Prairie Drifter
Well-known member
I received this today on email. Thought some folks here would want to get in line.
U.S. Ag Policy is Key to BobWhite Revival
By Don McKenzie
NBCI Director
May 9, 2011
Almost every quail hunter already realizes the biggest problem with bobwhites – clean farming practices. Modern, weed-free, fencerow-to-fencerow, high-intensity production leaves little habitat for most grassland birds. Certainly, agriculture is not the only force that has changed the landscape in ways inhospitable to quail, but it probably has the largest impact.
Consider: across the core bobwhite range there are roughly 210 million acres of cropland, 120 million acres of pasture/hay, and 35 million acres of plantation pine. Decades ago, this 365 million acres of production land was inherently suitable for bobwhites. No longer.
Cultivated cropland now is so free of weeds and idle areas as to no longer accommodate quail. Pasture and hay land has been so “improved” with aggressive, exotic forage grasses that they have no practical value to quail. Dense, unburned pine plantations offer little at ground level but a thick layer of needles.
It’s easy to let such overwhelming changes and numbers numb the mind and deflate hope. On the other hand, they can also sharpen your vision and illuminate strategic paths to success. For instance, it is key to realize that bobwhites cannot be brought back simply by rearranging the deck chairs.
We have a fighting chance if we can harness the same forces that created grassland bird-hostile landscapes—US agriculture policy—and nudge them into creating suitable habitat in ways compatible with production agriculture. Technically, we know how to do that. Politically, well, we are learning.
The debate already has started for the 2012 Farm Bill, framed by the most intense budget-cutting pressure of modern times. What this fiscal austerity means for the future of commodity subsidies or conservation programs is anyone’s speculation. Some of the big quail habitat needs and issues that might be relevant to the 2012 Farm Bill debate include:
· How to get prescribed burning on private lands by the millions of acres each year?
· Can we retain a large, robust Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in the face of myriad pressures to put more acreage into commodity production?
· Why do pine plantations and fescue fields of low value to priority wildlife continue to be re-enrolled in CRP, over and over again?
· How do we stop the bleeding? That is, how do we get USDA to cease subsidizing the planting of aggressive, exotic vegetation at faster rates than wildlife conservationists can restore native grassland habitats?
· Can we find a way to encourage forest owners to thin their forests more aggressively, to allow sunlight to the ground for vigorous native ground cover … by millions of acres?
· Can we tweak CRP rules to foster more frequent and more effective habitat management?
· How can we accelerate the conversion of introduced pasture/hay land to native, warm-season forage grasses that are good for cows AND quail?
· Can a multi-year cropland rest/rotation practice, funded by commodity programs, rebuild soil and provide habitat for grassland birds, offering public benefits for publicly funded subsidies?
· How do we get more biologists on the ground to provide expert habitat technical assistance to landowners?
The NBCI is based on the premise that (1) long-term changes in land uses such as agriculture have created a landscape that is mostly hostile to quail and grassland birds, and (2) some of the same forces that created inhospitable landscapes can be used to re-create suitable ones, at a scale big enough to matter.
Anything is possible in the 2012 Farm Bill, but nothing is guaranteed, except that if quail conservationists are not engaged in the debate, we have no chance of making gains. The NBCI and some of our allies will be there, but we will need all the help we can get from anyone and everyone interested in bobwhites and grassland birds.
(For the USDA’s explanation of the Conservation Reserve Program, start by clicking HERE.)
John Doty
Communications Director
National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative
274 Ellington Plant Sciences Bldg.
2431 Joe Johnson Drive
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-4563
865.974.7281 (Office)
865.974.7290 (Fax)
865.712.2895 (Cell)
www.bringbackbobwhites.org
U.S. Ag Policy is Key to BobWhite Revival
By Don McKenzie
NBCI Director
May 9, 2011
Almost every quail hunter already realizes the biggest problem with bobwhites – clean farming practices. Modern, weed-free, fencerow-to-fencerow, high-intensity production leaves little habitat for most grassland birds. Certainly, agriculture is not the only force that has changed the landscape in ways inhospitable to quail, but it probably has the largest impact.
Consider: across the core bobwhite range there are roughly 210 million acres of cropland, 120 million acres of pasture/hay, and 35 million acres of plantation pine. Decades ago, this 365 million acres of production land was inherently suitable for bobwhites. No longer.
Cultivated cropland now is so free of weeds and idle areas as to no longer accommodate quail. Pasture and hay land has been so “improved” with aggressive, exotic forage grasses that they have no practical value to quail. Dense, unburned pine plantations offer little at ground level but a thick layer of needles.
It’s easy to let such overwhelming changes and numbers numb the mind and deflate hope. On the other hand, they can also sharpen your vision and illuminate strategic paths to success. For instance, it is key to realize that bobwhites cannot be brought back simply by rearranging the deck chairs.
We have a fighting chance if we can harness the same forces that created grassland bird-hostile landscapes—US agriculture policy—and nudge them into creating suitable habitat in ways compatible with production agriculture. Technically, we know how to do that. Politically, well, we are learning.
The debate already has started for the 2012 Farm Bill, framed by the most intense budget-cutting pressure of modern times. What this fiscal austerity means for the future of commodity subsidies or conservation programs is anyone’s speculation. Some of the big quail habitat needs and issues that might be relevant to the 2012 Farm Bill debate include:
· How to get prescribed burning on private lands by the millions of acres each year?
· Can we retain a large, robust Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in the face of myriad pressures to put more acreage into commodity production?
· Why do pine plantations and fescue fields of low value to priority wildlife continue to be re-enrolled in CRP, over and over again?
· How do we stop the bleeding? That is, how do we get USDA to cease subsidizing the planting of aggressive, exotic vegetation at faster rates than wildlife conservationists can restore native grassland habitats?
· Can we find a way to encourage forest owners to thin their forests more aggressively, to allow sunlight to the ground for vigorous native ground cover … by millions of acres?
· Can we tweak CRP rules to foster more frequent and more effective habitat management?
· How can we accelerate the conversion of introduced pasture/hay land to native, warm-season forage grasses that are good for cows AND quail?
· Can a multi-year cropland rest/rotation practice, funded by commodity programs, rebuild soil and provide habitat for grassland birds, offering public benefits for publicly funded subsidies?
· How do we get more biologists on the ground to provide expert habitat technical assistance to landowners?
The NBCI is based on the premise that (1) long-term changes in land uses such as agriculture have created a landscape that is mostly hostile to quail and grassland birds, and (2) some of the same forces that created inhospitable landscapes can be used to re-create suitable ones, at a scale big enough to matter.
Anything is possible in the 2012 Farm Bill, but nothing is guaranteed, except that if quail conservationists are not engaged in the debate, we have no chance of making gains. The NBCI and some of our allies will be there, but we will need all the help we can get from anyone and everyone interested in bobwhites and grassland birds.
(For the USDA’s explanation of the Conservation Reserve Program, start by clicking HERE.)
John Doty
Communications Director
National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative
274 Ellington Plant Sciences Bldg.
2431 Joe Johnson Drive
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-4563
865.974.7281 (Office)
865.974.7290 (Fax)
865.712.2895 (Cell)
www.bringbackbobwhites.org
