Bobwhite quail initiative newsletter, Vol. 6 No. 9 (Spring 2005)

Bobwhite Quail Initiative Newsletter
Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division
Game Management Section
Spring 2005 Volume 6, Issue Number 9
Coordinator s Corner
Bobwhite Management In Georgia - Gaining Momentum
There is an old military adage that the key to winning a battle is to always move forward. I think the same can be said relative to winning the battle for bobwhite restoration. As we enter into BQI's sixth year, the program continues to move forward in the following ways: a) public interest and participation is strong and growing; b) BQI tag sales are generating substantial revenue; c) monitoring continues to show bobwhites responding positively on BQI farms; and d) BQI cooperator satisfaction is high. In short, the program is continuing to gain momentum. Equally encouraging is the fact that the bobwhite restoration movement, at both the national and regional levels, is also gaining momentum. The stage is being set for BQI and other programs to work together to improve bobwhite and other wildlife habitat over a large portion of Georgia's landscape. Let's take a brief look at some of the positive developments during the past year.
1) The Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI), a plan developed by the Southeast Quail Study Group in 2002 that sets bobwhite habitat and population restoration goals for 22 states, is receiving national acclaim and is influencing state, federal and private conservation efforts. 2) The Georgia Bobwhite Technical Team has been formed to guide NBCI from the drawing board to the ground. This task force of state, federal and private conservation groups will work to identify common ground and combine efforts to meet NBCI habitat objectives for the Peach State. 3) A new land management practice option has been added to the Conservation Reserve Program Continuous sign-up that provides economic incentives to landowners for the establishment of grass-forb field buffers around the edge of crop fields. This practice, known as Habitat Buffers For Upland Birds - CP33, was developed by the Farm Service Agency in Washington D.C. due to the growing concern and interest in the bobwhite decline and is modeled in part after the BQI field border practice. Georgia has been allocated 8,600 acres for CP33 buffers 30 to 120 feet in width. 4) The Natural Resources Conservation Service, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, has been modified for Georgia to include $500,000 for the improvement of pine stands for wildlife. This is particularly important for quail and other early succession species as research shows closed canopy pine stands are one of the most negative habitat components on the landscape.
The bottom line is that bobwhite restoration is on a roll in Georgia and across the South. By supporting and/or participating in BQI and other conservation programs we can all work together to "win the war" to save our State Game Bird.
--Reggie Thackston, BQI Coordinator
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Bobwhites and Wild Turkeys Is Habitat Management For These Birds Compatible?
Ninth in a series on management techniques to improve habitat for quail

Many landowners desire to have high populations of bobwhites and eastern wild turkeys on the same tract of land. This is certainly understandable since both species are outstanding game birds. However, while it is true that turkeys and quail do have some overlap in their habitat needs and good populations can occur on the same property, it is impossible to simultaneously maximize populations of each bird across the same landscape. Let's compare the habitat needs of these two birds.
Bobwhites are a grass-forb-shrub species. Generally, they need clumped native grasses, mixed with canopied (24"-60" high) weeds and legumes, interspersed with shrub, briar and other woody thickets. Together these habitat components provide nesting cover, brood range, escape cover, loafing sites and food at all seasons. Quail populations are maximized where this grass-forb-shrub habitat is contiguous across thousands of acres. Shaded woodlands, creek drains, wetlands, river bottoms, and fescue, bahia or Bermuda grass pastures/hay fields do not provide suitable habitat for bobwhites. Additionally, these woodland and wetland cover types serve as source habitats for predators, which may negatively impact quail populations on surrounding lands.
Wild turkeys are forest birds that also utilize openings. They need mature forest stands for fall winter foods and roost sites; patchy grass/shrub ground cover for nesting; and low-growing (12"-28" high) grass-forb dominated openings and/or herbaceous forest ground cover for insects, greenery and brood rearing. Therefore, turkeys reach their highest densities across landscapes comprised of sawtimber-sized stands of closed canopy (shaded) hardwoods and pines interspersed with openings. They prefer forests that are shaded to the point of being relatively open at ground level, but with well developed mid-layers (midstories) of shrubs and trees that produce an abundance of nuts and fruits (mast). Shaded woodlands, wetlands, river bottoms, pastures and hayfields provide excellent habitat for wild turkeys. Unlike bobwhites, wild turkeys do not frequently use the interior of fields and forest stands with extensive thick ground vegetation. However, wild turkeys will use the edges of these sites for

