P ast landscape conditions providedquail habitat incidental to thefarming practices of the time;

farmers were not at all concerned aboutproducing quail, but they produced lots ofthem. As the farming practices and land-scape changed, quail numbers declined.The problem is that our memories fromthat plentiful quail era often focus on smallhigh quality food plots and strips of exoticlespedezas that provided winter food andcover and were the places that our dogsmost frequently encountered quail. Whatwe frequently fail to remember is that wealso had high quantities of native quailhabitat in the form of broom straw fields,briar patches, cutovers, and weedy fieldborders. The small farm fields of lespedezahay, wheat, or corn and beans definitelyadded to the overall amount of availablehabitat and provided some cover withhigh quality foods, but fields containinghigh quality food were just a few spokeson the wheel. The hub consisted of vastareas of weeds, broom straw, and briarsthat connected the small patches of highquality food and cover.

Although consistent effort is required tomaintain habitats dominated by weeds,broom straw, and briars, that may not bethe biggest obstacle to reestablishing themacross the landscape. So what is it? The pri-mary problem may be that most humans

of establishing and maintaining extensiveareas dominated by weeds, broom straw,and briars.

There are many advantages to managingweeds, broom straw, and briars. The firstone is that the plants grow here naturallyand are adapted to colonize new areas, sothey show up fast. They only need a littlebit of soil disturbance, sunlight, and somerain to establish themselves. Finally, theseed are free and they don’t need any fertil-izer. If replacing habitat quantity is the an-swer to restoring quail, then our biggestchallenge may be to overcome the socialpressures which encourage us to keep theback field looking like the front yard.

—David Sawyer,District 7 Technical Guidance Biologist

Upland Bird Habitat BufferWhat is a CRP CP33 Upland Bird HabitatBuffer? In short it’s a great opportunity for landowners to create wildlife habitataround the perimeter of a crop field andreceive competitive rental payments forimproving quail habitat.

The habitat buffer must be allowed togrow up in volunteer vegetation “weedypatches.” Weedy patches were once plen-tiful on the North Carolina landscape, butare now missing on most North Carolinafarms. When I would go and visit my

The Upland Gazette u Spring 2005

Published by the N.C. Wildlife Resources CommissionSpring 2005 / Volume 10, Issue 1

What’s Inside. . .u Findings from the ACGRP . . . . . . . . 3

u Voice of America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

u Plan Now for Fall Doves . . . . . . . . . 5

u Spotlight on CURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

u NCWRC Joins the NRCS . . . . . . . . . 7

Could Restoring Quail Be as Simple as Weeds, Broomstraw, and Briars?

just don’t like the looks of good quail habi-tats. We think they’re ugly, they are sourcesof weeds, they harbor all types of vermin,and they cause allergies. We do our best to

eradicate and keep these habitats at bay. Wespray them, mow them, and “clean themup”. We buy weed eaters and bushhogs tocontrol and remove them and we replacethem with pretty green grasses that wemow every week. If we let them grow theybecome an “eyesore” to our neighbors andour farms are considered not “clean”. Thenif we desire to do something for quail wethink it’s better to buy and plant a specialseed or mix in a dedicated spot and make a“food plot.” We plant magic beans and goto sleep at night dreaming of quail spring-ing from the soil and scurrying through ournewly-planted patch. Before our quail man-agement efforts can succeed, we must clearour heads of the “food plot mentality” andconvince ourselves and others of the value

Continued on page 3

The Upland Gazette u Spring 2005 3The Upland Gazette u Spring 20052

Until recently, most knowledge ofruffed grouse was generated fromresearch conducted in the Great

Lakes states—the geographic core ofgrouse range. In 1996, the Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project(ACGRP) was initiated to study grouseecology in the central and southern Ap-palachians. One of 12 ACGRP study siteswas in Macon County, North Carolina. TheNorth Carolina research was conductedthrough the University of Tennessee withfunding from the North Carolina WildlifeResources Commission, Coweeta Hydro-logic Lab, Bent Creek Experiment Station,and the Ruffed Grouse Society.

Appalachian grouse habitats differ fromthose in Minnesota and Wisconsin wheredeep snows provide secure roosts, aspenthickets afford cover, and aspen buds sup-ply winter food. Without northern habitatcharacteristics, Appalachian grouse haveadapted to survive under much differentconditions.

