Pheasants Forever Hosting 15 Landowner Habitat Tours Across Nebraska
Pheasants Forever 05.07.12
Nebraska Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF) is hosting 15 different landowner habitat tours during the next four months for landowners and future landowners interested in creating better habitat for pheasants, bobwhite quail and other wildlife.
The tours kick off on Saturday, May 19th with the Carter Canyon Ranch Tour at the Wildcat Hills Nature Center, south of Gering, and conclude with a pair of tours on Thursday, August 16th in Broken Bow and Verdigre. Click here to view the complete landowner habitat tour schedule. The tours are designed not only to demonstrate wildlife habitat management practices, but to highlight state and federal conservation programs that are available to landowners.
Tours will include subjects such as Available Wildlife Habitat Programs in Western Nebraska, Diversified Pheasant Management, Prescribed Fire and Managing for Wildlife on Private Lands, and Invasive Grass Control and Quail Management in the Loess Canyons. Notable dates during the landowner habitat tour circuit include the Saturday, May 19th tour at the Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area, which is being held in conjunction with the 5th annual Wildcat Hills Wildlands Day event, and three tours on June 21st and June 22nd as part of National Pollinator Week (pheasants and quail share a common need for habitat featuring flowering plants with pollinating insects like honey bees, butterflies, beetles, and bats). Click here for all tour locations and descriptions.
“The ability to create quality habitat for pheasant, quail and other wildlife in Nebraska is simpler than people may think,” says Pete Berthelsen, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever Senior Field Coordinator, “Between the local and national conservation programs available, there is a program to fit the needs of nearly every landowner, and I highly recommend individuals participate in the tours to see how they can use these programs to make a difference for Nebraska’s wildlife and environment.”
Since 2004, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever in Nebraska have conducted habitat tours to demonstrate conservation programs and wildlife habitat management practices in a partnership with the Nebraska Environmental Trust, Nebraska Game & Parks Commission and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Since that time, the organizations have held 65 tours for 2,095 attendees on a wide range of topics throughout the state.
The Nebraska Landowner Habitat Tours are free of charge and include a free meal for participants. To register for any of the 15 habitat tours, contact Pheasants Forever’s Mary Korth (308) 428-3062 / Email Mary.
Pheasants Forever launched Quail Forever in August of 2005 to address the continuing loss of habitat suitable for quail and the subsequent quail population decline. Bobwhite population losses over the last 25 years range from 60 to 90 percent across the country. The reason for the quail population plunge is simple - massive losses of habitat suitable for quail. There are five major factors leading to the losses of quail habitat; intensified farming and forestry practices, succession of grassland ecosystems to forests, overwhelming presence of exotic grasses like fescue that choke out wildlife, and urban sprawl.
