The National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) is moving to hire a new forestry coordinator for the 25-state effort after their first coordinator was recently hired to direct the new Shortleaf Pine Initiative. The job announcement and description can be accessed on the NBCI’s homepage atwww.bringbackbobwhites.org, along with similar information for the new grasslands coordinator and data analyst positions.
“This is a critical position for us because we believe about half of the opportunity to restore bobwhites to recreationally viable populations across the species’ range are in forested landscapes,” said NBCI Director Don McKenzie. “There is a new shortleaf pine initiative to promote savannah habitats in that ecosystem primarily because of NBCI’s leadership and active involvement in its development, and we expect that to bear big fruit for bobwhites in the long term. So we intend to continue our aggressive leadership in the forestry arena on behalf of bobwhites.”
McKenzie says NBCI is looking for a forester with a wildlife background or a wildlife biologist with a strong forestry background. Preference will be give to those with a basic understanding of the ecological and economic aspects of integrating bobwhite management into forested habitats and who are very familiar with the NBCI and the NBTC, and with state wildlife and forestry agency structures and functions. The forestry coordinator will work primarily at regional and national levels as a liaison with and technical resource for a variety of entities, so is expected to travel extensively.
Headquartered at the University of Tennessee’s Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries, NBCI is an initiative of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee (NBTC) to elevate bobwhite quail recovery from an individual state-by-state proposition to a range-wide leadership endeavor. The committee is comprised of representatives of 25 state wildlife agencies, academic research institutions and private conservation organizations. Support for NBCI is provided by the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Program, state wildlife agencies, the University of Tennessee and Park Cities Quail. For more information, please visit www.bringbackbobwhites.org,
