In a joint effort to restore bobwhite quail to the Piedmont region of South Carolina, Quail Forever has partnered with the
U.S. Forest Service and the
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to hire Jordan Nanney as the state’s new Quail Focus Area Coordinator. Nanney will concentrate his efforts to maximize the efficiency and productivity of quail habitat restoration and management for the state’s Indian Creek Restoration Initiative.
“Jordan Nanney brings a wealth of management experience to this new position and an eagerness to make a difference on the landscape for bobwhite quail,” said Andy Edwards, regional representative for Quail Forever. “We’re proud to partner with the U.S. Forest Service and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources in this ongoing effort to restore bobwhite quail and other early successional wildlife in the Sumter National Forest and surrounding private lands.”
As the new South Carolina Quail Focus Area Coordinator, Nanney will work to restore critical woodland savannah habitat within the
Indian Creek Restoration Initiative area. Dating back to 2004, the initiative began as a collaborative effort encompassing Sumter National Forest (8,300 acres) and private property (7,700 acres). The objective was to identify and restore woodland savannas and improve habitat for its obligate species, including bobwhite quail. This landscape-level approach to ecological restoration was successful in achieving habitat and population objectives established in the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative. Nanney hopes to implement further wildlife habitat practices which could help restore bobwhite quail to their historical populations.
Preceding his new career with “The Habitat Organization,” Nanney received his Master’s degree in Wildlife Science from the University of Tennessee after graduating from North Carolina State University with his Bachelor's in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. Nanney has been extensively involved in researching and implementing habitat management practices - including prescribed fire, timber harvest, disking, and herbicide applications - which can all be strategically applied to manage and restore early successional habitat for increased quail productivity in South Carolina.
“The Indian Creek Restoration Initiative area has been a longtime priority for our agency,” stated Michael Hook, small game program leader for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. “We look forward to having Quail Forever and Mr. Nanney join us with a more active role on this project for years to come.”
Nanney is stationed at the Enoree office of the U.S. Forest Service-Sumter National Forest. For more information about the Indian Creek Restoration Initiative, the South Carolina Quail Focus Area or how to become involved as a private landowner, contact Jordan Nanney at 803-321-2995 or
JNanney@QuailForever.Org.
About Quail Forever
Pheasants Forever, including its quail conservation division,
Quail Forever, is the nation's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have more than 149,000 members and 700 local chapters across the United States and Canada. Chapters are empowered to determine how 100 percent of their locally raised conservation funds are spent; the only national conservation organization that operates through this truly grassroots structure. Since creation in 1982, Pheasants Forever has spent $634 million on 502,000 habitat projects benefiting 14.1 million acres nationwide.
Media Contact
Jared Wiklund
(651) 209-4953
jwiklund@quailforever.org