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1 1 of 6 7/31/2014 4:42 PM Website Calendar Contact Us Hall of Fame Chapter Info July 2014 Pheasants Forever Inc. and Quail Forever is dedicated to the conservation of pheasants, quail and other wildlife through habitat improvements, public awareness, education and land management policies and programs. District Meetings 2014 Workshops and Tours Kansas PF & QF Field Staff have worked hard with partners to develop a slate of workshops and tours around the state. Please help to publicize these events by forwarding this newsletter. You can also select the image below and print out posters that can be displayed at restaurants, coffee shops and other establishments. Print a Poster By Clicking Here!

2 2 of 6 7/31/2014 4:42 PM Youth Education & Outreach Outreach Coordinator Brian A. Schaffer June was a fantastic month for Outreach and Education in Kansas. In addition to the many youth events, the first ever Kansas Focus on Forever conference was held at the Ringneck Ranch in Tipton. Focus on Forever was a train the trainer conference designed specifically for volunteers to learn best practices for activities, events and programs that share our outdoor traditions with youth and families. Participants had the chance to take part in hands-on training but learn how chapters can benefit from all the opportunities our national No Child Left Indoors (NCLI) initiative has to offer: Teaching the Skill of Shotgunning Hands on Habitat Pollinator Projects for Your Community Mentor Hunt Basics Forever Shooting Sports Shooting for..something Better! Instructor Basics NCLI Resources for Chapters Over 50 volunteers from 12 different states attended the Kansas Focus on Forever conference. I would like send out a special thank you for the volunteers from the McPherson Area, Waconda Ringnecks and Ark River chapters for participating in the weekend long training! We are proud to announce that Jared Austin, of the McPherson Area Pheasants Forever chapter has been selected for a prestigious honor at the national level! He is one of just a handful of youth from across the country selected to be a representative on the National Youth Leadership Council for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. The council is a group of highly engaged youth leaders that represent the future growth and vision of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. He has been instrumental in advocating that area youth organizations utilize the facilities at the McPherson Valley Uplands and is working to complete a youth pollinator habitat program that involves educating young kids in local elementary schools about upland habitat and wildlife conservation. Please join us in congratulating Jared on his well-earned accomplishment and support his advocacy by going to his Facebook page and liking the McPherson Valley Uplands! With fall hunting seasons not far around the corner, I would like to remind chapters that hosting a youth shooting clinic offers a fantastic opportunity to teach kids the basics of wingshooting prior to your youth hunts! If your chapter has interest in hosting a youth wingshooting clinic please get in touch with me to discuss the many options available. Lastly, it is very important to report youth events! This is crucial to documenting your chapter s hard work and dedication to furthering our mission of getting kids involved in conservation! If you have not reported any of your youth events please give me a call and we can fill out an event report form over the phone.

