NCWHF tackles quail problem

The N.C. Wildlife Habitat Foundation has accepted the daunting challenge of trying to improve the state’s quail habitat.

Since last January, the NCWHF, headed by Eddie Bridges of Greensboro, has raised nearly $100,000 for its Quail Habitat Fund.

The Foundation is supported by private donations and run by a volunteer staff, including Bridges, who continually searches for wildlife conservation projects to support.

He recently obtained rights to sell prints of a painting of a quail covey by artist Duane Raver, with a portion of the profits added to the NCWHF’s Quail Fund.

“They are selling like hot cakes,” he said.

Bridges hopes to involve landowners in stitching together tracts of land and managing those acreages for quail.

Mark Jones, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s small-game project leader, is a supporter of the Foundation’s effort. He said the state’s deer and turkey hunters also need to get involved, because those species depend upon the same habitat as small game.

“We would like to partner with the Foundation as it moves forward in this project,” he said. “I believe this group could create a landowner/quail success story, but it’s going to take intensive efforts.”