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Conservation Fund

 

SportDOG Brand Conservation Fund®

For the Birds Twenty Years Out of Range  

We at SportDOG and our families enjoy many of the same hunting opportunities and outdoor activities that our customers do. As a result, we recognize the importance of wise conservation and habitat-enhancement initiatives. We support conservation efforts by contributing time and funding to projects that ensure hunters will have wild places to hunt wild game for generations to come. From habitat-enhancement projects at the local level to partnerships with some of the most proactive and respected national conservation organizations, SportDOG is proud to contribute.

Our Conservation Fund Program highlights our support for these grassroots organizations, which work with state, federal, and private wildlife and land management agencies to conserve wild game populations and critical habitat that wildlife depends on. 

Check back often so we can tell you more about how the SportDOG Brand Conservation Fund® is working to enhance our mutual enjoyment of hunting with sporting dogs, friends and family.

To stay up-to-date on the latest news, grants, and projects from SportDOG Brand Conservation Fund®, simply click the "Become a Fan" link below.  Join a community of hunters dedicated to preserving the integrity of our sport.

 

                                

 



Grant Recipients

2009 Grant Recipients

SportDOG Brand Conservation Fund® has awarded $19,300 to four conservation groups as part of it's annual grant program, and another $1,000 to the newly created Kids in Conservation.  "Once again we received a huge variety of applications, and as always it was tough to narrow down the finalists," said Eleanor Marshall, with SportDOG Brand. Grant recipients are chosen by the Conservation Fund Grant Review committee, and are based on which projects most align with SportDOG Brand's conservation goals.  We're excited about being able to contribute to these types of projects that will benefit wildlife for generations to come.

In 2009, grants were awarded as follows:

1. Fall Ecology and Spring Dispersal of Mallard in Northeastern North Dakota – Delta Waterfowl has been awarded $5,000 to assist in the study of mallards in northeastern North Dakota. The project will examine the birds' post-breeding movements, habitat usage and mortality.Click here for more.

Very little is known about the survival and movements of mallards or other ducks after the breeding season.  This is a key knowledge gap which needs to be filled to ensure the proliferation of these animals for future generations. There appears to be significant re-distribution of young ducks away from areas where they are produced in North Dakota, which may be a symptom of density dependance.

The goals of this project are to measure the fall movements, survival and habitat usage of these animals, as well as to determine settling behaviors during the breeding season and measure re-distribtution.

Hatch years will be radio marked and traced throughout the post breeding season. This will allow Delta Waterfowl to learn about key movements of the species, as well as track habitat usage and mortality rates during this period. Currently, no data exists on this portion of the mallards' lifescycle. In addition to this tracking. Delta Waterfowl will be re-locating birds next spring to determine distribution patterns as they return to breed. The findings of this research could play an integral role in the health and proliferation of these species.

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2.Quail and Grassland Bird Partnership in Central Missouri Focus Areas – Quail Forever, working with the Missouri Department of Conservation, has been awarded $5,000 to help with the group's implementation of grassland conservation projects in central Missouri. This program involves tens of thousands of acres in four focus areas identified by the MDC.Click here for more.

The goal of Quail Forever and the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is to implement innovative grassland conservation incentives to establish landscapes that will assist in stabilizing and increasing grassland bird populations, as outlined in Partners-In-Flight Bird Conservation Plans and the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, within four MDC identified Focus area geographies in Central Missouri. The project intends to attract grazers, recreational landowners and agricultural production cooperators to participate in landscape efforts to improve habitat for Northern bobwhite quail and other grassland birds. A major emphasis of this project is to develop alternative grazing and haying practices that will maintain economic benefits to landowners, but also provide more diverse, healthy grasslands than what non-native, single species monocultures currently provide.

Using community conservation networks, Private Land Conservationists will work with landowners within the four Focus Areas to implement grassland and savanna management practices that will improve habitat conditions for grassland birds. Incentives will be used with these practices to encourage landowner participation and implementation of management for improved nesting and brood-rearing grassland bird habitat. MDC staff, Quail Forever members, other community conservation chapters, local bird watching groups, volunteers and local landowners will evaluate effectiveness through monitoring of quail and grassland bird populations. This project will provide a plethora of new neasting/brood-rearing habitat on private lands in the following focus areas:
 
