Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are proud to announce the latest addition to permanently protected upland habitat in Indiana. The Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and Management Area gained 129 acres, filling a vital habitat and public access gap between lands owned by the refuge and the Sycamore Land Trust. To date, the refuge has acquired 11,000 acres within the 22,500 acre Congressionally approved acquisition boundary. The refuge provides diverse cover types that are a haven for migratory birds and numerous threatened and endangered species. It also protects one of the most significant bottomland hardwood forests remaining in the Midwest, alongside prairie and wetland habitats. Refuge staff are focused on restoring early successional habitat for grassland birds, critical forage for pollinating species, and structural components needed to grow bobwhite quail populations. Learn more at the link below.

Rudy The Rooster says "No Mow May"

Quail Fact Friday!💡 Nesting season bans, or “quiet periods,” exist for a crucial reason! These periods, designated by certain states on public lands, give our upland birds the best shot at success during their most vulnerable time – nesting and raising chicks. If a nest is abandoned due to dog pressure, a quail lays fewer eggs during each subsequent nesting attempt, and chicks hatched late in the season have a lower chance at survival. While nesting season bans are enforced on public lands, some hunters also impose self-enforced quiet periods on private lands. By allowing hens to nest, hatch, and raise chicks undisturbed, we’re doing the most to safeguard huntable populations for the future. Consider prioritizing wildlife and enforcing a quiet period of your own. There is still plenty of training opportunities available without running your dogs on wild birds. #quailforever #quailfactfriday #quail #bobwhitequail

Join us , Pheasants Forever , and Quail Forever this May at your local Hands-On Habitat event. This is a chance for all of us to put boots on the ground, get our hands dirty, and prove that we are on the sharp end of the conservation shovel. Learn more at the link in our story: https:// pheasantsforever.org/HandsOnHabitat

On The Wing Podcast Ep. 262: Careers in Conservation with Levi Day, is live. Listen now at the link below, or wherever you get your podcasts. https://quailforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Quail-Forever/Podcast-Ep-262-Careers-in-Conservation-with-Levi-Day.aspx Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Conservation Leadership Program Manager Levi Day for a discussion about the organization’s effort to foster more interest in conservation careers, ranging from biologists to marketing professionals and accountants to educators. Episode Highlights: - Day recounts becoming a hunter, pursuing a career as an education professional, then developing a hunting friendship via social media that resulted in his jump into a conservation career of his own with PF & QF. - Day also explains PF & QF’s Journey to Conservation Careers program and recaps a successful career curriculum session that occurred on the morning of the podcast in Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s Harrisburg High School. Learn more about the Journey to Conservation Careers program at the link: https://pheasantsforever.org/Habitat/Conservation-Education/Journey-to-Conservation-Careers.aspx

Today, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are applauding action by Agriculture Committee leadership in both the U.S. Senate and the House to put forward their proposals for a 2024 Farm Bill, with Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) unveiling the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act and House Committee on Agriculture Chair Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-PA) releasing his committee’s Farm Bill overview. While there is still much work to do, these proposals appear to support farmers, sportsmen and women, and rural communities by strengthening popular, voluntary conservation programs, increasing access to the great outdoors, and preserving working lands and wildlife habitat for future generations. Both Chairwoman Stabenow and Chairman Thompson’s bills would bring funding from the Inflation Reduction Act into the Farm Bill and provide a historic, permanent investment in voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are thankful to see some of the organization’s top priorities being addressed in Senator Stabenow’s Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act. These include strengthening the Conservation Reserve Program by incorporating the provisions of the bipartisan, bicameral CRP Improvement Act, reauthorizing and funding the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP) and including provisions to support nationwide conservation of America’s grasslands. Learn more about the progress being made regarding the 2024 Farm Bill at the link below. https://quailforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Quail-Forever/Pheasants-Forever-and-Quail-Forever-Thrilled-about-Congressional-Movement-Today-Around-New-Farm-Bill.aspx