“Over the better part of my lifetime I’ve watched this ridge change from open prairie to a few trees here and there to a veritable forest of eastern redcedars. The draws below, where I once could watch a dog run big, are now so choked with cedars that I can’t even make a path through them. The prairie chickens disappeared decades ago, buffeted by larger issues that continue to threaten their existence. The bobwhites hung on for a while, but eventually they too took their leave, and the whistle of a bob there now is as rare as the booming of a chicken was back then. Eventually I came to the realization that if I ever wanted to hear quail there again, and someday perhaps even the booming of a prairie chicken on the old lek atop the ridge, I had to do something about the scourge of cedar infestation... Enter the chainsaw.” Read “The Oklahoma Chainsaw Massacre: Sawdust and Cedar Murder is Good for the Soul, and Quail” by QF Journal Editor Chad Love, at the 🔗link in our bio. #quailforever #bobwhitequail #quail

On The Wing Podcast EP. 221: New “Roots So Deep” Documentary Delivers Big for Bobwhite Quail, is live! 🔗 Link in bio to listen now! Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by PF & QF’s Director of Sustainability Brent Rudolph for a conversation with Peter Byck, a filmmaker and professor at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability. The discussion focuses upon Byck’s new four-part documentary, “Roots So Deep (You Can See the Devil Down There).” The film’s trailer articulates its premise as “a big ole research project about farmers and scientists who are figuring out if the way cattle are being grazed can actually help solve climate change. In the process of looking for common ground between farming and science, the common ground is the dirt right beneath their feet.” SPOILER ALERT: Bobwhite quail play a surprising starring role throughout the documentary. Episode Highlights: - The film chronicles ten neighbors in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky who are managing their cattle operations through two distinctly different methods of grazing over a ten-year period. A team of scientists measure the differences these two grazing methods have on soil, water, insects, birds, biodiversity, climate resiliency, and carbon sequestration. - Two members of the famous country music band, Alabama, participate in the documentary as cattle ranchers and bobwhite quail lovers. #quailforever #pheasantsforever #carboncowboys #bobwhitequail