginia. There are several key partners that deserve special thanks:
The federal Natural Resources Conservation Service, both in enabling the initiative to hire and support five private lands wildlife biologists, and in continuing to offer financial incentives through the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), is a “diamond” partner.
So is the Conservation Management Institute at Virginia Tech, without which the private lands biologists positions would not exist (or our VQC and QMAP list serves).
Add to this list the six Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) through which we offer the Wildlife BMP program (Big Walker, Chowan Basin, Culpeper, Halifax, Headwaters, and Three Rivers) and their supporting agency, the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
These partners form the backbone of the quail initiative.
And so many others contribute significantly to what has become the body of the Virginia quail initiative. These include: The US Forest Service, Dominion – Virginia Power, the Wildlife Foundation of Virginia, Virginia Dept. of Forestry, the Farm Services Agency, Appalachian Mountains Woodcock Initiative, Quail Unlimited, Quail Forever, the Ruffed Grouse Society, the Department. of Mines, Minerals and Energy, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and the Environment, The National Wild Turkey Federation, the Virginia Chapter of The Wildlife Society, American Electric Power, River Birch Farm, Reese Farms, Virginia Trappers Association, US Army Corps of Engineers, the National Audubon Society, Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, and the Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Of the team pictured above, five are our private lands wildlife biologists (David Bryan, Bob Glennon, Katie Martin, Andy Rosenberger and Debbie Wright). They are the true force behind our QRI – the “unsung heroes” without whom implementing the quail initiative would be ineffective.
