Excerpt
The familiar and charming country sound “old…bob…WHITE!” is becoming a fading memory. The population of this universally beloved bird has declined by two-thirds since 1980 and by three-fourths since 1966. Though no one claims or believes that bobwhites actually will become threatened or endangered with extinction, they are within sight of becoming recreationally extinct. Bobwhite harvest by hunters already has declined more than 90 percent in at least three southern states.
The basic problem is clear-gradual but pervasive habitat loss through changing land use practices. The basic solution is equally clear-habitat restoration and management on a vast scale. There are no easy shortcuts; if there were, the species already would be restored.
Wildlife managers have just completed the essential first step, by charting a clear path to restore quail to their 1980 levels. The “Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative” was completed by the Southeast Quail Study Group in March 2002 at the behest of the directors of all the southeastern state wildlife agencies. This ambitious restoration plan aims to add 2.77 million coveys of quail in 22 states by restoring and managing 81 million acres of habitat …
Footnotes
Donald F. McKenzie is field representative for the Wildlife Management Institute, Ward, Arkansas. For more information, check out the Southeast Quail Study Group web site at http://seqsg.qu.og
- Copyright 2002 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.