Quail Forever is proud to announce a new chapter in Louisiana. The Piney Hills chapter is based in Lincoln Parish, in the northern portion of the state. Quail history runs deep in northern Louisiana, and the chapter hopes to lean on the wildlife management experience of their members to help restore the area’s bobwhite population.
Dr. Heidi Adams, an associate professor at the Louisiana Tech School of Agricultural Sciences and Forestry, will serve as the chapter president. She doesn’t do much quail hunting personally, but said her professional background led her to Quail Forever.
“I’ve always had an interest in habitat, especially during my PhD work at Mississippi State University,” she said. “I did a lot of work with habitat buffer zones that’re part of the Conservation Reserve Program. Of course there were lots of quail in that area and they’re just such fascinating little creatures.”
Nationwide, quail populations have decreased by over 80 percent since the 1960s. Adams helped found the Piney Hills chapter to help try and reverse that trend. Many of the chapter officers have professional experience in the conservation world, and Adams said she hopes that diversity lends itself well to successful quail management.
“We have Quail Forever employees, a Louisiana Tech Forestry student and other outdoor professionals among our officers and our members,” she said. “We all have a variety of interests, and I think that’s really unique. We have so many different points of view when it comes to managing quail, and that makes us a lot more well-rounded.”
The chapter held their first meeting in early 2022. They’re currently planning their kick-off banquet for June 18 at the Wild Wings Sporting Club in Downsville, Louisiana. The banquet will feature a silent auction and shooting competitions among five-person teams. There will be prizes for highest scoring team, as well as overall highest score among men, women and youth shooters.
“This group of volunteers has both experience and a passion for conservation, and they’re ready to hit the ground running,” said Adam Cooper, Quail Forever’s regional representative in Louisiana. “They can’t wait to start putting habitat on the ground and educating their neighbors about the importance of quality habitat for quail, pollinators and other wildlife.”
Since the early 2000’s, North America has lost more than 50 million acres of grasslands, and less than three percent of the nation’s 90 million historical acres of longleaf pine woodlands remain intact today – critical habitat components for pheasants, quail and other wildlife. Pheasants Forever’s
Call of the Uplands national campaign is trying to address these issues by investing $500 million to help revive America’s grasslands and cultivate the next generation of conservationists. Chapters like Piney Hills Quail Forever are in prime position to help contribute to these goals with meaningful mission work in its local region.
Piney Hills next chapter meeting is April 21. Hunters and conservationists interested in joining the chapter as volunteers are encouraged to attend. For more information about the chapter or to become involved, please contact chapter president Dr. Heidi Adams at
hadams@latech.edu.
For more information about Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever in Louisiana, to join a chapter or inquire about starting a chapter, contact regional field representative Adam Cooper at (870)-613-4719 or at
acooper@quailforever.org.
About Pheasants Forever
Pheasants Forever and
Quail Forever make up the nation's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. This community of more than 400,000 members, supporters and partners is dedicated to the protection of our uplands through habitat improvement, public access, education and advocacy. A network of 754 local chapters spread across North America determine how 100 percent of their locally raised funds are spent — the only national conservation organization that operates through this grassroots structure. Since its creation in 1982, the organization has dedicated more than $1 billion to 567,500 habitat projects benefiting 22 million acres.
Media contact
Casey Sill
(402)-657-4143
csill@pheasantsforever.org