ODWC 10-point Quail Restoration Plan
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.
"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.
2. Use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify areas
for habitat improvement based on the likelihood of success for
increasing localized quail populations. - QHRI focal areas
3. Seek funding to improve quail habitat on private land and
provide incentives for landowners to enhance habitat.
4. Educate landowners and natural resource professionals on
quail habitat requirements, management techniques and practices
that harm quail habitat.
Click here to download the
Comprehensive Quail Habitat Management Booklet (pdf) and Click
here to print off or download
OSU's Habitat Appraisal Guide for Bobwhite
Quail
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.
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.