  • Tipton Upland Plain Focus Area-This are in Cooper and Moniteau Counties has the potential to produce quality bobwhite quail habitat on approximately 25,000 acres of private lands. It has also been defined as both a terrestrial and aquatic Conservation Opportunity Area, with a large proportion of grassland landscape and the Upper Moniteau Creek.
  • Bull's-Eye Focus Area-14,000 acres of private land located between Davisdale and Moniteau Creek in Howard County Missouri. The Bull's-Eye Focus Area presents an opportunity to join these two communities by creating grassland bird habitat on a landscape scale.
  • Sweet Springs Focus Area-This 43,000 acres in Sweet Springs has one of the highest concentrations of cattle farmers in the county with several large cattle operations in the Focus Area. Several CRP-BOB contracts and cooperators have used further funding through conservation partners (Quail/Pheasant Forever, Quails Unlimited) to improve habitat quality.
  • Covey Junction Focus Area-located at the junction of Osage, Gasconade, and Maries Counties. This area has been identified for its opportunity to enhance habitat on a landscape scale. The goal is to increase acres manged for quail and grassland birds and educate landowners through workshops and other events.
The final major initiative of this project is to ensure the sustainability of it's efforts.  To accomplish this, this venture will provide technical assistance to 10 to 20 landowners in each of its Qualified Focus Areas, as well as convert existing cool season monocultures to native grasslands with grasses and forbs using Best Management Practices (BMP). Landowners will have the opportunity to attend workshops and events focused on these BMPs, such as prescribed grazing programs or haying practices and presscribed burning. Participants in this initiative hope to develop landowner cooperatives and strengthen partnerships with community conservation groups in all of these focus areas.

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UPDATE: Quail and Grassland Bird Partnership in Central Missouri Focus Areas– Several outreach and education activities have been conducted in the four Focus Areas. Articles have been written and placed in several local newspapers, as well as introduced on local radio stations. Direct mailings have been sent out to landowners within the 4 Focus Areas and targeted landowner workshops have also been held. Some of the outreach efforts are summarized below: Click here for more.

Tipton Upland Plain: 
  • Direct mailings have been sent out.
  • A landowner workshop (8 participants) has been held, with a demonstration tour to showcase grassland bird habitat management practices.
  • Local newspaper articles have been written and published to introduce and explain the program.

Bull’s-eye: 
  • A Small Game and Grassland Management workshop was held in October, 2009 in the Bull’s-eye Focus Area.
  • Landowners within the Focus Area have been contacted with direct mailing outreach materials.
  • Articles have been written and run in the local newspapers.

Sweet Springs: 
  • A workshop geared towards the county FFA Chapter has been held that introduced the program.
  • Landowners have been kept informed of activities in the Focus Area with an online Blog site which has had 2,027 hits since November 2009 (http://salinespringconservation.wordpress.com)
  • Local radio programs have been used to get the information out to landowners in the Focus Area.
  • A burn workshop and demonstration burn was held in the Focus Area to prepare landowners to conduct prescribed burns on their property. The workshop was attended by 14 people.
Covey Junction:
  • A direct mailing has been sent to landowners in the Focus Area introducing them to the program.
  • A follow-up grassland management workshop was held in November 2009 and a prescribed burning workshop was held in May, 2010.
  • c.) A tree and shrub planting workshop was held in March, 2010 to encourage grassland shrub and savanna habitat restoration.
  • d.) A Habitat Tour was conducted in June, 2010 to showcase landowner accomplishments in the Focus Area.

Landowner cooperative development is ongoing and uses the local landowner workshops within each Focus Area.  Cooperatives currently exist with some landowner members active in local chapters of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s), such as Quail Forever.  These cooperating landowners assist one another with activities such as prescribed burning and edge feathering.  We are continually working to develop larger and more active cooperatives in each Focus Area through landowner workshops and demonstration field days.

Outreach and awareness has resulted in several inquires and some active projects. Habitat improvement accomplishments as of July 1, 2010 are listed below:

Table 1: Central Regional Grassland Focus Area Accomplishments from July 1, 2009-July 1, 2010
  Tipton Upland Plain Bull's Eye Sweet Springs Covey Junction Totals Project Goals
Number of landowners
Contacted
254 154 218 284 910 800
Acres Planned/Converted
to Native Gress
52.3 1.0 24.0 22.3 98.6 170
Acres Planned/Managed
with Prescribed Fire
205.6 10.0 24.0 135.0 374.6 150
Acres Planned/Managed
with Early Successional
Distubrance
120.0 0 18.0 81.1 219.1 200
Acres Planned/Managed
with Prescribed Grazing/
Haying
15 9 0 0 24 150
Acres of New Shrubby Cover
Planned/Developed
2.2 0.0 2.9 1.0 6.1 8
Number of Landowner Events 1 1 1 2 5 4

Grassland bird monitoring is ongoing in 3 of the Focus Areas and will begin in the 4th this fall.  Focus Area monitoring, in most cases, is designed to detect trends in grassland bird populations.  We hope to use this trend information to make broad interpretations regarding the effectiveness of our grassland Focus Area habitat improvements. 