In the absence of aspen, Appalachiangrouse rely on a variety of foods to meettheir nutritional needs. ACGRP researchersexamined 401 grouse crops collected inKentucky, Maryland, North Carolina,Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsyl-vania to determine late-winter foodhabits. Crop contents varied, depend-ing on what was available to individ-ual birds. General items in the diet in-cluded oak and beech mast (26%),herbaceous leaves and flowers ofcinquefoil, strawberry, and coltsfoot(25%), buds and twigs of birch, cherry,serviceberry, blueberry, and huckle-berry (12%), evergreen leaves (12%),soft mast—predominantly grape andgreenbriar—(11%), hard fruit such as witch hazel (5%), birch catkins (4%), fern(3%), and other (2%). Acorns and beech-nuts are important high-energy foods forgrouse in Appalachia. However, hard mastproduction is inconsistent and during poormast years, less digestible items, such asevergreen leaves, are consumed in greateramounts.

During drumming, males selected drumlogs on mid- and upper slopes. Preferredareas had high midstory stem density (forprotection from avian predators), and anopen understory (for detection of mam-malian predators). On the North Carolinastudy site, drumming activity peaked dur-ing the second and third weeks in April.

The physical condition of hens was a pri-mary factor affecting reproductive successfor Appalachian grouse. Depending on win-ter food availability, females may be nutri-tionally stressed as they prepare to nest.Low fat reserves in early spring resulted inlower nesting rates, decreased clutch sizes,and decreased chick survival. A positivecorrelation between chick survival and hardmast production the previous fall stressedthe importance of hard mast to Appalachiangrouse populations. Overall, ACGRP studysites found lower reproductive success thanin northern areas.

Although reproduction was lower thanin the Great Lakes states, survival washigher. Across ACGRP study sites, 3,118radio-tagged grouse were monitored. An-nual survival of adults averaged 43%.Most losses were to avian (44%) and mam-

malian (26%) predation, while huntersaccounted for 12% of mortalities. Anexperimental closure of hunting onthree study sites in KY, VA, and WVdid not increase survival, suggestinghunter harvest did not add to naturalmortality.

In addition to contributing infor-mation to a larger data pool, eachACGRP study site had specific re-search objectives. The focus in NorthCarolina was grouse use of areas har-vested via alternative regeneration

techniques (i.e., shelterwood, two-age, andgroup selection). From a forestry stand-point, these methods can be used to regen-erate oaks on certain sites and are mostoften used by the US Forest Service as anesthetic alternative to clearcutting. Forruffed grouse, shelterwood and two-agemethods provide food (acorns from matureoaks) and cover (regenerating stems) in the

same stand while small openings createdby group selection cuts may promote anherbaceous understory. The structure(stem density) within these stands wascomparable to clearcuts of similar age.Radio-tagged grouse in North Carolinabegan using alternative regeneration areasabout five years after harvest, which issimilar to use patterns observed inclearcuts of the southern Appalachians.

To make sound decisions, wildlife man-agers require insight into a species’ habitatpreferences, food habits, reproduction, and

Findings from the Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project

Wherever they are found, ruffed grouseare associated with young forests (age5–20 years). In addition to early succes-sional areas, Appalachian grouse used avariety of forest types as their activitiesand availability of food and cover changedwith the seasons. In North Carolina,broods often used mature forests (age80–100 years) on sites where herbaceousgroundcover and insects were abundant.During years of low acorn abundance,grouse on many ACGRP sites were foundalong riparian habitats where stem densitywas high and along forest roads whereherbaceous plants (especially clover andcinquefoil) served as an alternative foodsource. The key to management is inter-spersion of habitat types. Juxtaposition ofyoung stands with mature mast producingstands places food and cover in close prox-imity. Prescribed burning and maintenanceof forest roads in forb and legume cover(as opposed to grasses) provides addi-tional food sources, including forage, fruit,and invertebrates.

Grouse home range size depends on sea-son, sex, age, and availability of preferredhabitats. The ACGRP recorded average

home range size for 1,519 grouse duringtwo annual periods, spring-summer, andfall-winter. Overall, juveniles during fall-winter had the largest home ranges (about70 acres). Average home range of adult fe-males during fall-winter was 65 acres, whileadult males averaged 30 acres. The smallesthome ranges were those of adult males dur-ing the spring drumming season (22 acres).