nesting and escape cover. From the previous discussion, it is apparent that
quail and turkeys have some overlap in their habitat requirements, but basically their needs are quite different. Some of Georgia's highest turkey densities are in the Piedmont and Upper Coastal Plain Physiographic Provinces along river and creek drainages where closed canopy forests are interspersed with improved pastures. These same areas have very low bobwhite populations. Likewise, some of our highest bobwhite densities are across thousands of acres of heavily thinned and frequently burned pine woodlands with a high percentage of weedy openings; and these areas support relatively low turkey populations. During the last 80 years Georgia's landscape has changed to become less favorable for quail and more conducive to wild turkeys. This landscape habitat change continues to be a driving force behind the increase in wild turkeys and the decline in bobwhites.
The good news is that reasonably high populations of wild turkeys and bobwhites can be maintained across large landscapes where extensive acreages of pine woodlands and/or openings and row crop fields are intensively managed for quail but also have an interspersion of closed canopy woodlands, drains and wetlands. The woodland and wetland types provide the core habitat for wild turkeys while the intensively managed uplands serve as the core habitat for bobwhites. However, under this management scenario neither species' population will be maximized.
Finally, there is a common public perception that wild turkeys are a major predator on bobwhites. While a wild turkey might randomly prey on a quail chick, there is no evidence that this ever occurs at a frequency that could impact or limit quail populations. Like many things in life, maximizing one objective requires tradeoffs in another, but in this case it is a great "problem" to have!
--Reggie Thackston, BQI Coordinator

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BQI Updates and Information

BQI Habitat Accomplishments 2004

BQI Cooperator Survey Results

For 2002-2004 there are 108 BQI

In December 2004, 102 BQI Cooperators were

Cooperators, with 253 crop fields and 48 forest telephone-surveyed relative to their opinions on

stands enrolled in the 15 county program area. In various aspects of the program. Some of the highlights

total, these Cooperators have established 285 miles of this survey include: 1) 94% rated there overall

of field borders, hedgerows, and filter strips and experience with BQI as good to excellent; 2) 99%

along with other BQI practices have positively rated the quality of services provided by BQI

impacted more than 16,000 acres for bobwhites and personnel as good to excellent; 3) 91% felt BQI had

various other wildlife. Additionally, BQI wildlife improved the overall environmental condition of their

biologists have provided technical assistance on land; 4) 81% felt BQI practices had resulted in

more than 600,000 acres since the program began. increased bobwhite populations on their land; 5) 79%

2004 BQI Monitoring Results

felt BQI had improved the quality of their quail hunting; 6) 82% felt BQI had increased the number of

songbirds and other wildlife using their property; and Summer monitoring of quail on BQI fields 7) 74% indicated they would not have implemented all during 2004 showed bobwhite occurrence to be of the BQI habitat practices without the provision of 60% higher on BQI treatment fields (i.e. have financial incentives. Basically, the survey shows high established BQI habitats) than on controls. landowner satisfaction and the perception of positive However, the 2004 combined treatment and control ecological impacts from BQI. The survey confirms that field bobwhite occurrence averaged 37% below that economic incentives and qualified technical staff are measured during 2003. This fluctuation was further essential to successfully restore and maintain early verified by an approximate 50% reduction in the successional habitat for bobwhites and other wildlife covey find rate during the 2004 BQI Youth hunts. It on the overall landscape. is suspected that this decline was in great part due

to the very heavy late summer rains.

BQI Vehicle Tag Sales Going Well

2004 BQI Youth Quail Hunts Update
As was the case last year, the 2004 - 2005 BQI Youth Quota Quail Hunts were popular, successful and highly sought after. A total of eight hunts were conducted with 15 youth participating, hunting for 50.5 hours, locating 21 coveys and harvesting 2 birds. Many of the youth had never hunted wild quail before and this proved to be an exciting, educational and memorable experience. Many favorable comments and letters of appreciation were received. These hunts would not have been possible without the generosity of the following BQI Cooperators who volunteered to host the hunts: Mr. Walter Degenhardt, Mr. Lanier Edwards, Dr. Phillip Hajek, Mr. Marshall Lord, Dr. Alan Maxwell, Mr. Niles Murray, Mr. William Sheppard, Dr. Samuel Tillman, and Mr. Bob Youmans. We extend our sincere appreciation to these gracious landowners and the fine youth and adult chaperones who participated in the hunts.

