Marc Puckett, chair of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee and Virginia's quail coordinator, updated the committee on Virginia's quail initiative at the organization's annual meeting in Roanoke, VA in July 2013. The video of his presentation can be seen on our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksrrtcRzdwA&feature=share&list=UUwsptd3Yi61PGE2TXNiFnYQ
Our Summer 2015 edition featuring Quadra Village Day, articles on The Summit at Quadra Village (955 Hillside), creative neighbour, Richard Olafson and long-time community member, Jack Woolford.
Stay up to date with neighbourhood happenings! “Like” I Love Quadra Village on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ILoveQV
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
Our Summer 2015 edition featuring Quadra Village Day, articles on The Summit at Quadra Village (955 Hillside), creative neighbour, Richard Olafson and long-time community member, Jack Woolford.
Stay up to date with neighbourhood happenings! “Like” I Love Quadra Village on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ILoveQV
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
The Partnership approach & assessing the benefits of catchment management. 12th & 13th September 2016 at the Rougemont Hotel, Exeter. Following the decision to leave the EU the need to come together to tackle the complex environmental problems we face such as diffuse pollution and habitat fragmentation has never been greater. This conference sets out the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working and the effectiveness of dealing with problems at a catchment scale.
An Introduction to Ustadi by George Mazuri. USTADI is an initiative of Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (HIVOS) and a consortium of other ‘thought leaders’ intended to create a market embedded capacity development facility as a means to support localization and sustainability of capacity development services in Kenya.
This presentation was given at the 2019 Catchment Management Notwork meeting, which was held on the 11 October in Tullamore. All our local authorities and other bodies responsible for implementing the Water Framework Directive in Ireland attended to share knowledge and learn from each other.
Our Goal: Lasting human well-being by Conservation International, Ricky Nunez. Presentation for Seminar on Environmental Reporting conducted at Hotel Alejandro, Tacloban City.
Presented at the Africa Agriculture Science week in Accra, Ghana on July 17th 2013, during CPWF's side event ‘Engagement platforms for food and water security: opportunities to harness innovation to improve livelihoods and resilience in Africa’
This is a general presentation on WLE made by Andrew Noble for his trip to visit partners and donors in July 2014. Provides an overview of the WLE program and a number of examples of its work.
"GRSB Columbia Update - Dr. Juan Gallego, from the 2014 Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB), November 2 -5, 2014, São Paulo, Brazil.
More presentations at http://trufflemedia.com/agmedia/conference/2014-global-roundtable-sustainable-beef"
The goals of the Paris Agreement cannot be met without transformative changes in the agriculture sector.
Learn more: https://www.wri.org/events/2020/04/webinar-enhancing-ndcs-agriculture-sector
Presentation by the Association of International Research and Development Centers for Agriculture (AIRCA) at the Global Landscapes Forum 2015, in Paris, France alongside COP21. For more information go to: www.landscapes.org.
An Introduction to Ustadi by George Mazuri. USTADI is an initiative of Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (HIVOS) and a consortium of other ‘thought leaders’ intended to create a market embedded capacity development facility as a means to support localization and sustainability of capacity development services in Kenya.
This presentation was given at the 2019 Catchment Management Notwork meeting, which was held on the 11 October in Tullamore. All our local authorities and other bodies responsible for implementing the Water Framework Directive in Ireland attended to share knowledge and learn from each other.
Our Goal: Lasting human well-being by Conservation International, Ricky Nunez. Presentation for Seminar on Environmental Reporting conducted at Hotel Alejandro, Tacloban City.
Presented at the Africa Agriculture Science week in Accra, Ghana on July 17th 2013, during CPWF's side event ‘Engagement platforms for food and water security: opportunities to harness innovation to improve livelihoods and resilience in Africa’
This is a general presentation on WLE made by Andrew Noble for his trip to visit partners and donors in July 2014. Provides an overview of the WLE program and a number of examples of its work.
"GRSB Columbia Update - Dr. Juan Gallego, from the 2014 Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB), November 2 -5, 2014, São Paulo, Brazil.
More presentations at http://trufflemedia.com/agmedia/conference/2014-global-roundtable-sustainable-beef"
The goals of the Paris Agreement cannot be met without transformative changes in the agriculture sector.
Learn more: https://www.wri.org/events/2020/04/webinar-enhancing-ndcs-agriculture-sector
Presentation by the Association of International Research and Development Centers for Agriculture (AIRCA) at the Global Landscapes Forum 2015, in Paris, France alongside COP21. For more information go to: www.landscapes.org.
