Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) staff were recently recognized for their contributions and achievements related to restoring and managing bobwhite quail habitat on Sandy Hollow Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Tangipahoa Parish.
At the 2015 annual meeting of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee in Galloway, NJ, the Sandy Hollow WMA Burn Team lead by WMA Biologist Supervisor Christian Winslow, received the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) National Fire Bird Conservation Award for their efforts in conducting prescribed burns on the WMA. In addition to Winslow, Sandy Hollow Burn Team members recognized included Tommy Bruhl, Jill Day, Calvin Waskom, Wade Fitzsimmons, Jake Tate, Jason Childress, Russell Koepp, Bradley Breland, Jimmy Ernst, Mike Perot, Ed Trahan and Wade Tracy.
Award recipients are nominated by the respective NBCI-member state’s quail program manager for their contributions to that state’s efforts toward habitat-based restoration of bobwhite populations on a landscape scale.
The National Fire Bird Conservation Award’s name symbolizes the historic reliance of bobwhites on fire in much of its range to maintain the landscape in an early successional stage. Promoting native grasses, wildflowers, and “beneficial weeds” provides suitable habitat for bobwhites and other wildlife. The term “fire bird” in relation to bobwhites was first coined by naturalist Herbert Stoddard, who researched bobwhites and worked to restore bobwhite habitat in the early 20th Century. Stoddard advocated the use of fire as a management tool and developed many bobwhite management techniques that are still in use. Today, prescribed burning by trained professionals has become an increasingly important tool for helping create and manage habitat for bobwhites, as well as a suite of songbirds, pollinators and other wildlife that require early successional habitats to survive.
Sandy Hollow WMA is Louisiana’s only WMA dedicated to bobwhites. Winslow and his LDWF colleagues assess habitat response and burn needs annually and then conduct prescribed burns using small patch burning at a rate of 2,000 acres annually -- with plans to increase total burn acres in future years. Bobwhite numbers observed in annual summer whistle counts have trended upward since the early 2000’s in response to these efforts.
The coordinated effort and dedication of Winslow and other LDWF staff have also included increasing use of other quail-friendly practices such as fallow disking, wildlife plantings and timber harvests. The Sandy Hollow team creates and maintains some of the highest quality bobwhite habitat in the state.
For more information, contact Cody Cedotal, LDWF Resident Small Game/Wild Turkey program manager, ph. 225-765-2361 or ccedotal@wlf.la.gov .
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana’s abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us atwww.wlf.la.gov.