The Bobwhite Quail License Plate, one of two license plates currently issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles to benefit wildlife programs of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) reports excellent sales this past year. From December 2003 to December 2004, more than 194,000 bobwhite quail tags have been sold. This is the second version of the bobwhite quail license plate. The first originally was issued in December 2001 and featured a similar scene - a whitetail deer with a covey of bobwhite quail taking flight. Combined, sales from the first and second versions of the tag total more than 321,000 with revenue reaching over $2.8 million.

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BQI Updates and Information Continued
BQI Reports From The Field Bob Youmans of Emanuel County reports significant improvement in quail numbers following his first year of implementing BQI practices, and states that he saw "3 times as many young birds last year, and likely more than he has seen in the past 15 years added together!" In addition to using conservation tillage style planting including winter grain cover crops, he has taken advantage of a variety of BQI practices on his fields. He uses both 30 feet wide and 60 feet wide field borders, and fallow patches in various combinations to benefit quail and in some instances to eliminate hard to farm and less productive acres. --Chris Baumann, BQI Wildlife Biologist
Daniel Smith, a producer in Sumter County has been enrolled in BQI for 3 years and farms some 630 acres in wheat, corn, peanuts, and soybeans. He has established over 77 acres of field borders, center pivot corners, and fallow patches on eleven of his crop fields. Mr. Smith believes the program is having a positive effect and is confident that the establishment of native vegetation in the borders and patches is providing both cover and food for quail. Since establishing BQI practices three years ago, he reports an increase in the number of coveys and "seeing birds in places where he has not seen them before." --Joy Bornhoeft, BQI Wildlife Biologist
Mr. Saunders 297-acre farm in Terrell County is in the 4th year of quail management. He has 3 fields enrolled in the Bobwhite Quail Initiative (BQI) with a total of 8.2 acres in field borders, 1.1 acres in hedgerows, 3.2 acres in fallow pivot corners, and 26.5 acres in fallow patches. He reports a noticeable improvement in the quail population since implementing BQI practices. Mr. Saunders states that, "I didn't see any coveys of quail when I first got this farm, but now I feel like I have 6 - 7 coveys and possibly more."
--I.B. Parnell, Wildlife Biologist
Walter Degenhardt owns 1250 acres in Burke County, which he hunted as a boy, and is currently in its 4th year of quail management, with 37.2 acres in BQI practices on 6 fields totaling 320 acres. Most of his practices are 30-ft borders and hedgerows, with a few fallow patches. While pursuing conventional farming practices in the 1990's, he never saw or heard quail around the barn by his field; but since instituting BQI practices he hears a couple of coveys using that same area. He feels the BQI borders have made a tremendous difference for wildlife habitat on the farm. --Buck Marchinton, BQI Wildlife Biologist
BQI Personnel Changes During the past year there have been several changes in BQI personnel. Wildlife Biologists Adam Hammond, Bobby Bond and I.B. Parnell have accepted positions with WRD Game Management Regions, I, IV and V, respectively. These biologists made excellent contributions to BQI and wildlife conservation in Georgia and are wished the very best in their new career challenges. Brandon Rutledge, wildlife biologist, was added to the BQI Team on April 18th and will be working out of the BQI Southwest Focus Area, Albany Office. Brandon has worked at the Jones Ecological Research Center and more recently for the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission and will be a strong addition to BQI. --Reggie Thackston, BQI Coordinator
To add someone to the BQI Newsletter mailing list, contact the Wildlife Resources Division,
BQI headquarters at 478-994-7583
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BQI Updates and Information Continued

Questions and Answers

Q. When do bobwhites begin nesting and how rights, except that commercial shooting preserves

long does the nesting season last?

are not eligible for financial assistance through BQI.

