The National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) is welcoming new faces in the bobwhite conservation community as five of the 25 NBCI states have identified new “quail coordinators” to “reload” for efforts during the new year following recent vacancies.
“As the range-wide initiative to restore bobwhites, NBCI is pleased that states continue to remain committed to the bobwhite conservation challenge by refilling these vital quail coordinator positions,” said NBCI Director Don McKenzie. “We will miss our friends and colleagues who are moving on but look forward to working with the new people who are bringing valuable energy, skills and ideas to our quail community.”
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Kansas
Jeff Prendergast is the new small game specialist stationed at the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism’s Hays regional office. For more than two years, Prendergast worked as a biologist technician in southeast Kansas and most recently as a district biologist in northeast Kansas. He earned his B.S. and M.S. in Biological Sciences at Emporia State University.
In his new position Prendergast will be coordinating several small game surveys and representing KDWPT on the Midwest Pheasant Study Group and the National Bobwhite Technical Committee, and will be implementing the state’s quail plan along with Jim Pitman. He will also work with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in their Hays regional office helping them design and implement wildlife-friendly conservation practices.
Prendergast can be contacted at 785-628-8614 or at jeffrey.prendergast@ksoutdoors.com.
Missouri
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Scott Sudkamp is the new small game coordinator for Missouri Department of Conservation as part of the Species
and Habitat Unit in the Wildlife Division. Sudkamp will work with department staff and partners to improve coordination and focus of efforts to manage all small game, freeing Max Alleger to concentrate more on grasslands and thus enabling MDC to increase leadership in both arenas.
Sudkamp received his Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Biology and a minor in Botany from Eastern Illinois University in 1994 and completed his M. S. degree in Zoology/Wildlife at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1997. His thesis, “A Landscape-Level Assessment of Upland Habitat in Illinois,” highlighted quail and offers a beneficial perspective in this new role. In 1998, he became assistant manager for a 28,000-acre wildlife management area and two smaller areas in the southeastern corner of the Texas panhandle for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
He began his MDC career in 2002 as a wildlife biologist on conservation areas around Lamar, working with grasslands and wetlands, providing workshops to the public, managing small game, and conducting youth hunts. Two years later, Scott became a Private Lands Conservationist serving Vernon and Bates Counties. He also served as the feral hog planning section chief for the Kansas City Region and worked on various teams including Grassland Strategic Management Plan Team, Quail Technical Committee, Grassland Review Committee, MOQuail Blog Team and Missouri Chapter of The Wildlife Society Professional Development Committee. Sudkamp co-authored Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, http://extension.missouri.edu/p/mp903.
Sudkamp can be contacted at 417-884-2089 or at Scott.Sudkamp@mdc.mo.gov.
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Oklahoma
With a B.S. in wildlife and fisheries ecology from Oklahoma State and 23 years experience with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, Scott Cox is the new coordinator of the state’s upland game program and will be providing technical assistance to landowners and serving as a liaison on Oklahoma State’s quail research. Cox was previously a wildlife biologist managing the Spavinaw Hills and Oologah wildlife management areas, a research biologist responsible for hunting-related activities on the Beaver River, Optima and Schultz wildlife management areas and the Rita Blanca Grasslands, and a research biologist responsible for supervising a northern bobwhite mortality study in the western portion of the state. Cox has published various quail research studies.
Cox can be contacted at 405-301-9945 or coxcovey@junct.com
Illinois
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Stan McTaggart has been a district wildlife biologist with the Illinois DNR working with waterfowl and upland hunting sites along the Illinois River in District 8. Before his position with the Illinois DNR, he worked for the Sangamon County Soil and Water Conservation District as a biologist and coordinator with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) in Springfield, IL and as a term biologist for the U.S. Forest Service on the Shawnee National Forest in Vienna, IL. McTaggart earned his undergraduate degrees at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale and his MS Degree at Eastern Illinois University.
McTaggart can be contacted at (217)558-6623 or Stan.McTaggart@Illinois.gov.
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<
p style=”text-align: center;”>South Carolina
South Carolina native and Clemson biological sciences graduate Willie Simmons is the new small game project supervisor and quail coordinator for South Carolina. Simmons has been with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources for over 20 years and has extensive experience with public and private land management. Most recently, Simmons worked in Region 3 as alligator coordinator, youth hunt and mobility impaired hunt coordinator. He also was active with heritage preserves, WMA properties, prescribed fire, pesticide application, and nuisance wildlife.
Simmons fills the vacancy created when Billy Dukes, former chair of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee, was named the state’s assistant chief of wildlife. Both Simmons and Dukes will be active with national technical committee and in the implementation of the state’s new quail restoration plan.
Simmons can be contacted at 803-734-3898, or SimmonsW@dnr.sc.gov.
