Quail Unlimited presents award to S.C. project

The seventy-fourth annual North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Arlington, Virginia was the setting where Quail Unlimited (QU) recognized a S.C. project for implementation of the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative. The Indian Creek Wildlife Habitat Restoration Initiative in Newberry, S.C. was given the QU Group Achievement award for being a landscape-scale project with an array of partners including state and federal agencies, private landowners and non-profit conservation groups. The award was given in cooperation with the Southeast Quail Study Group, which recently changed its name to National Bobwhite Technical Committee(NBTC). The primary goal of the Indian Creek project is to restore woodland savannahs, which will improve habitat for quail and all grassland songbirds. The NBTC was recently awarded a $500,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to foster more landscape-scale projects like Indian Creek. Over 16,000 acres are enrolled in the Indian Creek project and prescribed fire has been the most important management tool used to improve habitat. 

Photos by Jeff Dennis: English Setters backing each other in the field, and two quail hunters hoping to find a covey of wild quail to flush.