Coalition for Conservation

The 2007 Farm Bill is important to Oklahomans, and their lifestyle. That’s why twenty plus organizations are joining forces to support the Conservation Title in this years legislature. The group, calling themselves “The Coalition for Conservation,” has the intent of raising awareness of the benefits associated with the programs contained within the Conservation title of the 2007 Farm Bill.

The Conservation Title of the Farm Bill contains the legislation behind all the wildlife habitat programs such as: CRP, WHIP, WRP, and EQIP. All of which have been extremely valuable to wildlife in the state of Oklahoma, and virtually every other state in the U.S. The Coalition for Conservation be working to educate farmers, landowners, policy makers, and the general public on the benefits of wildlife conservation.

Below is a list of groups involved, and links to their websites if applicable:

Quail-hunting opportunities are there!

To those of us that are interested in quail hunting and management, it is a wide spread fact that quail numbers are down across the nation. However, that doesn’t mean that the opportunity to hunt wild birds in nonexistent. There is a nice article in today’s (1/11/07) Houston Chronicle that discusses this very topic. The article mentions that parts of Texas and Oklahoma have outstanding populations of scaled quail, that provide ample hunting opportunity to the general public. Here is an excerpt from the article:

“Overall quail production was poor,” said Steve DeMaso, Upland Bird Program Leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “The widespread drought really hurt, but some areas — especially portions of South Texas — got late summer rains that encouraged a late hatch. The coastal region south of Corpus Christi probably fared best.”

DeMaso said that despite the fluctuating quail population, Texas hunters typically harvest 25 to 30 percent of the available birds in a given season. In a boom year, the harvest might be as high as 3 million quail; in a bust year, the harvest might drop to 750,000.

Oklahoma Quail habitat to be Restored

At their December meeting, the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission accepted a donation of $4,000 from the non-profit organization. The donation will be matched with $4,000 of Wildlife Restoration funds and will help restore native grasslands on the Packsaddle WMA.

“There is a 500-acre area on Packsaddle that was planted by the previous owner years ago in Old World bluestem. Unfortunately, this is a non-native grass that makes for very poor quail habitat, and it is also difficult to control. This donation will allow us to disc the soil and re-plant native grasses more beneficial to wildlife,” said Alan Peoples, chief of wildlife for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Arbuckle Mountain Area Quail Unlimited Chapter Takes Flight

The Arbuckle Mountain Area Quail Unlimited chapter was formed in Ardmore on Oklahoma’s opening day of quail season. “The group of habitat oriented conservationists, hunters and sportsmen is taking flight with a unique slogan that summarizes their mission: Feet on the ground, hands on the equipment and birds in the air;” commented Bob Peterson, Quail Unlimited Central Plains Regional Director. “Additionally, the chapter members are in the initial stages of launching an ambitious habitat project that will benefit quail, wildlife and the general public in the Ardmore area.”