Presentation by David Shearer to Fisheries Project Leader Meeting, june 2013ACIAR
Presentation by David Shearer, ACIAR Director Corporate, to the ACIAR Fisheries Project Leader Meeting, June 2013.
Topic: About ACIAR - current developments (external review), reporting against the CAPF, situation report.
Similar to Virginia's Quail Restoration Initiative: Challenges to Momentum (20)
The annual report of the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative on conservation efforts on behalf of wild bobwhite quail, including updates and reports from 25 states. Special features on South Texas, New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife efforts on behalf of wild bobwhites, the U.S. Forest Service's approval of a large bobwhite emphasis area on the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana, Kentucky's success managing quail on an old reclaimed coal mine property and how the national longleaf and shortleaf pine initiatives are paying dividends for wild bobwhite quail.
Meeting at the North American Wildlife & Natural Resources Conference in Denver, CO Thursday, March 13, the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) Management Board, comprised of the wildlife agency directors or their surrogates from 25 states, voted to approve the first significant addition to the 2011 national restoration plan for bobwhite quail.
The board put its stamp on the NBCI Coordinated Implementation Plan (CIP), a specific methodology for coordinated, state-level implementation of the national strategy for landscape-scale restoration of bobwhites. And the plan’s benefits will extend well beyond bobwhites, to include grassland birds, pollinators, soil health, and water quality.
While the wild bobwhite quail population continues to struggle, the momentum to restore their populations range wide continues to grow with several important pieces falling into place in 2013. the increasing number of active partnerships supporting habitat work, major donations to critical bobwhite support functions, the growing national coalition aimed at changing federal agriculture policy to benefit bobwhites and other grassland species, and NBCI’s official entry into the arena of mine reclamation for grasslands wildlife among other advancements.
South Carolina’s fall 2013 launch of a new initiative aimed at landscape-scale restoration of wild bobwhites is among several positive highlights for the species in the newest NBCI report. The Almanac details South Carolina’s upcoming push in 30 counties, aimed primarily at management activities on forested lands with the creation of forest/woodland savannas, and agricultural lands utilizing field borders and conversion of exotic grass pastures to native warm-season grasses. The Almanac also examines the impact of federal agriculture policy on bobwhites and the enormous potential of forest management practices to positively affect quail populations. The Almanac highlights examples of forest management that are increasing bobwhite populations, including shortleaf pine ecosystem restoration on the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas and a similar project with longleaf pine on a wildlife management area in Alabama.
Also detailed in the Almanac is the effort by six states – Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas and Virginia – to pilot NBCI model focal areas that will, for the first time, couple large-scale habitat management with collaborative monitoring.
NBCI Director Don McKenzie addressed participants at the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources' Peabody Bobwhite Rally at the Peabody Wildlife Management Area on Saturday, Oct. 26. McKenzie used the opportunity to provide an update of the national bobwhite restoration effort and put Kentucky's accomplishments in context.
Galon Hall, the national coordinator for the Working Lands for Wildlife program addressed the annual meeting of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee and talked about potential areas of collaboration between his program and the national initiative to restore bobwhite quail. The video of his presentation can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na5_e5Qx-kE&feature=share&list=UUwsptd3Yi61PGE2TXNiFnYQ
NBCI Director Don McKenzie reports to the 2013 annual meeting of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee in Roanoke, VA in July, and makes a case for funding that national bobwhite restoration initiative using the recent increase in available Pittman-Robertson funds.
Dr. Todd Fearer, coordinator of the Appalachian Mountains Joint Initiative, recently addressed the annual meeting of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee in Roanoke, VA. Fearer spoke about joint ventures, the success of the AMJV, the many wildlife species positively affected and the need to broaden the message of early successional habitat development beyond supports of single wildlife species.
Highlights of new initiatives for habitat restoration and public outreach for bobwhite quail across its range, as well as reports from each of the 25 state wildlife agencies that comprise the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative.
More from National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, University of Tennessee (9)
Goodbye Windows 11: Make Way for Nitrux Linux 3.5.0!SOFTTECHHUB
As the digital landscape continually evolves, operating systems play a critical role in shaping user experiences and productivity. The launch of Nitrux Linux 3.5.0 marks a significant milestone, offering a robust alternative to traditional systems such as Windows 11. This article delves into the essence of Nitrux Linux 3.5.0, exploring its unique features, advantages, and how it stands as a compelling choice for both casual users and tech enthusiasts.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
Maruthi Prithivirajan, Head of ASEAN & IN Solution Architecture, Neo4j
Get an inside look at the latest Neo4j innovations that enable relationship-driven intelligence at scale. Learn more about the newest cloud integrations and product enhancements that make Neo4j an essential choice for developers building apps with interconnected data and generative AI.
