October 18, 2012

Votes for the Kansas Quail Initiative could bring $25,000 grant to program
You can help Kansas bobwhite quail with just the click of your mouse. Sportdog Brand, a company that produces electronic dog training equipment, is asking the public to help select conservation projects that they can support with additional funding.

Sportdog’s Future Forward Fund contest is a spin-off from their Conservation Fund program, which supports grassroots organizations that work with state, federal, and private wildlife and land management agencies to conserve wild game populations and critical wildlife habitat. The Future Forward Fund contest accepted conservation project proposals from around the country before selecting a top seven. The Kansas Quail Initiative (KQI), nominated by Quail Forever, made the cut. Voting is open now through Nov. 30, 2012. You can vote for the KQI on Sportdog’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SportDOGBrand, Twitter feed www.twitter.com/SportDOGBrand, Sportdog’s website www.sportdog.com or the email address facebook@sportdog.com.

The project with the most votes will receive a $25,000 grant. The second place vote-getter will receive $5,000.
KQI is a Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism project designed to reverse declining bobwhite quail populations at a landscape level. The project includes the designation of two large quail management focus areas in the eastern half of the state where landowners will receive 100 percent cost-share to improve habitat on their land. The goal is to increase quail numbers by 50 percent and to increase suitable quail habitat by 5 percent in each focus area. Additional support for KQI is provided by the National Wild Turkey Federation, Quail and Upland Wildlife Federation, Quail Forever, Safari Club International, Kansas Wildlife Federation, and the Nature Conservancy. Kansas biologists have joined forces with biologists in other states to form the National Bobwhite Technical Committee with a goal of improving quail habitat across its range through a National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative.
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