The Quail and Upland Game Alliance (QUGA) recently committed financial support to the coordinated national effort to restore wild bobwhite quail. Operating since 2013 primarily in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, QUGA has committed to provide significant financial contributions to the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) for the next two years.
Jerry Johnson, QUGA, Regional Director states, “QUGA is honored to be a part of NBCI’s strong conservation effort. QUGA partnering with NBCI will allow more habitat to be established for quail and upland game. QUGA sincerely appreciates the opportunity to partner with such a great organization.”
“This kind of private funding support is crucial because there are many things NBCI needs to do in order to be effective, but which are not allowed with federal Pittman-Robertson money, which is our primary source of funding,” said NBCI Director Don McKenzie. “We need private dollars to allow us to be agile and flexible, to maximize our full potential, and we’re grateful for QUGA’s support and look forward to their active participation with the states and the national bobwhite community moving forward.”
QUGA (http://quga.org/home) leaders aspire for the organization and its chapters to become closely coordinated with state wildlife agency quail initiatives, especially in support of NBCI bobwhite focal area implementation (For more information about focal areas please visit http://tinyurl.com/kvtmun4). NBCI works at regional and national levels to identify opportunities and remove obstacles for development of bobwhite habitat in 25 states.
About NBCI
Headquartered at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture’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 coordinated, range-wide leadership endeavor. The committee is comprised of representatives of 25 state wildlife agencies, various academic research institutions and private conservation organizations. Support for NBCI is provided by the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Program, state wildlife agencies, the Joe Crafton Family Endowment for Quail Initiatives, the University of Tennessee, Quail and Upland Game Alliance and Park Cities Quail.