3 3 of 6 7/31/2014 4:42 PM Month If your chapter is hosting a youth event, be sure to reach out to youth organizations within your community to reach youth that may not have the opportunity to experience the great outdoors! Please contact me with any questions on how to increase attendance at your youth events! If your chapter needs help with any aspect of planning, hosting or reporting a youth event, please do not hesitate to contact me by at bschaffer@pheasantsforever.org or by telephone at (570) I am eager to work with all of you to get more kids involved in Kansas rich sporting heritage! Creating Brush Piles for Birds Zac Eddy, KS Senior Farm Bill Wildlife Biologist A few weeks ago, as I watched a brush saw clearing dozens of six foot tall elm trees from the CRP field across the road from my house, I hoped that the landowners would take advantage of an opportunity to provide multiple benefits from the effort and expense. Often, when trees are cleared from pastures and CRP, they re left haphazardly where they fell or pushed into large, dense piles. Downed trees, whether in piles or not, are generally left to be burned with a follow up fire. That s not a problem when downed trees are left scattered, but typical large brush piles can be a problem for pheasants and quail. Generally, when trees are piled for wildlife or burning, it is done with a bulldozer and downed trees are pushed together in large, dense piles. These piles will persist for many years, unless burned. They will, indeed, house wildlife species, but usually, those species are not ones we want to encourage when managing for gamebirds. Since they are too thick to allow birds to flush from within the pile, they won t use typical brush piles. Instead, those piles become dens for mesocarnivores predators like skunks and raccoons. With very little extra effort, brush piles that will be used for escape and thermal cover by pheasants and quail can be created. These downed tree structures are especially handy when trying to enhance quail habitat quickly, and can save a landowner money by utilizing what is essentially trash to produce a required element of quail habitat without having to plant native shrubs (that may take years to establish and fill in before being usable to birds). Instead of using a dozer to push debris and tree trunks into large piles, simply stack the downed trees next to one another in just a couple of layerss. If selectively cutting trees or thinning dense stands of trees, those selected for cutting can even be felled in such a way that crowns fall next to each other to create the piles. By stacking trees next to each other, not pushed into thick piles, they are open enough that predators won t be as inclined to make dens under them and they are loose enough to allow birds to flush from under the pile if needed all while deterring avian predation. The goal of this process is to create an artificial shrub thicket to add necessary structure to an area where growing shrubs like sandhill plum or fragrant sumac do not occur. In keeping with that, you ll want to remember what you re trying to emulate with these piles. They should be too thick for you to walk through the pile, but a softball or small soccer ball thrown into the middle of the pile should bounce through the branches before eventually hitting the ground like a Plinko board on The Price is Right TV gameshow. Piles should be constructed to dimensions of 30 ft X 50 ft X 4-8 ft tall. Any type of tree can be used to create these piles. Cedars are often a little thick to be used right after cutting and piling, but will make great, long lasting artificial thickets after they have dried out. Deciduous trees like elms, hedge, and locust will make great protective cover straight away, but piles made from softer woods like elm or hackberry may not last quite as long as other species. Still, I would never hesitate from utilizing those species. As those with brush problems know, fighting tree encroachment is a never ending process. There will be other trees that move in over time that can be used to renovate or replace degraded artificial thickets. Hopefully this article will help you figure out what to do with the trees you clear from your property, but if you d like even more advice, please call your local PF/QF Farm Bill Biologist. We currently have five biologists stationed around the state. You can find their contact information at the end of this newsletter or on our website

4 4 of 6 7/31/2014 4:42 PM Chris Lecuyer Area Manager, Glen Elder Wildlife Area This month s Partner Spotlight comes from North Central Kansas Farm Bill Biologist, Tyson Seirer. Tyson would like to highlight the work that Chris Lecuyer, Wildlife Area Manager with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, & Tourism, puts in at the Glen Elder Wildlife Area. Chris has been working at Glen Elder Wildlife Area since 2010, where his main focus has been producing premier pheasant habitat. He envisions the Area as being a place capable of becoming a renowned pheasant hunting destination and spends a lot of time working toward that goal. To do this, Chris has been concentrating on creating brood habitat and the majority of the management practices carried out on the wildlife area in the last 4 years have been implemented with that goal in mind. The work of Chris and his staff is starting to pay off. This spring s pheasant crow count surveys recorded similar numbers of birds at Glen Elder as records from years ago indicated. Those estimates, again, put the Glen Elder Wildlife Area at the top of the list for statewide spring counts. With all the invasive tree shearing, brome spraying, and burning of old, rank stands of native grass, Chris and his staff have increased the quality of upland habitats on the area which has provided suitable places for pheasants and quail to nest and raise their young. As most readers know, statewide populations of upland game birds are at all-time lows, and Chris work at the Glen Elder Wildlife Area is providing essential brood-rearing and nesting habitat that will help the birds maintain viable populations and survive in a landscape that is changing all around them. When asked what the hardest part about being a land manager is, Chris said, being patient and waiting for the results of applied practices on the land. Often you won t see the results of the work you do until 2 or 3 years down the road. But understanding that the work makes a positive impact does have its rewards and makes the work enjoyable. In fact, Chris favorite part of his position is getting out and getting his hands dirty. He likes to do the hands-on work (like burning, habitat restoration, and population surveys) that grows bird populations and indicates where additional management work needs to be done. Aside from his work with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism, Chris also volunteers his time to improve the landscape and raise awareness of hunting and conservation by being an active member of Pheasants Forever chapter which he s been a part of for 13 years and currently serves as a Committee member with the Osborne County PF Chapter. When asked about his work with the chapter, Chris is most proud of knowing that their work helps put more habitat on the ground, gets kids more involved in the outdoors, and spreads the word locally that habitat is important. As an avid hunter himself, Chris likes to think that most of his habitat management decisions are based on wanting to achieve good hunting results. With that in mind, remember that conditions are looking better this spring than they have in the last few years. Glen Elder Wildlife Area s pheasant numbers are on an upswing, so be sure to made a trip there this fall as one of your hunting stops, and when you do, stop in at the office to thank Chris and his staff for all the work they put in so we, the public, can continue to have a place to hunt. Kansas Chapter Calendar July

