(illustration by Gary Palmer)
The Lowcountry Quail Forever Chapter will host its inaugural fundraising gala on Friday, February 14th, within the Cotton Dock at the historic Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. with fellowship and dinner followed by games, raffles and live/silent auctions. Proceeds from the 1st Annual Bar-B-Que and Oyster Roast will be targeted at restoring the whistle of bobwhite quail in the Francis Marion National Forest, focusing on intense forest management activities on 5,000 acres in the Price Landing region and an additional 5,000 acre block at Cane Gully near Cordesville.
Supported with funding for bobwhite management from local conservationist Willie McCrea, volunteers of Lowcountry Quail Forever have focused their efforts on establishing early-successional quail habitat in the 258,000-acre Francis Marion National Forest since the chapter’s inception in 2011. In fact, Lowcountry volunteers have supported a prescribed burning mosaic throughout portions of the forest on a two-year rotation, in addition to the establishment of brood rearing habitat on ~80 wildlife openings.
“Quail habitat restoration is not just beneficial for quail, but for all upland wildlife including songbirds, turkeys, rabbits and the threatened Red-cockaded woodpecker,” said chapter president Kenneth Shuler. To that end, Lowcountry Quail Forever is uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in bringing back the whistle of bobwhites to South Carolina with community support.”
Highlights of the Lowcountry Quail Forever Bar-B-Que and Oyster Roast
• Life Member Promotion: Become a life member of Pheasants Forever at the banquet and be immediately entered for a chance to win a Henry Big Boy .44 Magnum Rifle.
• Early Bird Drawing: Register for the banquet by February 22nd and be entered into a drawing for $300 cash to use at the banquet..
• Special Guests: Senator Chip Campsen and SCDNR Director Robert Boyles
• Sponsor ‘Happy Hour’ hosted by ‘Frigate Rum’
For more information about the Lowcountry Chapter of Quail Forever or its 1st Annual Bar-B-Que and Oyster Roast Gala and to purchase tickets
click here or contact committee member Tim Askins at (843) 814-0417.