A. Bobwhites begin nesting as early as March and may continue nesting as late as October. However, the peak of nesting occurs from May - August with the peak hatch occurring in late June - early July. Usually, there are 12 - 15 eggs laid per clutch, with an average incubation period of 23 days. If a nest is unsuccessful, the hen may re-nest throughout the nesting season. However, the overall productivity of re-nesting attempts tends to be lower than that of initial nesting attempts. In fact, pairs can go throughout the season without hatching a brood. It is common for only 25% of nests to successfully hatch. After hatching, chick mortality remains high with 50% or greater chick mortality throughout their first few months. These problems are often compounded in areas with minimal or poor nesting cover and brood rearing habitat.
Due to relatively low nest success, high chick mortality, and habitat needs of young chicks, it is important to protect areas valuable for quail nesting and brood rearing. Management activities in these areas including mowing, discing, and burning should be suspended throughout the nesting season. Mowing or discing of fallowed areas, weedy hedgerows, field borders, and weedy rows between young pines can not only destroy nests or cause direct mortality of nesting quail, it may also damage habitat that may be utilized later in the summer and fall. Prescribed burning in fallow areas or open pine stands during nesting can have many of the same damaging effects. An exception would be in longleaf wiregrass where occasional growing season burns can be used to control hardwood encroachment.
-- Brandon Rutledge and Joy Bornhoeft, BQI Biologists

Q. What effect do pesticides have on quail and is increased pesticide use responsible for declining populations?
A. The effect of pesticides on wildlife, specifically quail, varies considerably depending on a number of important factors. Some chemicals are more toxic to quail than others. In general, herbicides, which are often water-soluble, are less toxic than insecticides, which are typically fat-soluble. The timing and method of application may affect whether or not quail are exposed. Other considerations include the amount of chemical being used, the persistence of the substance in the environment, and uncontrollable factors like wind and temperature. Pesticides may affect quail both directly and indirectly. Direct effects are the result of birds being directly sprayed, or consumption or inhalation of toxic substances. Direct effects may result in the death of individual birds or may cause reduced reproductive success, growth, and survival. Indirect effects are the result of changes in habitat and food supply brought about by the use of pesticides. For example, herbicide use can reduce the amount of weedy cover available in an area, and as a result this may reduce the number of plant-eating insects available to nesting hens and young chicks. In this scenario, the cover has been reduced, making birds more susceptible to predation, and food has become more limited, which also can cause reduced reproductive success, growth, and survival. Although not as obvious, indirect effects may actually have a greater impact on quail populations than direct effects. Despite the serious concerns about pesticide use and its impact on bird populations, habitat loss in general, remains the greatest threat to the bobwhite.

Q. Are BQI Cooperators required to allow open --Adam Hammond WRD Wildlife Biologist access to quail hunting on their enrolled lands? Is quail hunting in any way restricted?

A. No. BQI Cooperators are not required to allow anyone to hunt on their land. Participation in BQI in no way restricts hunting or the leasing of hunting

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BQI Updates and Information Continued

Questions and Answers

Q. What is Cogon Grass and does it have value for wildlife?
A. Cogon Grass (Imperata cylindrica) is an exotic perennial grass from Southeast Asia that was introduced into the United States in the early 1900s. It has spread throughout portions of the deep Southeast and at present is known to occur on about 11 sites in South Georgia. It is reported to be one of the top 10 worst weeds in the world. It has very low value for livestock and wildlife; forms dense stands, which out compete native food and cover plants; is very flammable and can create a severe fire hazard when it invades young pine stands. The plant has leaf blades that are erect, less than 1 inch wide and up to 4 feet tall, with mid-veins that are noticeably offcenter. The flower is white silky and plume-like reaching up to 8 inches long and 1.5 inches wide. Landowners who suspect Cogon Grass to occur on their properties can contact their local Georgia Forestry Commission forester for positive identification and recommended treatment. Imazapyr and Glyphosate are the recommended chemicals for controlling this invasive grass. The USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service is in charge of actively treating, and hopefully eradicating, this invasive species.
-- Reggie Thackston BQI Coordinator
Q. Will releasing pen-reared quail restore wild quail populations?
A. Many landowners release pen-reared quail in hopes of restoring or improving wild quail numbers on their farms. Unfortunately, most have found that very few of these birds actually survive to contribute