A tale of scale & speed: How the US Navy is enabling software delivery from l...sonjaschweigert1
Rapid and secure feature delivery is a goal across every application team and every branch of the DoD. The Navy’s DevSecOps platform, Party Barge, has achieved:
- Reduction in onboarding time from 5 weeks to 1 day
- Improved developer experience and productivity through actionable findings and reduction of false positives
- Maintenance of superior security standards and inherent policy enforcement with Authorization to Operate (ATO)
Development teams can ship efficiently and ensure applications are cyber ready for Navy Authorizing Officials (AOs). In this webinar, Sigma Defense and Anchore will give attendees a look behind the scenes and demo secure pipeline automation and security artifacts that speed up application ATO and time to production.
We will cover:
- How to remove silos in DevSecOps
- How to build efficient development pipeline roles and component templates
- How to deliver security artifacts that matter for ATO’s (SBOMs, vulnerability reports, and policy evidence)
- How to streamline operations with automated policy checks on container images
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
How to Get CNIC Information System with Paksim Ga.pptxdanishmna97
Pakdata Cf is a groundbreaking system designed to streamline and facilitate access to CNIC information. This innovative platform leverages advanced technology to provide users with efficient and secure access to their CNIC details.
Climate Impact of Software Testing at Nordic Testing DaysKari Kakkonen
My slides at Nordic Testing Days 6.6.2024
Climate impact / sustainability of software testing discussed on the talk. ICT and testing must carry their part of global responsibility to help with the climat warming. We can minimize the carbon footprint but we can also have a carbon handprint, a positive impact on the climate. Quality characteristics can be added with sustainability, and then measured continuously. Test environments can be used less, and in smaller scale and on demand. Test techniques can be used in optimizing or minimizing number of tests. Test automation can be used to speed up testing.
In his public lecture, Christian Timmerer provides insights into the fascinating history of video streaming, starting from its humble beginnings before YouTube to the groundbreaking technologies that now dominate platforms like Netflix and ORF ON. Timmerer also presents provocative contributions of his own that have significantly influenced the industry. He concludes by looking at future challenges and invites the audience to join in a discussion.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 6DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 6. In this session, we will cover Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI webinar offers an in-depth exploration of leveraging cutting-edge technologies for test automation within the UiPath platform. Attendees will delve into the integration of generative AI, a test automation solution, with Open AI advanced natural language processing capabilities.
Throughout the session, participants will discover how this synergy empowers testers to automate repetitive tasks, enhance testing accuracy, and expedite the software testing life cycle. Topics covered include the seamless integration process, practical use cases, and the benefits of harnessing AI-driven automation for UiPath testing initiatives. By attending this webinar, testers, and automation professionals can gain valuable insights into harnessing the power of AI to optimize their test automation workflows within the UiPath ecosystem, ultimately driving efficiency and quality in software development processes.
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into integrating generative AI.
2. Understanding how this integration enhances test automation within the UiPath platform
3. Practical demonstrations
4. Exploration of real-world use cases illustrating the benefits of AI-driven test automation for UiPath
Topics covered:
What is generative AI
Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath integration with generative AI
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
Generative AI Deep Dive: Advancing from Proof of Concept to ProductionAggregage
Join Maher Hanafi, VP of Engineering at Betterworks, in this new session where he'll share a practical framework to transform Gen AI prototypes into impactful products! He'll delve into the complexities of data collection and management, model selection and optimization, and ensuring security, scalability, and responsible use.
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Dr. Sean Tan, Head of Data Science, Changi Airport Group
Discover how Changi Airport Group (CAG) leverages graph technologies and generative AI to revolutionize their search capabilities. This session delves into the unique search needs of CAG’s diverse passengers and customers, showcasing how graph data structures enhance the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated search results, mitigating the risk of “hallucinations” and improving the overall customer journey.
Enchancing adoption of Open Source Libraries. A case study on Albumentations.AIVladimir Iglovikov, Ph.D.
Presented by Vladimir Iglovikov:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/iglovikov/
- https://x.com/viglovikov
- https://www.instagram.com/ternaus/
This presentation delves into the journey of Albumentations.ai, a highly successful open-source library for data augmentation.
