Pennsylvania Game News - March 2018 - 20

contained an objective for quail restoration within the facility.
And LEAD joined with the Game
Commission to develop the state's first
Bobwhite Quail Focus Area.

CREATING QUAIL HABITAT

Through this partnership, the Game
Commission and LEAD developed a
long-term, comprehensive management
plan that addresses the nuts and bolts of
needed habitat work, and outlines a plan
for translocating wild quail once habitat
has been restored to a suitable condition.
Restoration work began at LEAD in
the summer of 2017, when the facility
saw its first-ever controlled burns to
improve wildlife habitat.
With munitions stored within earthcovered "igloos" in some areas of the
facility, there were concerns about the
dangers fire could pose.
Staff from the Game Commission's
Bureaus of Wildlife Habitat Management
and Wildlife Management, along with
LEAD Natural Resources, conducted a
test fire on an emptied igloo to ensure
burning was safe, then completed 120
acres of controlled burns in cooperation
with the Game Commission's Southcentral Region.
This initial burn focused on nestingcover restoration by reducing woody
plants and promoting native warm-season
grass expansion.
Setting back the clock on succession
is one of the primary keys to providing suitable quail habitat, and thanks to
dedicated volunteers at LEAD, working
closely with LEAD staff and the Game
Commission, 28 acres of trees were
removed to restore both brood cover as
well as the shrubby "headquarters" cover
needed by quail.
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As work to restore suitable quail
habitat continues, a host of other wildlife
also benefits.

PARTNERS MAKE IT HAPPEN

This project truly is one of partnerships.
Not only have the Game Commission
and LEAD joined on the effort, Quail
Forever also signed on to assist the Game
Commission with quail management
throughout Pennsylvania, and provide
training in managing quail habitat.
Shippensburg University completed
vegetation and pollinator surveys within
the Bobwhite Quail Focus Area. And
Harrisburg University has agreed to
assist with data entry and GIS analysis
of ground vegetation there.
Additionally, the Game Commission
receives continued technical support
from NBCI and Wildlife Management
Institute. State wildlife agency staff from
Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Kansas,
Nebraska, and Ohio all have contributed
to the planning stages, as have staff from
the National Wild Turkey Federation,
Pheasants Forever, Tall Timbers Research
Station, the University of Delaware, and
the University of Georgia.
In light of budgetary constraints, partners like these allow the continuation of
wildlife management to occur.
If you'd like more information on
how you can get involved and become a
partner, contact the Game Commission's
Bureau of Wildlife Management.
As we seek to restore quail to the Commonwealth, even if on a small "heritage"
scale, we are in fact bringing back an old
friend to those who remember him and
hope that one day, a new generation of
Pennsylvanians will discover the magic
in the call of the bob...bob...white!
Pennsylvania Game News - March 2018

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