Since the Central Regional Grassland Project has been active only since July, 2009 most of the projects are still being established or have just been completed this last spring.  As these projects become more established, we believe we will generate more interest from other landowners as neighbors begin to influence each other and more practices are seen in practice.  We also plan on conducting more landowner demonstration workshops are practices are implemented and we begin to see more successes.
We anticipate being able to reach our habitat goals by July 1, 2011.

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3. Northeastern Indiana Wetland/Grassland Restoration Program Phase II– Ducks Unlimited will receive $5,000 to help support improved waterfowl production and water quality in northeastern Indiana. The project encompasses 47 acres of emergent wetlands and 222 acres of associated grasslands on private lands.Click here for more.

The primary goals of Duck's Unlimited in this project are to provide production habitat for waterfowl and other wetland and grassland wildlife, as well as to improve the water quality in the habitat of these animals in Allen, DeKalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, La Grange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley Counties. These goals will be achieved through the retoration of drained wetlands and the establishment of native grasses in areas previously converted to agricultural production.

The main objective is to increase mallard, blue-winged teal, and wood duck production in this region of northeastern Indiana. The restored wetlands are also expected to provide significant spring migration habitat for a diversity of waterfowl species. Results will vary with each individual restoration project. However, the restored hydrologic regime and native grass establishment at individual sites will provide ideal neating and migration habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds, including shorebirds.

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4.Field 153 Conservation– The Missouri Department of Conservation will receive $4,300 for a habitat improvement project on 40 acres in the Poosey Conservation area in Livingston County. Quail and other upland species will benefit from better nesting and brood-rearing habitat.Click here for more.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC)  is going into this project with the goal of eliminating fescue and brome on this 40 acres to improve the brood rearing habitat for upland birds in the area.  This will also increase the usable area for bobwhite quail. 

The MDC will accomplish this by killing fescue and brome with glyphosate and discing the area.  The 11 acre border of the field will be replaced with a mix of natural grasses and forbs, while the remainder of the field will be seeded with an alfalfa and orchard grass mix.  The converted field will contain a species mix that is more friendly to quail and upland bird species with increased bare ground for improved brood rearing, tall grasses for nesting and alfalfa as a food source.  This, with the elimination or the fescue, will allow these animals to be more successful in the area.

It is the hope of the participants in this project that these efforts will also serve as an example to private landowners in the area.  Through example and education, the MDC hopes these residents will see the importance of conservation and will want to improve quail and upland habitat on their own property.

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UPDATE: Missouri Department of Conservation Use of 2009 SportDOG Grant Funds- SportDOG grant funds provided to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) during 2009 were used to purchase glyphosate herbicide, which was used to control fescue and improve available brood-rearing habitat on several MDC Conservation Areas (CAs).Click here for more.

Resourse Forester Phil Sneed sprayed more than 4 miles (14.5 acres) of edge-feathered habitat on Poosey Conservation Area. He also converted a 30-acre fescue field to a more quail friendly grass/forb mix and strip-sprayed 10 acres within other fields to prmote annual weeds and increase brood-rearing habitat.

Herbicide Application of Poosey Conservation Area:


Poosey CA fescue before strip spraying:


Native warm-season grasses and forbs rebounded where fescue was controlled on Poosey CA:


Dennis Browning used herbicide provided by the SportDOG Conservation Fund® Grant to kill 170 acres of smooth brome, inclduding these field edges on the Bonanza Conservation Area:


Wildlife Management Biologist Matt Bowyer used the herbicide to control fescue along 1,000 feet of field edge on the Maintz Conservation Area:


Brood-rearing habitat on Maintz CA following fescue eradication:


Whetstone Conservation Area manager Jeff Demand sprayed several small fields to kill fescue and release plants that benefit Northern bobwhite:


Leadplant and other native forbs provide exceptional brood-rearing cover when competition from tall fescue is removed:

Although no photos are available, Thomas Hill Conservation Area Manager David Stroppel used herbicide purchased with SportDOG grant funds to eradicate tall fescue from more than 27 acres. Food plots were no-tilled on these fields prior to a second herbicide treatment to provide thorough fescue control.