5 5 of 6 7/31/2014 4:42 PM 25th Fort Riley (FROG) Banquet, Fort Riley 26th 9:00 am "Landscaping for Pollinator" 301 Walnut St., Centralia August th District Meeting - M&R Grill, Abilene 19th District Meeting - Pizza Ranch, Hutchinson 21st District Meeting - Meadowlake Golf Course, Colby 23rd District Meeting - Ulysses 27th District Meeting - Hays City Sportmans's Club, Hays 28th District Meeting - Beloit Country Club, Beloit September October rd Saline Co. Uplanders Banquet, Salina 25th Meade Co. Banquet, Meade November th Ringneck Rustlers Banquet, Wichita 7th Sunflower Banquet, Oberlin 7th Longspur Banquet, Norton 7th Post Rock Ringnecks Banquet, Lincoln 7th Smoky Valley Banquet, Hoxie 8th North Central KS Banquet, Belleville 9th Ark 2000 Banquet, Lakin 21st Waconda Ringnecks Banquet, Beloit December January th High Plains Roosters Banquet, Goodland 17th Heartland Pioneer Banquet, Lyons 17th Pawnee Valley Banquet, Larned 24th Route 36 Banquet, Smith Center 24th Tailfeather Tribe Banquet, Tribune 24th Southwest KS Ringnecks Banquet, Johnson 24th Kansas Pioneer Banquet, Colby 24th Republican Valley Ringnecks Banquet, Wakefield 24th Ringneck Renegades Banquet, Leoti February th Flint Hills Banquet, Manhattan 7th Ark River Banquet, Hutchinson 21st Scott Co. Banquet, Scott City 21st Smoky Hill Banquet, Hays 21st McPherson Area Banquet, McPherson March th Keeper of the Plains Banquet, Wichita 7th Marion Co. Banquet, Marion 7th Northfolk Tailgunners Banquet, Ulysses 7th Rooster Boosters Banquet, Great Bend 13th &14th Kansas PF/QF Convention, Wichita 13th Cloud Co. Banquet, Concordia 14th Dickinson Co. Banquet, Abilene 21st Stubble Ducks Banquet, Dighton 21st Osborne Co. Banquet, Downs 28th Black Gold Banquet, Russell April th Solomon Valley Banquet, Stockton 10th Smoky Hill River Banquet, Ellsworth May June Kansas Field Staff Directory 2014 Team Photo (back row from left) Allie Rath, Andrew Page, Alex Thornburg, Alex Heeger, Marc Glades, Chris Blackledge, Brock Wilson, Luke Winge, Tyson Seirer, (front row from left) Zac Eddy, Holly Shutt, Steve Riley. (Not pictured Brian Schafer Marc Glades - Field Manger, South Team mglades@pheasantsforever.org Chris Blackledge - Regional Representative cblackledge@pheasantsforever.org Jordan Martincich - Development Officer

6 6 of 6 7/31/2014 4:42 PM bschaffer@pheasantsforever.org Zachary Eddy - Senior Farm Bill Biologist (South Central) zeddy@pheasantsforever.org Allie Rath - Farm Bill Biologist (Central) arath@pheasantsforever.org Holly Shutt - Farm Bill Wildlife Biologist (North East) hshutt@pheasantsforever.org Tyson Seirer - Farm Bill Wildlife Biologist (North Central) tseirer@pheasantsforever.org Alex Heeger - Farm Bill Biologist (North West) aheeger@pheasantsforever.org Alex Thornburg - Habitat Specialist (Tuttle Creek) athornburg@pheasantsforever.org Andrew Page - Habitat Specialist (Perry) apage@pheasantsforever.org Brock Wilson - Habitat Specialist (Fall River) bwilson@pheasantsforever.org Luke Winge - Habitat Specialist (Cedar Bluff) lwinge@pheasantsforever.org Facebook Twitter Website Copyright 2014 South Region Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences