Ohio’s Inglis Named Pheasants Forever’s Government Affairs Representative
Pheasants Forever 06.20.12
Pheasants Forever, Inc. and Quail Forever has named Jim Inglis of Marysville, Ohio, as its Governmental Affairs Representative. Inglis is an 11-year veteran of “The Habitat Organization,” spending the past five years as Pheasants Forever’s national Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator. Inglis joins Pheasants Forever’s Government Affairs team led by Dave Nomsen.
Inglis’ primary role will be strengthening Pheasants Forever’s outreach and advocacy efforts and serving as a spokesman for state-level and national conservation policies and programs. For 30 years Pheasants Forever has, as an organization, served as one of the staunchest advocates for conservation through strong partnerships with state and federal agencies. In recent years, Pheasants Forever has accelerated the development of its Farm Bill Biologist program to serve landowners in enrolling in conservation programs. Inglis oversaw that growth, taking a program with 22 biologists in five states to one with nearly 100 biologists in 18 states.
“Jim understands the grassroots nature of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever,” said Dave Nomsen, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Vice President of Government Affairs, “The views and ideas from our 130,000 members and 700-plus chapters are always the basis for our representation when working on conservation policy. Having served Pheasants Forever in multiple capacities, Jim is ready to represent Pheasants Forever in this new role.”
Prior to his role as Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator, Inglis was Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Regional Wildlife Biologist in Ohio for six years. A native of Clifton Springs, New York, Inglis grew up on a dairy farm where he is still involved in land management decisions, including incorporating CRP, managing forest land for wildlife, and installing other conservation practices. He completed his undergraduate degree at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, and obtained his Master’s Degree in Wildlife Biology from Mississippi State University. Inglis will continue working from his home in Marysville, Ohio.
“I have always been interested in policy and am looking forward to using the experiences of my farm background, working at the county, state and national levels with Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, and what I have learned from the Farm Bill Biologist program these past few years to strengthen conservation policy,” said Inglis.
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.