In addition, Wildlife Management Biologist Chris Newbold combined SportDOG grant funds to match money from other non-MDC sources to encourage more quail habitat work in four Quail Focus Areas in Central Missouri. SportDOG funds were used to leverage support from the Missouri Bird Conservation Inititative, the Missouri Heritage Foundation, Quail Forever and Quail Unlimited to provide incentives to landowners who convert tall fescue to native grasses, incorporate improved grazing practices, establish shrubbery cover and use prescribed fire to improve grassland habitat.

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5. *YOUTH GRANT* Young Guns Restoration Project– The Young Guns, a youth group that is part of the Illinois pioneer chapter of Pheasants forever, are the first recipients of the Kids In Conservation Grant. The Young Guns will receive $1,000 to help restore 44 acres of upland game habitat in south western Iroquois County. Click here for more.

The Woodbridge and Coe Families have been gracious enough to donate the use of this land to the Illinois Pioneer Pheasants Forever Chapter Young Guns program. The Young Guns program was started about 2 years ago. Pheasants Forever volunteers use this program to get hundreds of youth outdoors and participating in shooting sports, fishing and hunting.

The 44 acres of the Woodbridge/Coe Habitat Restoration Project is established upland game habitat that is in need of a major renovation. Included in this restoration will be the removal of invasive trees, prescribed burns, interseeding of native grasses and forbes, as well as the planting of wind breaks using white pines. Not only will pheasants have an improved nesting and roosting area, many other wild species including deer and turkeys will benefit from this overhaul. Much of the renovation work will be completed by the youth that participate in the Young Guns program, along with many dedicated chapter adult volunteers.

Through this project, volunteers hope to have an improved wildlife habitat on the 44 acres provided by the Woodbridge and Coe families, increased much needed brooding/roosting habitat for pheasants, and better water and air quality for the area. However, the most important goal of this project is to create an opportunity for youth to become involved with a habitat project and for those youth to see the before and after effects of their work, and the benefit of their work to their wildlife communities.

Also partnering with the Young Guns on this project will be the Illinois Pioneer Chapter of Pheasants forever, which will match grant funding and provide additional monies for the project including equipment and volunteers. Additionally, Paxton-Buckley-Loda School FFA has generously offered to help recruit student volunteers.

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2008 Grant Recipients

SportDOG Conservation Fund® awarded $18,000 to four grant applicants in 2008.   We will be repeating our grant program in 2009. “We were impressed by the detail in these grant applications,” said Eleanor Marshall with SportDOG Brand. “These folks are working on projects that reflect the spirit of what our Conservation Fund is all about, and we are proud to partner with them. We hope that we will continue to receive applications of this quality next year.”

In 2008, grants were awarded as follows:

1. Wild Pheasant Reintroduction Project – The Somerset County (Pennsylvania) Chapter of Pheasants Forever will use its $5,000 grant to reintroduce pheasants on a 14,000-acre tract in south-central Somerset County.Click here for more.

The Somerset County Pheasants Forever Chapter (No. 603) is leading the project, which encompasses 14,000 acres in south-central Pennsylvania. The project area is predominantly an agricultural area, but the six-year plan will improve nesting and feeding areas for pheasants and other wildlife. Project objectives include trap-and-transfer of wild pheasants to the area; tracking of birds via electronic monitoring; and evaluation of nesting success and failure to provide information for future projects. In addition to SportDOG Brand’s $5,000 grant, the PF chapter is also receiving consulting and/or monetary support from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the California University of Pennsylvania and the Somerset County Federation of Sportsmen.table width=" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="0"> br />
Stocking occurred twice in February in the headwaters of Stony Creek — a new wild pheasant introduction site in Somerset County. Fifty birds were released on Feb. 5, and just over 200 additional birds were released in the predawn hours on Feb. 20. According to Dave Putnam, Foundation for California University of Pennsylvania wildlife biologist, all of this year’s ring-necked pheasants were live-trapped in Montana. The goal is to release a total of 300 at the Somerset site by the time the snow melts out west. The birds were released on private lands where the landowners have agreed to cooperate with the project and not allow pheasant hunting or dog training while the birds become established.

The project started more than a decade ago with funding from the R. K. Mellon Foundation and cooperative efforts from California University of Pennsylvania, Pheasants Forever, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Natural Resources Conservation Service, and other groups.

