To offset those maintenance costs, Shaker Village and KDFWR tried a new approach. They sold tickets for two consecutive half-day quail hunts for one hunter and a guest, with meals and lodging provided and guide services, dogs and handlers available upon request. Tickets were priced at $20 or 6 for $100. While the first half-day was a washout due to heavy rains, on the second the lucky hunters moved 10 coveys of quail, all within a 150-acre area. The event raised more than $15,000, which will be invested in habitat maintenance. The Village is expanding the event this fall to two hunting parties. Information is available at www.shakervillageky.org/quailhunt for this year’s hunt. For more information about Shaker Village and the quail hunt, please visit http://www.shakervillageky.org/. For more information about Kentucky’s quail management, please visit www.fw.ky.gov, http:// www.bringbackbobwhites.org/blogs/kentucky and Kentucky Bobwhite Battalion on Facebook at http:// www.facebook.com/KentuckyQuail. For more information about the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, go to www.bringbackbobwhites.org.
… NBCI ‘conservation we can all get behind’ By Sunni Carr Wildlife Diversity Program Coordinator Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources The Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) has been viewed as an important milestone. However, do not underestimate its real conservation value. To see a plan such as this developed and implemented is a conservation victory. Individuals who have worked on avian conservation and management through the years have often changed positions or titles, but have remained within a close knit circle. As a result, the NBCI has the well rounded wisdom of many avian experts. I firmly believe that this wisdom has been the basis for the overwhelming acceptance and excitement regarding this initiative. Those involved know what quail need and also recognize those species that can and will also benefit from good land management. In Kentucky, our Wildlife Diversity Program avian specialists have worked hand in hand with the Upland Game Program to develop management and monitoring components to measure the success of the NBCI. Information gained has allowed land managers to adapt and focus their work to achieve the best results for quail and other grassland songbirds. The NBCI is about more than just quail, it is about managing a grassland system so that birds, such as Grassland Sparrows, Henslow’s Sparrows and Dickcissels, and other wildlife can thrive. That is conservation we can all get behind.