Personal pathways to conservation from the PF & QF team
By Mikayla Peper
Editor's note: Here at PF & QF we have a wide array of talented individuals all across the country working hard every day to deliver our mission, each with unique backgrounds and skillsets. In our new blog series, “Why Conservation,” we feature some of the incredible employees that make up the Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever family. Each of these blogs will highlight background information on the employee, the important work they do for the organization and answer the important question of — Why Conservation?
As a kid, I dreamed of riding horses, flying as fast as the cowgirls and cowboys I saw on TV. Thankfully, that dream came true when I met my best friend. She lived on a dairy farm just a mile down the road from my house in northwest Wisconsin, and she told me all about riding horses with her mom. I couldn’t wait to visit her house and meet the animals.
I spent most of my childhood on this farm, feeding calves, taming half-feral barn cats and coming up with new tricks while we took turns riding my best friend’s pony – Dixie was her name. I suppose this lifestyle was always in my blood since my dad grew up on a dairy farm about 30 miles northeast of my where I was raised. Little did I know these experiences would kickstart a lifetime love for animals, the land and the natural world around me.
After years of showing animals at the local county fair and participating in 4-H and FFA, high school graduation was rapidly approaching and I pondered what I wanted to do for a career. I knew I had a knack for reading and writing, and I loved advocating for agriculture, so thankfully I found a career path for these skills. I attended the University of Minnesota (Go Gophers!) and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communication & marketing.
Between my lessons learned on the farm, talking with fairgoers as I showed cattle, my courses at college and experiences through internships, I learned a lot about the important connections between agriculture and the land.
Farmers were the original stewards of the land, being dependent upon the well-being of the soil for the survival of their family. Today, farmers still depend on their land for the survival of their business rather than depending on it to feed their families. It only makes sense to take care of the land however you can, so the land can take care of you in return. Precision chemical application tools, cover cropping, rotational livestock grazing, placing buffer strips and manure management plans are just a few techniques crop and livestock farmers utilize to care for their land long term.
My background knowledge aside, I currently find myself a little bit outside of my comfort zone, as a member of the communications team for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. I always knew there were important connections between agriculture and wildlife habitat management, but these past eight months have really opened my eyes to how crucial that relationship is.
As programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program continue to grow, I’m incredibly excited to see the progress in both the agriculture and conservation sectors. With a working relationship between the two, there’s a give and take. Unusable agricultural land can be placed into a habitat program, and working lands can continue their jobs while being mindful of surrounding wildlife and habitat.
I’m incredibly fortunate to find myself in a career where I can tell stories about the importance of preserving the land around us. Not only as resources for the well-being of humans, but as a legacy of who came before us and the people who will come after. Because where I come from, farmers and hunters tend to be one and the same.
Mikayla Peper is the media relations specialist at Pheasants Forever. She can be reached at mpeper@pheasantsforever.org