Pennsylvania Game Commission Posts Final Bobwhite Quail Plan on Website

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Game Commission northern bobwhite quail management plan has been posted on the agency's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), and can be viewed by clicking on the "Northern Bobwhite Quail Management Plan" in the "Small Game" section of the Hunting Page, which is accessible from the Hunt-Trap drop-down menu on the homepage. 

Public comments on the agency's quail management plan were solicited last year, and overall there was strong support for implementing the plan.  The Board of Game Commissioners gave approval to the final plan at its meeting in October.

"As written, the plan is science-based, progressive and promotes responsible management of bobwhite quail," said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. "The mission of the northern bobwhite quail management plan is to maintain and restore wild breeding populations of Northern Bobwhite Quail in suitable habitats.

"Developed by staff of the agency's Game Bird Section, this plan will require the support of Pennsylvania hunters and all Pennsylvanians. Most importantly, it will require working with farmers, private landowners, and public landowners, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever and other conservation partners to restore farmland ecosystems to accommodate bobwhites."

The plan identifies supporting goals, objectives and strategies for guiding restoration and management decisions over a 10-year horizon, 2011-2020.  This plan provides a comprehensive look at the bobwhite quail in Pennsylvania. Information on taxonomy, biology, habitat relationships, population and habitat trends, hunting, restoration and partnerships are discussed in detail. The most important part of this plan outlines the management goals, objectives and strategies and a proposed implementation schedule.

There are six strategic goals identified in the plan:

• Determine the current distribution, population status and trends of bobwhite quail in the state, and protect any residual wild populations;
• Determine the amount and type of habitat found where bobwhites exist in the state and call for maintaining and enhancing the quality and quantity of quail habitat within Bobwhite Quail Focus Areas (BQFAs), which will be similar to the strategy used for Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas outlined in the Pheasant Management Plan;
• Create partnerships to achieve habitat targets in BQFAs, focusing on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever, landowner cooperators and other partners;
• Assess baseline bobwhite quail populations on BQFAs, develop and implement protocols for establishing wild populations on BQFAs through the trap-and-transfer of wild quail, and then monitor the populations to determine whether they are self-sustaining;
• Assess public knowledge and attitudes about bobwhites and their recovery and inform the public about recovery activities; and
• Lay the groundwork to eventually increase bobwhite quail populations and distribution to all identified suitable habitat.

The northern bobwhite quail is one of the most popular game birds in North America. Its native range at one time included most of the eastern United States north to southern Maine, southern New York, southern Ontario, central Wisconsin and south central Minnesota, west to very southeastern Wyoming, eastern Colorado, eastern New Mexico, and eastern Mexico south to Chiapas. Since the mid-1960s, the bobwhite's range and populations have declined dramatically.  Northern bobwhites were relatively common across southern Pennsylvania farmland and brush lands until about 1945.  Populations declined rapidly between 1945-55, but made a recovery in the early 1960s.  Since 1966, the range and populations of bobwhites have declined to the point that most counties in the commonwealth no longer have bobwhites as a breeding species. It currently is listed as a species of special concern in the Pennsylvania Game Commission's State Wildlife Action Plan

For more information about the northern bobwhite quail, visit the Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) and put your cursor on "Wildlife" in the menu bar at the top of the page, click on "Wildlife Notes" and then click on "Bobwhite Quail" in the alphabetical listings.

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Website: www.pgc.state.pa.us
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SOURCE Pennsylvania Game Commission