Recognizing Upland Habitat in Need, Pheasants Forever Membership Soars to Record
Pheasants Forever 01.03.14
Leading upland conservation organization now boasts 141,314 active members
Pheasants Forever and its quail division, Quail Forever, the national nonprofit devoted to wildlife habitat conservation, has set an all-time membership record with 141,314 active members located throughout the United States and Canada. With upland habitat loss reaching historic modern levels in recent years, the record total indicates a growing concern for pheasant, quail and wildlife habitat conservation.
In 2013 alone, about 1.6 million acres were removed from the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and converted to cropland. Additionally, the conversion of native prairie to crop-producing lands has accelerated in the Upper Midwest, particularly the Dakotas and Nebraska, because of limited protections, and a federal Farm Bill and its Conservation Title, which dictates habitat-protecting programs nationwide, remains in legislative limbo. The cumulative result is wildlife habitat loss the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the Great Depression.
“This membership milestone is not only significant for Pheasants Forever, but for upland conservation efforts nationwide. There’s a growing trend of people becoming actively interested in protecting the wildlife habitat we have, and creating more of it,” said Howard K. Vincent, Pheasants Forever’s President and CEO, “And it signifies people recognize Pheasants Forever as having a track-record and an ability to efficiently do something about habitat loss.” Rated a 4-star charity (the highest possible designation) by Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest charity evaluator, Pheasants Forever continues to spend nearly 92 cents out of every dollar directly on its wildlife habitat mission work, maintaining its impressive per-dollar impact.
Pheasants Forever’s membership total has also been buoyed by an increase in banquet attendance. More than 700 Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapters annually host fundraising banquets in local communities to raise money and awareness for conservation efforts. Unique among national conservation organizations, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapters keep control of those funds raised, investing them in local wildlife habitat projects and to host conservation events – most notably mentored youth upland hunts and shooting sports events – designed to generate youth interest in hunting and conservation.
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.
