Transcript
Page 1: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time

Restoring  Quail  Habitat  One  HAT  at  a  Time  

Jim  Willis  –  Wildlife  Habitat  Federa;on  

Page 2: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time

“The  world  will  li?le  note  nor  long  remember  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  we  did  here.”  

-­‐Abraham  Lincoln,  Ge#ysburg  Address  

Page 3: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 4: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 5: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 6: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 7: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 8: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 9: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 10: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 11: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 12: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 13: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 14: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time

“WHF  has  been  the  difference  in  my  ability  to  maintain  and  enhance  our  quail  popula;on  on  my  wife's  family's  ranch  despite  the  worst  drought  since  the  50's.WHF  stepped  into  the  picture  and  did  the  job  that  I  could  get  no  one  else  to  do.    In  the  2011-­‐2012  season  we  had  our  best  quail  season  ever.  We  hunt  half  days.  We  had  many  8,  9,  and  10  covey    half  days,  several  12  and  13  covey  half  days  and  a  record  half  day  of  seventeen  coveys  that  contained  170  birds  that  three  of  us  counted  on  the  flushes.  This  was  on  1200  acres  where  WHF  has  done  the  most  work.    That  half  day  was  a  record  for  that  pasture.”    

-­‐Quotes  from  note  to  TPWD  from  Eliot  Tucker.    

Page 15: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time

•  Res$ng  and  not  overgrazing  

•  Plant  in  well  packed  seedbeds  

•  Be  willing  to  “fail-­‐fast  fix-­‐fast”  

•  Be  pa$ent  –  Na$ves  sleep,  creep,  leap  

•  Harvest  or  graze  only  top  half  of  the  plant  

•  Best  stands  are  a  mixture  of  local  eco-­‐types  mixed  with  cul$vars  

Page 16: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 17: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time
Page 18: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time

Objec$ve:  $5  million  over  the  next  5  years  to  expand  our  current  HAT  program  to  

225,000  acres.  

Page 19: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time

Upland  Game  Bird  Strategic  Plan  

• Objec;ve  4  –  By  2013,  establish  two  quail  landowner  coopera;ves  in  important  quail  eco-­‐regions  

• Strategy  4.1  -­‐  Work  with  Joint  Ventures  to  develop  landscape  level  decision  support  tools  to  iden$fy  priority  areas  for  quail  and  grassland  bird  management    and  habitat  on  private  lands.  

                     OPJV  Focus  Areas  

• Strategy  4.2  –  Use  the  Wildlife  Habitat  Federa$on  and  Western  Navarro  Bobwhite  Restora$on  Ini$a$ves  as  models  for  landowner  coopera$ves  on  private  lands.  

Page 20: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time

WHF  -­‐Habitat  Ac;on  Teams  

OPJV  –  Popula;on  Objec;ves  &  Focus  

Areas  

Habitat  &  Treatment  Tracking  

Grassland  Bird  Monitoring    

Page 21: Restoring Prairie Habitat - One HAT at a Time

Recommended