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Build A Wildlife Area creates wildlife habitat and places to hunt

By Ashley Chance

Those lucky enough to arrive as hunters on a family farm or a hunting lease that a parent, friend or relative is a part of may never have to answer the question, “Where can I go hunting?”

But for anyone who pursues hunting for the first time as an adult, or even an experienced hunter that moves to a new area, finding a place to hunt can feel like being a fish out of water.

Access is a huge barrier for new hunters. And even established hunters can find it difficult to venture beyond their usual haunts. This is widely recognized as a real problem by the people working to smooth the pathway to becoming a hunter … but is rarely addressed because it is so difficult to solve.

How does one magically create more hunting land open to the public?

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever recognize this need, and we are doing something about it.

Our Build a Wildlife Area® program works to acquire, improve and provide public access to upland areas since 1982. In that time, we have created more than 225,000 acres of public-access upland bird habitat across the country. Public lands.

Just last year we completed 27 BAWA® projects totaling 3,396 acres. Currently, 11,000 acres of strategic habitat acquisition projects are in active development across twelve states in both the pheasant and the quail range. Public lands for you, me and our hunting brothers and sisters. Forever.

Go to our Build a Wildlife Area® page to learn more about the program, and better understand how you can contribute to growing bird populations and expanding hunting opportunities for all. You can also reach out directly to our Permanent Habitat Protection Manager, John Laux, at jlaux@pheasantsforever.org.

Check out the 2022 BAWA Report to see highlights of last year’s major projects and donors. Among them is a special acquisition in the heart of quail country called Bobwhite Hills Wildlife Management Area. It is just one example of the essential work that PF & QF do for habitat, wildlife and public access.

The 774-acre Bobwhite Hills Wildlife Management Area features longleaf pine savanna in the heart of the South Carolina Bobwhite Initiative’s central focal region. Quail Forever is currently working with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on creating a management and access plan for the property to incorporate objectives for hunting, wildlife viewing, hiking, and ecological education and research.

Bobwhite Hills abuts a 2,000-acre leased wildlife management area, and is a focal point of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Longleaf Pine Initiative. Bobwhite Hills is also part of the National Bobwhite & Grassland Initiative, is located between two Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Areas, and is identified as a medium priority focus area of the South Carolina Conservation Bank.

Funding support for the project came from the South Carolina Conservation Bank, South Carolina DNR, private donors to Build a Wildlife Area®, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapters, and a land value donation to Quail Forever.

Bobwhite Hills is just one example of many, but a perfect one to illustrate the power of partnerships, and of Build a Wildlife Area®, for creating habitat for wildlife … as well as providing answers and acres for hunters asking that age-old question, “Where can I go hunting?”

Ashley Chance is Hunting Heritage Program Manager for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever.