Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever announced a historic effort in February to protect and conserve North America’s upland habitats by launching its first comprehensive, $500 million Call of the Uplands® National Campaign. The bold plan encompasses habitat conservation, education & outreach, and national advocacy strategies to conserve 9 million acres, engage 1.5 million outdoor participants, and enact landscape-level national policy for wildlife and rural communities.
In the last decade, numerous studies both nationally and in the Prairie Pothole Region have documented grassland habitat decline and fragmentation, with more than 53 million acres of grasslands gone. These catastrophic habitat losses have contributed to precipitous population declines for pheasants (e.g. > 50 percent decline in harvest and population indices in Iowa) and other grassland bird species (-40 percent decline) since 1966. “Conversion of grasslands have quickly transformed this important ecosystem into the Amazon rainforest in our backyard; the unprecedented number of acres and biodiversity wiped from the landscape over a relatively short period have created a pivotal moment for wildlife, hunters, conservationists, farmers, and all Americans interested in a bright future filled with abundant natural resources,” stated Howard Vincent, president and CEO of Pheasants