Wild pheasant stocking began in the headwaters of Stony Creek several weeks ago. According to Scott Tomlinson, Pennsylvania Game Commission land management group supervisor for Fayette and Somerset counties, the planning began 10 years ago through the efforts of his predecessor Cliff Guindon, the Somerset Chapter of Pheasants Forever and local landowners.

“We’ve had great cooperation from the farmers, through adjusting their planting and enrolling land in the CREP program,” Tomlinson said. “Our total project area is currently 15,000 acres, mostly farms that had been enrolled in the PGC Cooperative Access Program. The habitat is the key.”

Northeast PGC commissioner Jay Delaney is one of the biggest supporters of the wild pheasant reintroduction program. “Everything is driven by the habitat, and we are behind the cooperative effort to improve pheasant habitat,” he said. “Good pheasant habitat means good habitat for many other animals, so it isn’t a one-species effort.

“I’m passionate about wild pheasants, but nobody wants to waste time and effort to stock wild birds if the habitat is not there,” Delaney said. “Goal No. 1 in our new Ring-necked Pheasant Management Plan is to restore self-sustaining and huntable pheasant populations, and we are moving toward that goal.”

Tomlinson added, “The farmers are as excited as we are. It is a fantastic thing to see everybody working together. I’m 100 percent behind this project.” Some hunters applaud the reintroduction of wild ring-necked pheasants, while others wonder why all of the time and effort is being put into trapping and transferring wild birds from western states. Why not just stock more pen-raised birds? Putnam addresses this concern. “The bottom line here is you cannot get a good wild population of birds from farm-reared stock,” he said. “We could purchase fine game farm stock for less than $20 per bird, but we would end up with the same result we have now — no vigorous reproducing population.

“More than a million-and-a-half game farm pheasants have been released in Pennsylvania in the past decade. Many of them are hens and thousands of these were released in the spring. Some of them have survived, some have produced broods, but few broods ever made it to the fall and none, as far as we know, have resulted in a thriving wild population. This is in spite of all of the habitat work that has been done in the past decade and the investment of millions of dollars in the Conservation Reserve Program.”

Putnam continued, “If we thought pen-reared birds would work, we would not be going to this effort to obtain wild birds at more than ten times the cost of the pen-reared birds. It takes a drive of over 3,400 miles to pick up and return wild birds to Pennsylvania.”

Stocked pheasants also have a place in the management plan. “There is a place for game farm birds in marginal habitat not suited for wild birds,” Delaney said. “I believe the PGC can become less dependent on game farm pheasants in a few years. Certainly it depends on the success of the wild pheasant re-introduction program.”

The headwaters of Stony Creek, in Somerset County, is the third area to receive wild birds. Previously, wild birds trapped in South Dakota or Montana have been released in the Pike Run watershed in Washington County and in what is referred to as the Central Susquehanna area, which contains portions of Northumberland, Montour, Columbia and Lycoming counties. Pike Run was first stocked with wild birds in Feb. 2005, and birds were first released in Central Susquehanna area in Feb. 2007. Under proposed regulations, passed in January by the commissioners, these three areas are now identified as “Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas.” The board action has banned the release of any pen-raised pheasants, including PGC-propagated pheasants, within these areas. There will be no pheasant hunting season in the WPRAs. Also, to limit disturbances to nesting hen pheasants, dog training of any manner will be prohibited in these WPRAs from the end of small game season in early February, through July 31 each year. Prior to this PGC designation, to be finalized by the board in April, the no-hunting, no-dog-training rules were enforced only by cooperating landowners.

Monitoring Success

“Male pheasants crow in the spring to attract hens, and we can use this to gain an index of the population,” Putnam said. “Crowing counts were run in the Somerset project area in the spring of 2008, to establish a background level to compare with future years’ counts. Crowing counts will be conducted again this spring.” Another measure is electronic monitoring of the stocked hens.
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2. Jerry Smathers Memorial Grouse Habitat Project – Local members of the Ruffed Grouse Society will use a $5,000 grant to create over 100 acres of early successional habitat and improve existing habitat within the Cold Mountain Game Lands in Haywood County, North Carolina. Click here for more.

Early successional habitat, an important component in healthy wildlife populations, is decreasing on public lands in western North Carolina. With backing from the Ruffed Grouse Society, the Jerry Smathers Memorial project will enhance 100 acres within the Cold Mountain Game Lands tract in Haywood County.

Project objectives include creating 100 acres of early successional habitat; providing access for timber and wildlife management; managing existing poor quality hardwood stands to increase mast production; developing grass/forbs openings; and conducting a prescribed burn on four acres of brush/slash to improve wildlife habitat.
In addition to SportDOG Brand’s $5,000 grant, the project is also receiving $2,500 from the Southern Appalachian Chapter of the RGS and $2,500 from RGS National headquarters. 
 
