ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 15, 1996 TAG: 9604150098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
Dr. Bill Clarkson's dream for the new Virginia Mountain Chapter of Quail Unlimited isn't to stage still another conservation fund-raising banquet. Rather than put on a suit and tie and head for a dinner-auction at the Holiday Inn, Marriott or Sheraton, his idea is to don jeans and boots and help farmers improve habitat for quail on their land.
The quail is distinctly a country bird, said the Salem psychiatrist, and if the downward population trend of this popular species is reversed it will be accomplished on farms.
``If you want to get quail back, you have to work with the average farmer-landowner,'' he said. ``It won't be done on public land.''
Clarkson organized the chapter that has attracted a core of worker-members who have targeted landowners in Bedford, Botetourt and Franklin counties willing to give quail restoration a chance. A similar program has worked well in North Carolina, he said.
``I guess you call it the nostalgia factor,'' he said. ``They work with people who remember quail and want to get them back. The tricky part is, how do you do this economically?''
Farmers, more than most, savor the crisp notes of ``bob-bob-white'' on a warm spring morning. They halt their pickup on a rural lane and watch with pride as a quail hen and her fuzzy chick scurry across. They witness the explosive flush of a covey in the fall. The birds become old friends.
But farmers have to make a living, and that often has meant chemicals and clean farming, practices that are harmful to quail, said Clarkson.
Next week, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is scheduled to act on a draft quail-management plan which, among other things, could provide cost-sharing funds for landowners willing to adjust their agriculture practices to benefit birds.
The five-year, $4-million proposal is designed to get farmers to rethink some of their current land management practices - for example, using warm-season grasses rather than fescue in pastures and hay fields.
``If you had to hang your hat on one thing that has happened to quail, it would be cattle - not just cattle, but the fescue and clean farming that come with it,'' said Jay Jefferies, a wildlife biologist for the game department.
On a recent Saturday, Jefferies was guiding members of the Quail Unlimited chapter through the fields of a Craig County farm owned by Lanier Franz, where wildlife management is showcased.
On rolling land cut by the flow of Craig Creek, Franz has planted warm-season grasses, provided hedges of bicolor lespedeza and used controlled burning and timber cutting to produce quail habitat. At first, the efforts appeared to have minimal impact, then coveys of birds began to appear, Franz said.
``Quail, for me, is one of the most frustrating wildlife species to manage for,'' said Jefferies. ``You must have everything thing they need - food, cover, brood habitat - within a 30- to 60-acre area.''
But when you help quail, you also have helped song birds, rabbits and turkey poults, he said.
Quail management really is landowner management, Jefferies told the Quail Unlimited members.
``You will only be able to do what the landowner will let you do,'' he said.
Most farms will have a field or fenced-off area that is out of production, which are ideal spots to promote quail habitat, he said. The production of warm-season grasses, such as switchgrass, isn't just good for wildlife conservation, but for forage as well.
``It takes more management, more planning and more forethought, but in my mind the economic benefit makes it pay off,'' he said. ``I've had several farmers say this is the best kept secret they know. They love it.''
The new Quail Unlimited chapter is looking for landowners interested in encompassing quail management practices on their property. The chapter president is Steve Parker, 992-2109. The mailing address is P.O. Box 403, Cloverdale, Va., 24077.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. ``If you had to hang your hat on one thing that hasby CNBhappened to quail, it would be cattle - not just cattle, but the
fescue and clean farming that come with it.'' -Jay Jefferies\State
wildlife biologist. 2. ``If you want to get quail back, you have to
work with the average farmer-landowner. It won't be done on public
land.'' - Dr. Bill Clarkson\Quail Unlimited. 3. Craig County
landowner Lanier Franz has planted warm-season grasses, provided
hedges of bicolor lespedeza and used controlled burning and
timber-cutting to produce quail habitat. 4. Quail. color.