Created out of a necessity for superior performance in Kaggle competitions, Albumentations has grown to become a widely used tool among data scientists and machine learning practitioners.
This case study covers various aspects, including:
People: The contributors and community that have supported Albumentations.
Metrics: The success indicators such as downloads, daily active users, GitHub stars, and financial contributions.
Challenges: The hurdles in monetizing open-source projects and measuring user engagement.
Development Practices: Best practices for creating, maintaining, and scaling open-source libraries, including code hygiene, CI/CD, and fast iteration.
Community Building: Strategies for making adoption easy, iterating quickly, and fostering a vibrant, engaged community.
Marketing: Both online and offline marketing tactics, focusing on real, impactful interactions and collaborations.
Mental Health: Maintaining balance and not feeling pressured by user demands.
Key insights include the importance of automation, making the adoption process seamless, and leveraging offline interactions for marketing. The presentation also emphasizes the need for continuous small improvements and building a friendly, inclusive community that contributes to the project's growth.
Vladimir Iglovikov brings his extensive experience as a Kaggle Grandmaster, ex-Staff ML Engineer at Lyft, sharing valuable lessons and practical advice for anyone looking to enhance the adoption of their open-source projects.
Explore more about Albumentations and join the community at:
GitHub: https://github.com/albumentations-team/albumentations
Website: https://albumentations.ai/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/100504475
Twitter: https://x.com/albumentations
5. This is our second quail plan…
Which should tell you something about the momentum
of the first
We did learn some lessons – number 1 is, if you do not
have the support of your Board for the long haul, you are
sunk.
Every effort has to be made to let those who want to see
a quail plan know there are no quick fixes.
Initial momentum may be about charisma, excitement,
etc. – but long term success is more about guts and
perseverance.
5
6. Baking a layer cake…
1) The base, or foundation for long term success – 5
jointly funded positions – focus on quail full time
2) Increased and targeted cost-share – BMPs and
WHIP / EQIP in 6 target counties – some statewide
3) QMAP – something for everyone, Quail Quilts
and Quail Recovery Teams
7. What the QRI is NOT…
Will not restore quail statewide
Not a cash cow for landowners
Does not mean DGIF staff show up on your
farm, trap predators, create habitat, etc.
Not a quick fix…none exist
It will not invoke a miracle…will take sustained
effort
8. What the QRI is…
Restore quail across 6 focus areas (15 counties)
Increases technical assistance and cost-share
program delivery
An effort to target cost-share funds and habitat
Demonstrate county scale population effects
Builds interest, networking, importance
Is a flywheel that will require a lot of inertia in the
beginning…in hopes a breakthrough is achieved at
some point 8 to 10 years down the road
9. 9
5 Private Lands Wildlife Biologists
Has been a very good partnership between DGIF,
NRCS and CMI
Greatly reduces administrative burden for DGIF and
landowners
These 5 biologists are the “heart and soul” of the
entire QRI…their attention is solely focused on
habitat development
Dramatically increases liaison between partners
10.
11. 5 Private Lands Wildlife Biologists
Major accomplishments
Fiscal year Site visits New
contacts
Managem
ent plans
Outreach
sessions
Managed
acres
Total farm
acres
2010 251 235 104 47 1,168 21,080
2011 540 406 270 160 5,354 81,972
2012 429 397 295 276 5,145 32,955
2013 412 164 300 257 ? 41,160
Total 1632 1202 969 770 11,667 (?) 177,167
11
12. VDGIF funded Wildlife BMPs
2010 – 566 acres and $128,962.00
2011 – 782 acres and $219,139.00
2012 – 270 acres and $54,793.00
Approximately 1600 acres and $402,894.00
And there are $88,773.00 worth of projects
carried over to 2013 for a grand total of
$491,667.00 plus all new sign-up to come this
spring.