to their overall long-term quail populations. Research and experience have shown that penreared quail annual survival in the wild is low, even when released into excellent quail habitat. The birds that do manage to survive may pair and mate with wild birds, but at such low rates that they add very little to sustaining a wild population. Time and money used to restore wild quail populations is best spent on habitat management, especially in providing significant acreages of high quality nesting cover, brood rearing habitat, yearlong food, and escape thickets. Early quail monitoring in BQI showed that most farms in the Upper Coastal Plain still had 1-2 coveys hanging on, typically in small areas of marginal habitat. In these situations, increasing the quantity and quality of habitat will do far more to increase the wild quail population than releasing pen-reared birds. Additionally, releasing pen-reared quail may expose native wild quail to increased disease risks, increased predation, and possibly genetic degradation.
Increased shooting and bird dog training opportunities are the biggest merits for the use of pen-raised quail, although they seldom measure up in hunt quality to wild birds. Many properties today occur in landscapes where quail habitat is so heavily fragmented that they can't support the high densities of wild quail needed to satisfy hunting objectives. In these situations pen-reared quail can be used to lower the pressure on wild birds, train bird dogs and provide increased harvest opportunities. If you are considering the release of pen-raised quail, check with the Wildlife Resources Division, Game Management Section to ensure compliance with current laws and regulations.
-- Chris Baumann, BQI Biologist

