Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever are proud to announce the organization’s 2023 Annual Report, highlighted by a record-setting 2.5 million acres of wildlife habitat conservation delivery over the past year. The new mission benchmark was made possible by a strong network of local chapters, partners, and team members helping complete 5,195 habitat projects and working with more than 37,000 landowners to meet their voluntary wildlife objectives.
“Habitat, heritage, and harmony are the themes of this year’s Annual Report,” stated Marilyn Vetter, president and CEO of Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever. “Habitat is our mission, we foster outdoor heritage through this critical work, and we continually strive for harmony – a balanced landscape for wildlife, landowners, hunters, and Mother Nature. We delivered in spades on these themes throughout 2023.”
The Habitat Organization and its passionate community of volunteers and partners generated critical dollars for upland wildlife conservation over the past year – more than $114 million, with $97.6 million going directly to the nonprofit’s mission. This equates to one of the highest efficiency ratings of America’s conservation groups at an impressive 89 percent.
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Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever’s full Annual Report will be available online and published in the Spring 2024 issues of the Quail Forever Journal and Pheasants Forever Journal. Here’s a snapshot:
Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever's all-volunteer chapters spearheaded on-the-ground projects spanning 65,234 acres, which includes nesting cover improvements, upland and wetland restorations, food and cover plots, and winter cover. Pheasants Forever (21,850 landowner contacts, 1,032,045 acres) and Quail Forever’s (15,878 landowner contacts, 739,198 acres) wildlife biologist team – who help interested landowners enroll in voluntary conservation programs – made 37,728 landowner contacts in 2023, leading to more than 1.77 million acres of habitat improvement for wildlife.
Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever chapters and team members completed 39 fee-title land acquisition projects in 2023, permanently protecting 4,463 acres. All these properties have or will be conveyed to state/federal natural resource agencies and opened to the public for outdoor recreation, including hunting.
In 2023, The Habitat Organization delivered conservation education in a big way. The organization’s conservation education team is dedicated to sharing outdoor lifestyles and an appreciation for wildlife, while inspiring traditional, new and emerging audiences of all ages. PF & QF have created innovative programs and opportunities that help individuals enjoy their own unique "Path to the Uplands,” with the following offerings:
» Hunting Heritage: Learn to Hunt, Learn to Shoot, Mentor Pledge
» Conservation Leadership: Journey to Conservation Careers, National Youth Leadership Council, Women on the Wing
» Habitat Education: Milkweed in the Classroom, Pollinator Habitat Outreach Program, Outreach Training and Resources
Over the past year, Pheasants Forever hosted 1,258 events impacting 21,250 youth participants and 33,597 adult participants. In the same period, Quail Forever hosted 926 events impacting 6,382 youth participants and 24,209 adult participants.
Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever’s dedicated Government Affairs team works to create policy and secure funding for programs that benefit all the uplands, from the rugged backcountry to the back 40.
Political gridlock slowed progress on most big national legislation in 2023, including the Farm Bill—Quail Forever’s top policy priority and the single largest source of funding for private lands conservation in the U.S. Nevertheless, QF and PF helped secure a one-year extension of the current five-year Farm Bill, and worked with lawmakers to successfully introduce two important, bipartisan pieces of legislation that we aim to include in the next Farm Bill:
» The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Improvement Act of 2023 would incentivize landowners to enroll more acres of habitat in CRP, leading directly to more and better hunting opportunities, as well as improved soil and water quality.
» The Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act of 2023 would triple funding for the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP) — a popular component within the Farm Bill that helps create public access for hunting on private lands, often in coordination with CRP. We helped secure a one-year extension of the current 5-year Farm Bill, which expired in September. The extension included ongoing support for CRP and $10 million for VPA-HIP.
Employing restoration specialists, habitat strike teams, and other team members to address habitat needs on public and private lands, Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever restored or enhanced a whopping 655,336 (pheasant range: 356,599; quail range: 298,737) acres across America’s pheasant and quail ranges in 2023. Examples of these projects include but are not limited to: cedar and juniper removal in grasslands and sagebrush, prescribed fire, addressing invasive species, Adopt-A-Game-Area projects, and other initiatives and programs.
The word is in our name: Quail Forever. Pheasants Forever.
Forever means the work we do together.
Forever means the commitment you make with your time, your volunteer spirit, your voice, your dollars.
Forever means the cackle of a rooster and the whistle of a bobwhite on the shoulder of a fine spring morning. It is a bobolink calling from the tallgrass. It is the flutter of monarch butterflies and the buzz of bumblebees in summer wildflowers. It is the joyful shout of ROOSTER! piercing the autumn air. It is the heart-stopping buzz of a covey of quail erupting on a brisk winter morning.
Will you join in and help us keep going toward forever?