The Department's Quail initiative
Population surveys show quail numbers are down over most of the
state, a trend observed throughout the entire southeastern United States. Even
with recent declines, Oklahoma is one of the few remaining states where hunters
can pursue relatively large numbers of wild quail. Hunters harvest an estimated
one to two million birds a year in the state, which consistently ranks
nationally in the top three for harvest.
"More than 95 percent of the state's land is privately owned, and
those landowners aren't going to spend $100 an acre to convert their CRP,
pastures and wheat fields back into native rangeland without some kind of
monetary incentive," said Alan Peoples, wildlife chief for the Oklahoma
Department of Wildlife Conservation. "Realistically, you can't hope to address
quail habitat without focusing on the private landowner, and that's going to
take incentive payments."
Peoples said that a recent study commissioned by the directors of
state fish and wildlife agencies in the southeastern U.S. determined that to
stabilize quail populations at levels seen in 1980, hundreds of millions of
dollars would need to be spent on private lands habitat assistance programs. In
Oklahoma, for example, the study suggests that spending $234 million to enhance
several million acres of land, much of it CRP, could conceivably result in an
estimated 204,000 new coveys.
"We've got about a million acres of CRP, primarily in western
Oklahoma, and much of it is poor quail habitat," Peoples said. "Folks hear 'CRP'
and they think, good quail hunting. The problem is that much of Oklahoma's CRP
was planted to Old World Bluestem and other non-native grasses.
"Quail don't like Old World Bluestem, just like they don't like
Bermuda or fescue. Weedy native pastures provide more food and cover, but there
aren't too many landowners and farmers who want weedy, overgrown pastures."
He added that quail are only one of a number of prairie species that
have experienced declining populations in response to habitat loss. Declining
numbers of prairie chicken, prairie dog, burrowing owl, mountain plover and
long-billed curlew are all indicators that significant landscape changes have
degraded the state's prairie habitat. States such as Texas, Colorado, Kansas and
Nebraska also have seen similar habitat alterations, leading many biologists to
call for intensified prairie habitat improvement initiatives.
Similar nation-wide habitat improvement programs have been
successfully undertaken, most notably efforts such as the North American
Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). Through NAWMP, more than $300 million has
been spent since 1990 on waterfowl habitat improvements in Canada, Mexico and
the United States. Duck and goose populations have increased dramatically during
that time, and habitat conservation measures and adequate rainfall have been
credited for bringing the birds back.
"Wildlife will respond if they are provided with the right habitat
conditions," Peoples said. "Quail are no different. We can reverse the trend,
but we have to make the financial commitment to do so."
10-Point
Quail Initiative Activities
1. Educate landowners, sportsmen and policy makers on the status of
bobwhite quail and other grassland bird species.
Click here for quail population status summaries
and trend information.
2. Use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify areas for
habitat improvement based on the likelihood of success for increasing localized
quail populations.
3. Seek funding to improve quail habitat on private land and provide
incentives for landowners to enhance habitat.
Click here to learn about private land incentive options
and view back copies of our private land
newsletter.
4. Educate landowners and natural resource professionals on quail
habitat requirements, management techniques and practices that harm quail
habitat.
5. Establish private land demonstration sites for bobwhite quail
management.
6. Promote existing landowner incentive/cost-share programs to
benefit quail.
7. Work to perpetuate the wise use of prescribed burning to improve
quail habitat.
8. Support the Red Cedar Coalition in controlling the invasive Eastern red cedar. Click here to learn more about controlling Eastern red cedars.
9. Work cooperatively with agriculture agencies to modify
conservation planting and existing programs to better enhance quail habitat.
10. Work with public utilities and the Department of Transportation
to develop right-of-way management practices that conserve nesting habitat for
quail and other grassland birds.