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Georgia's Private Lands Program Update
Program Options for 2005 - Listed below are a number of programs that provide landowners with technical assistance and in some cases cost share or financial incentives for integrating wildlife management with other natural resource objectives. Many of these practices can be used to benefit bobwhites. --Eric Darracq, Private Lands Program Coordinator
Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) Preliminary Eligibility: Non-industrial private forestland and/or all agricultural producers' lands are eligible including areas of cropland, pastureland, and grassland. Purpose: To protect soil, water, and wildlife resources. Management Available: A new Forest Health/Wildlife Resource Concern section of EQIP has been created this year that can provide landowners with conservation incentives to prescribe burn commercial and noncommercial pine stands, thin non-commercial pine stands, improve logging and woods roads, logging decks, and/or install stream crossings. As in the past, traditional EQIP practices most pertinent to wildlife also include establishing riparian buffers and fencing, filter strips, longleaf pine tree planting, silvopasture establishment, early succession vegetation, and conservation tillage. Technical/Financial Assistance: Financial assistance, normally up to 50% of cost of implementing conservation practice and including some incentive payments, are provided for certain high priority practices. Must maintain cost-shared practice for 1-10 years after installation. There is over $12,000,000 available in GA for 2005, of which $500,000 is designated for the new forestry/wildlife section. *How to Get Started: Contact your local Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) office or visit www.nrcs.usda.gov
Southern Pine Beetle - Prevention and Restoration Program (SPBPR) Preliminary Eligibility: Private, non-industrial forest landowners of 10 or more acres whose eligible forestland is not held by a corporation with publicly traded stock, or whose eligible forestland is not used to produce 50% of the annual income of the landowner from wood products associated with the eligible forestland. Purpose: Implement practices that enhance the health and vigor of existing pine stands which can prevent damage caused by southern pine beetles, and restore areas that were previously affected by SPB that need to be reforested by providing educational and financial assistance to non-industrial private landowners. This program is a result of the catastrophic pine timber losses that occur periodically in the southeastern U.S. by the Southern Pine Beetle. Management Available: Longleaf pine and hardwood reforestation; prevention practices on pine stands including non-commercial thinning, release, prescribed burning, and establishment of permanent buffer strips. One SPB suppression practice is available: cut & leave of active beetle spots. Technical/Financial Assistance: Cost-share funds covering not more than $10,000 annually. Georgia Forestry Commission will meet with landowner, take application, develop a plan to implement practice, verify performance once practice is complete, and authorize payment. Landowner must maintain cost-shared practice for 10 years after installation. There is about $600,000 designated for the SPBPR. This program is funded through the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and administered by the Georgia Forestry Commission. *How to Get Started: Contact your local Georgia Forestry Commission Forester or dial 1-800-GATREES.
For more information about the WRD Private Lands Programs, call 770-761-1697
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Georgia's Private Lands Program Update Continued
Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP) Preliminary Eligibility: Private, non-industrial forest landowner of 10 or more acres whose eligible forestland is not held by a corporation with publicly traded stock, or whose eligible forestland is not used to produce 50% of the annual income of the landowner from wood products associated with the eligible forestland. Landowner must have a valid multiple resource plan that meets the minimum standards of a Forest Stewardship Plan. Purpose: Establish and promote sustainable multiple resource management practices by providing educational and financial assistance to non-industrial private landowners. Management Available: For 2005, funds will be available for controlling the following invasive, exotic plant species: privet, tallow tree, cogongrass, Russian and Autumn olive (Eleagnus spp.), and Japanese climbing fern. Technical/Financial Assistance: Cost-share funds will be limited to $50 per acre and a total of $3500 per landowner for 2005. The landowner must maintain cost-shared practice for 10 years after installation. Notes: The Forest Stewardship Program can provide written management plans, which is an eligibility requirement, to these landowners free of charge. There is $162,000 available in GA for 2005. *How to Get Started: Contact your local Georgia Forestry Commission Forester or dial 1-800-GATREES.
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) Preliminary Eligibility: Available to all private landowners, regardless of whether agricultural lands exist. Ranking process, which includes presence of a written multiple resource management plan, determines acceptance. Purpose: Enhance, create, or restore habitats for upland and wetland species, threatened and endangered species, fish and other types of wildlife. Management Available: Establish (1) Early Successional Habitat, including field borders, field strips, hedgerow plantings, tree/shrub planting, forest openings, warm season grasses, and forest stand improvements, (2) Longleaf Pine Communities, including prescribe burning, field borders, hedgerow plantings, tree/shrub plantings, forest openings, and forest stand improvements, (3) Riparian Buffers, including forest buffers, filter strips, and installing exclusion devices, and (4) Upland Hardwood Communities, including prescribe burning, fencing, hedgerow planting, tree/shrub plantings, forest openings, and forest stand improvements, and (5) Wetland Habitat Management, including wetland enhancement and creation. Technical/Financial Assistance: Cost-share funds up to 75% of establishment for any landowner. Must maintain cost-shared practices for 10 years after installation. There is $420,000 available in GA for 2005. *How to Get Started: Contact your local Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) office or visit www.nrcs.usda.gov.
Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) Preliminary Eligibility: Most private wetlands that were converted (drained) for agricultural use prior to 1985. Wetlands must be restorable and suitable for wildlife benefits. Purpose: To provide technical and financial assistance to landowners interested in restoring areas from cropland into wetlands. Management Available: Restores wetlands to improve wildlife habitat, water quality, and reduce soil erosion. Typically, wetlands are restored, in part, by "plugging" old drainage ditches. Technical/Financial Assistance: Landowner selects one of three options: permanent easements, 30-year easements, or restoration cost-share agreements. Under permanent easement, landowner agrees to maintain wetland in perpetuity and receives (1) appraised value of the land and (2) 100% of wetland restoration costs. Under 30-year easement, landowner receives 75% of appraised agricultural value of the land and 75% of restoration costs. NRCS is responsible for managing the wetland. There is about $2,000,000 available for GA for 2005. *How to Get Started: Contact your local Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) office or visit www.nrcs.usda.gov.
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Georgia's Private Lands Program Update Continued
Partners for Fish and Wildlife (PFW) Preliminary Eligibility: All private landowners who wish to restore or enhance fish or wildlife habitat. Purpose: To provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners who wish to restore or enhance fish and wildlife habitat, with emphasis on habitats for endangered and threatened species, migratory birds, and anadromous fish. Management Available: In Georgia, there is an emphasis on longleaf pine habitat restoration and enhancement (including understory restoration), stream/riparian habitat restoration, and endangered and threatened species habitat restoration and improvement. Stream/riparian habitat restoration usually consists of livestock exclusion fencing and alternate water sources, revegetation of riparian areas, or repairing severely eroding streams. Technical/Financial Assistance: Cost-share funds of up to 100% can be paid (maximum of $25,000), however, the landowner or some other source is usually asked to cover about half the restoration costs. Technical assistance can also be provided, at no cost to landowner. Landowner must maintain restored habitat for a minimum of 10 years after installation. *How to Get Started: Contact the USFWS office in your area - Brunswick (912) 265-9336, Columbus (706) 544-6422, or Athens (706) 613-9493.
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Continuous CRP (CCRP) Preliminary Eligibility: CRP participants sign-up during the "general sign-up" period, and must have agricultural land that is highly erodible cropland having been planted for 4 of the 6 years preceding enactment of the 2002 law, marginal pastureland, or expiring CRP acreage to be eligible. However, if properties are within the Longleaf Pine Conservation Priority Area, landowners are exempt from the highly erodible requirement. For Continuous CRP, participants can sign-up anytime, but must implement certain high priority practices, such as riparian buffers, filter strips, early successional habitat, or wellhead protection areas. Ranking process determines acceptance. Purpose: To protect soil, water, and wildlife resources on highly erodible portions of agricultural lands by establishing permanent vegetative cover. Management Available: Practices most pertinent to wildlife include hardwood and longleaf pine tree planting, thinning of already established pine trees, native grass planting, permanent wildlife habitat establishment, wildlife food plot planting. Technical/Financial Assistance: CRP financial assistance includes (1) cost-share equaling 50% of establishment of a practice and (2) an annual per acre payment based on the average rental rate payment for agricultural land in that county. Continuous CRP financial assistance includes (1) 50% cost-share of establishment practices, (2) one time payment of $100-150 per acre incentive, (3) 40% cost-share incentive, (4) 20% rental rate for certain practices, (5) annual soil rental rate payment. Must maintain cost-shared practices for 10-15 years after installation. Notes: A newly developed CCRP Practice CP33 - Habitat Buffers For Upland Birds is directed primarily at restoring habitat for bobwhite quail through the establishment and maintenance of field buffers 30 to 120 feet in width around the edges of commercial agricultural fields. Eligible counties include all 55 counties in Georgia's Upper Coastal Plain. Incentives include $100 per acre bonus payment, annual soil rental payment and 50% to 90% cost share on practice establishment. Enrollment is continuous and contracts are for 10 years. For additional assistance with managing for bobwhite quail refer to the BQI section in this announcement. *How to Get Started: Contact your local Farm Services Agency (FSA) office. CRP application sign-ups and deadline dates have not been announced, however it is anticipated that these will occur in summer of 2005. CCRP applications can be submitted anytime.
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Georgia's Private Lands Program Update Continued
Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) Preliminary Eligibility: All private landowners with property in one of our focus areas which include; the Conasauga River and its tributaries (Murray and Whitfield Counties), the upper Etowah River and its tributaries (Cherokee, Pickens, Dawson, Forsyth, and Lumpkin Counties), the Chickasawhatchee Creek watershed, and the Red Hills region (Thomas and Grady Counties). Purpose: LIP is designed to provide cost-sharing and incentive payments for practices that benefit endangered or threatened species or other species of conservation concern. Management Available: Practices eligible for cost-share or incentive payments vary by focus area and include fencing cattle out of streams, establishing vegetative buffers along streams, planting longleaf pine, and prescribed burning and hardwood removal in open pine forest. Additional practices may be eligible if they are deemed suitable to aid in the conservation of rare species. Technical/Financial Assistance: A wildlife biologist will assist the landowner in completing an application form, a written plan, and contract. These documents detail the needed management activities and terms of the agreement. Participation in this program is prioritized depending on the likely importance of the proposed project to the conservation of endangered, threatened, and special concern species. There is about $200,000 available for GA in 2005. Notes: Efforts in the Conasauga, Etowah, and Chickasawhatchee watersheds are aimed at conserving several very rare mussel and fish species. Maintaining or creating habitat for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and associated species is the primary goal in the Red Hills. *How to Get Started: Contact the Georgia Department of Natural Resources at 478-994-1438 (Forsyth). Applications are accepted year-round with rankings and selections being made several times during the year.
Red-cockaded Woodpecker Safe Harbor Habitat Management Incentives Program Preliminary Eligibility: All private landowners with property providing actual or potential habitat for endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers can enroll in Safe Harbor and become eligible for cost share opportunities. In Georgia, red-cockaded woodpeckers occur mainly in the coastal plain and lower piedmont and require extensive acreages of open mature pine forest. Purpose: The Safe Harbor program is designed to remove landowner fear of increased responsibility should the population of woodpeckers on a tract of land increase above an initial baseline responsibility, which could be zero. The incentive program is intended to promote participation in the Safe Harbor program by helping pay for management activities that benefit red-cockaded woodpeckers and many other species of concern, including bobwhite quail. Management Available: Eligible cost share management activities include prescribed burning of pine habitat, mechanical or chemical hardwood control in pine habitat, longleaf pine forest restoration, installation of supplemental nest and roost tree cavities, and surveys to determine baseline population. Technical/Financial Assistance: A wildlife biologist will assist the landowner in completing an evaluation form to enroll in safe harbor and an application for an incentive payment contract. These documents will detail needed management activities. Participation in the incentive program is prioritized depending upon the likely importance of the enrolled habitat to woodpecker population recovery. Notes: Red-cockaded woodpecker populations in Georgia are localized in a few areas including Fort Stewart, Fort Benning, Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge/Hitchiti Experimental Forest/Oconee National Forest, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Fort Gordon, Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center (Baker County), Southlands Experiment Forest (Decatur County), Moody Forest (Appling County), and the Red Hills quail plantations (Grady and Thomas counties). Mature pine forests near these known populations are higher priorities for the Safe Harbor incentives program. *How to Get Started: Contact the Georgia Department of Natural Resources at 478-994-1438 (Forsyth) or 229-225-1977 (Thomasville). Applications are accepted year-round with rankings and selections being made periodically.
--Eric Darracq, Private Lands Program Coordinator
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BQI Monitoring and Research Update