            
              
 

The one mile of new road has been constructed away from the creek.  The road base consists of three inch stone and a top coat of washed gravel will be maintained to ensure proper drainage.

 

One of the first things to be accomplished was to install a new gate.

     

This is a picture of one of the white pine stands that will be clear-cut to make way for new grouse habitat.

 

The road winds through another stand of white pines which will be clear cut to produce early successional habitat.

     

The first small creek crossing has been constructed and reinforced to ensure stability during the logging operations.

 

At the end of the new road portion of the project, the second stream crossing has been completed.



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UPDATE: Jerry Smathers Memorial Habitat Project Dedicated-Representatives of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the Ruffed Grouse Society, and Southern Appalachain Multiple-Use Council dedicated the Jerry Smathers Memorial Ruffed Grouse Habitat Project on Wednesday, August 26 on Little East Fork Road in Hallywood County.  Jerry's wife, Susan, and sons, Matt and Clay, along with other family members and friends attended the event which recognized the contributors of the project.Click here for more.

Jerry Cody, President of the Southern Appalachain Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society, opened the ceremony by thanking all the cosponsoring organizations and over 150 donors to the project that raised over $17,000 toward the project. He also thanked the Smather's family for allowing them to borrow Jerry's name to assist in the fund raising efforts and recruitment of organizations to help in planning and implementation.

North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission's Gordon Warburton, Western Region Supervising Biologist, described the project and its potential for improving conditions for numerous wildlife species needing young forrest habitats. He said this project will allow for many more planned activities improving the large area for wildlife including wildlife field development, prescribed burning, and timber harvesting.

Steve Henson, Executive Director of the Southern Appalachain Multiple-Use Council, praised Jerry's leadership of his organization during his tenure as president and how it was a great fit for Jerry given his philosophy of natural resource management. He said Jerry was very committed to multiple-use management of public lands, basing his commitment on his career experiences in managing forest industry lands in the South. Jerry died unexpectedly during his second term as President of the Council.

Jerry's oldest son, Matt, speaking on behalf of the family, thanked all the organizations and donors involved in this project. He said his family was very pleased that they had chosen to memorialize his dad's legacy with the wildlife habitat project. He said he knew that Jerry would be proud to associate his name with the project and all its contributors.

SportDOG is proud to have been a part of this memorial and looks forward to other great partnerships with the Ruffed Grouse Society in the future. The efforts made by everyone involved will ensure the conservation of this area for years to come.

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3. Prairie Pothole Habitat Protection– Edmunds and McPherson counties in South Dakota are home to thousands of acres of high-quality wetlands that are critical to waterfowl breeding success. With a $5,000 grant, Ducks Unlimited will provide perpetual protection of 35 acres of important breeding habitat in the area.Click here for more.

By purchasing wetland and grassland easements, Ducks Unlimited helps provide permanent protection to waterfowl breeding habitat. The land remains in private ownership, but the habitat is preserved in perpetuity. Fortunately, many landowners across the region understand the value of these easements to wildlife. Currently, more than 900 landowners in the Prairie Pothole Region have offered up 412,000 acres for protection, but existing funds are insufficient to protect all of it. The project for which SportDOG Brand is providing $5,000 will protect 35 acres of breeding habitat in the wetland-rich portion of Edmunds and McPherson counties. In addition, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is providing $5,000 from the proceeds of sales of duck stamps.



                   
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4. Invasive Species Control and Bobwhite Cover Enhancement – The Missouri Department of Conservation will use its $3,000 grant to eradicate tall fescue and smooth brome in a variety of early successional habitats on 19 of the state’s Quail Emphasis Areas.Click here for more.

The state’s Quail Emphasis Areas are improved when invasive plant species are removed. To that end, Missouri Department of Conservation needs to purchase glyphosate and use it to eradicate tall fescue and smooth brome in a variety of early successional habitats. Project goals include achieving a quail population of one bird per two acres based on fall whistle counts by 2013 and providing the public and biologists with good examples of quality upland habitat. In addition to SportDOG Brand’s $3,000 grant, the project is also receiving funding and in-kind labor and equipment from the MDC itself, and $4,000 from the National Wild Turkey Federation.

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For more information on the Conservation Fund or how to apply for a grant, contact Eleanor Marshall at 865.218.1533 or email emarshall@sportdog.net
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