12
13. Cooperative Conservation
Partnership Initiative
Special grant through NRCS and the WHIP program
Allowed targeting of the special WHIP funds specific to
the 6 initial quail focus counties
Has brought in $256,000.00 in NRCS funds to support the
quail plan
Funded 23 projects for an average of $11,130.00 per
project, or an average cost of $73.00 per acre
Has funded a total of 3572 acres
Combined CCPI and VDGIF BMPs approximately
$820,000.00 in habitat acres on the ground
13
14. 14
Layer 3 – The Quail Management
Assistance Program - QMAP
QMAP serves landowners statewide regardless of
participation in government cost-share
278 landowners enrolled (67,732 acres 16% managed)
Each year we have added more new applicants than
during the previous year, this year we topped 100 new
applicants
They all get a certificate of appreciation, a management
packet and enrollment on our list serve
Big part of QMAP is our list serve (maintained by CMI for
free)
16. 16
Outreach, outreach and more outreach
Virginia Quail Council listserv – 100 contacts
QMAP – listserv – all enrolled landowners on it
Website updated
Articles in Virginia Wildlife, QU Magazine and Covey Rise
Articles in Richmond Times Dispatch, Federicksburg Star,
Roanoke Times and others
Mass mailing on cost-share to 20,000 landowners in 15
target counties – have done 4 separate mailings
Have been on Virginia public TV and radio, and on RFD-
TV nationally
17. 17
Large Scale DVD outreach.
DVD – “Answering the Call: Virginia’s Quail Recovery
Initiative”
Designed to appeal to landowners who are “on the
fence” in deciding to participate
Highlights successes of real landowners
Uses an emotional appeal “quail don’t need help 10
years from now, they need it now, and here is YOUR
chance to be involved in conservation.”
2500 made, over 2000 distributed so far
18. 18
Co-Coordinator hired…research and
monitoring (Jay Howell)
Monitoring / tracking is critical to detecting and
reporting success (Model Focus Areas)
Maintain long term surveys, too.
Research is key to identifying new opportunities
Liaison to the songbird community...new survey
protocols help monitor species in addition to quail
Non-game partnerships will be critical to landscape level
success
Other research ongoing / planned
19. National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative
By having a strong national presence, it helps states
maintain momentum
NBCI serves a key role which I think is to unite 25 state
agencies, key NGOs, other partners under one umbrella
It is only really 3 years old with staffing
Building momentum, but finding stable funding is a huge
key
NBCI is a state initiative – your directors told us to do this
and they comprise the NBCI Management Board – so
ultimately NBCI’s success depends on their leadership
19
20. Quail Quilts
Within target counties, places where clusters of projects
start to develop
Key in on those, and further target outreach
Looking for 1500 acres of habitat within a 6000 acres
area (about 10 square miles) (called Model Focus Areas
by NBCI)
This is 25% useable habitat within that context
Then plan intense monitoring to document successes
Only 2 or 3 developing so far
Need a public lands focus and help!!
20
24. 24
Recognizing and promoting success
Landowner signage has been developed
Success articles in VW and other newsletters
Success stories on National Bobwhite Technical
Committee webpage
Field tours of farms where success has occurred
Wildlife conservation awards through SWCDs (some
already occurring and have for years)
Statewide recognition of wildlife conservationists is
needed badly
25. So why is maintaining momentum so
challenging???
Personal / individual “leader” momentum
Core team momentum
Within agency momentum
Public / landowner momentum
Partner momentum
National momentum
25
26. Why are so many quail biologists
bald and gray?
26
27. Short term funding to fix long term
problems
“Fits and starts” as Steve Capel aptly described it
High turn over among short term funded staff
Time demands for hiring and training new staff can be
draining
Please read the paper I made a copy for all of you (“The
Gassett Doctrine”) I will call it – from Quail 7
Why don’t upland game and non game birds (wildlife)
have the equivalent of what has been done for
waterfowl?
Until we fix the funding problem…
27
28. Over abundance versus under
abundance
Back in the good old days – everyone was focused on
under abundance – everyone was focused on making
more critters and habitat
In this era – ½ to 2/3 of many agencies’ biologist staff are
focused on addressing over abundance
And many focused on under abundance focus on T&E
species
So not only have agencies suffered losses in total
staffing, they have taken on new missions that demand a
high portion of remaining staff
28
30. Lines in the sand - polarization
You say either “some use of Pen-raised quail is OK” – or
“NOT AT ALL” “NEVER!”
You say to landowners “well – sorry you don’t have 1500
to 2000 acres so there is nothing you can do for quail.”
You say “use of translocated quail that may not be
genetically the same as local populations is
unacceptable.”
You take the approach that habitat management is the
only real solution, that there is no place for predator
control, supplemental feeding, and use of parent-reared
chicks (I term TTRS Birds).
30
31. Most important – never give up,
what we do is important
Dr. Ralph Stanley – in his mid 80s – still touring
Won a Grammy in 2002 – in his mid 70s “for best
male vocalist”
Awarded honorary Doctorate of Music from Lincoln
Memorial University, in Tennessee
Awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2006
Wrote book “Man of Constant Sorrow” with guest
writer Eddie dean
31