Summer Survival of Bobwhites: BQI and Pines
As part of the BQI research program we assessed breeding season survival of 200 radio tagged bobwhites relative to habitat conditions in and around BQI enrolled fields on Laurens County farms. We found that the proportion of BQI habitat within individual bobwhite home ranges had a positive effect on survival. These habitats likely provide valuable travel corridors, as well as safe feeding areas, due to their linear shape, vegetative composition, and interspersion with other habitats.
We also found that the BQI effect was highly variable. This is likely due to the fact that BQI habitats constitute a relatively small proportion of the landscape; therefore, their effect is likely contingent upon the associated crop type and other habitats present. For example, a BQI field border encompassing a cotton field bordered by a closed-canopy pine stand will likely not increase the survival probability of a bobwhite inhabiting that area. In fact, bobwhites using that particular field border may have very low survival. Conversely, a field border that encompasses a cornfield bordered by weedy habitat interspersed with low woody cover will also likely do little to improve survival probability. WHY? Because survival in that area will likely already be relatively high!! We suggest that the intermediate situations (which are common in Georgia farm landscapes) are where BQI habitats have the greatest effect on survival and that the effects of other habitats are important when determining the eligibility of fields to be enrolled in the BQI program.

at high densities and now have closed canopies resulting in virtually no ground cover. These densely stocked pines shade out food and cover plants and increase the visibility of bobwhites to predators, particularly avian predators like the Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii).
A high proportion of the southeastern landscape consists of closed-canopy pine and this proportion will likely increase. These stands are often too dense to benefit quail and other wildlife but can be improved through frequent thinning and prescribed burning. The bottom line is that our research further substantiates what quail biologists have been saying, and that is the management of pine stands must be a high priority if we are to increase bobwhite populations on a regional level in the Southeast.
-- M. Patrick Cook, and John P. Carroll, UGA, Warnell School of Forest Resources

One of the most important findings in our study was that the amount and interspersion of closedcanopy pine had a negative effect on bobwhite survival. Most of these pine stands are midrotation CRP planted during the 1980s and 1990s

The BQI Monitoring and Research Program is managed by Dr. John Carroll, Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management, University of Georgia, D.B. Warnell School of Forest Resources.
BQI Spring 2005 Page 11

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Restoring Habitat For the Birds

Southwest 601 Tallahassee Road Albany, GA 31707 229-420-1212 Colquitt, Crisp, Dougherty, Lee, Mitchell, Sumter, Terrell counties

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Wildlife Resources Division Dan Forster, Director
Funding for this publication provided by the Atlanta Metro Chapter of Quail Unlimited.