Established 1996

Published twice a year by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Com-mission, Division of Wildlife Management. Designed by theDivision of Conservation Education. To become a subscriber,please send your name and address to the following address:The Upland Gazette, Division of Wildlife Management, N.C.Wildlife Resources Commission, 1722 Mail Service Center,Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1722. Comments and suggestions are wel-come. Send them to Terry Sharpe, Editor, at the above address.

Continued from page 1

Logging Roads and Ruffed GrouseFrom 2000–2002, as part of the Appalachian Cooperative Grouse Research Project,53 ruffed grouse were collected during March in western North Carolina to deter-mine their physiological condition and to see what grouse were eating during thiscritical time of year. Crop contents from all birds were identified, weighed, andpreserved. All of the grouse were killed from gated roads that were initiallyplanted in an orchardgrass/white-dutch clover mixture. Leaves and flowers ofherbaceous plants were found in 92 percent of the 53 crops examined and com-prised 40 percent of the material in the crops over the three-year period. Otherfoods included evergreen and deciduous leaves, acorns, ferns, buds and twigs,soft fruits, etc. Of the herbaceous material eaten, cinquefoil and clover repre-sented the vast majority, followed by avens and ragwort. The interesting thingwas that orchardgrass, which was the dominant cover on most of the roads, wasnot present in any of the grouse crops. In fact, Bob Long, the West Virginia Univer-sity graduate student who sorted through the crops of 326 grouse collected fromNC, VA, WV, KY, MD and PA reported, “Grasses were not eaten much at all at anysite in any year. I did get a few (very few) grasses in crops, but their quantities werevery minimal (usually not measurable) and were classified as ‘trace’ (<0.1 gramdry mass). Apparently grouse ate grass incidentally while foraging on the forbs.”

Because erosion is such an important factor, many land managers have beenled to the false assumption that it is necessary to include tall fescue or orchard-grass in a mixture sown on woods roads. This is not true and certainly counterpro-ductive for wildlife!

Germination and growth of annual cool-season grains (e.g., oats, wheat, andrye) are considerably faster than perennial cool-season grasses, which is impor-tant for reducing run-off from winter rains. White-tailed deer prefer oats, wheatand rye as forage over fescue and orchardgrass. Wheat seed and the resultingbrood habitat is beneficial for grouse, wild turkeys and bobwhite quail.

Many of the same forages used in food plots can be planted on woods roads;however, some are better suited than others. For example, crimson clover, subter-ranean clover and white clovers are all relatively shade-tolerant. Ladino whiteclover persists well on roads traversing through bottomlands and on hillsides withan eastern or northern exposure. Ladino white clover does not, however, do wellon southern or western exposures. Red clover and alfalfa do not respond to trafficas well as the white clovers. Taller forages, such as sweetclover an arrowleafclover, are not usually desirable on roads and do not stand up to traffic well. Withproper site preparation, planting logging roads to forages preferred by wildlife cancontrol erosion and improve wildlife habitat.

Dr. Harper has produced an excellent publication entitled Growing and Manag-ing Successful Food Plots for Wildlife in the Mid-South. The Division of WildlifeManagement has a limited supply of the publications available while supplies last.Contact the Division of Wildlife Management, NCWRC, 1722 Mail Service Center,Raleigh, NC 27699-1722.

—Craig Harper, University of Tennessee

survival. The ACGRP was the first col-laborative effort of its kind. The infor-mation gathered from 12 study sitesacross eight states will be used for manyyears to come in creating managementplans for central and southern Ap-palachian ruffed grouse. A book pre-senting ACGRP findings and manage-ment recommendations will bepublished in Summer 2005.

—Ben Jones and Craig Harper, University of Tennessee

childhood hero, Granddaddy, on his smallNash County tobacco farm. I would ask himhow the farm looked when quail and rabbitswhere plentiful. My granddaddy would tellme about farming with a mule and a plowand how the weedy patches where scatteredacross all the farms in the county. As thetractors and mowers got bigger and betterand effective herbicides were developed theweedy patches began to disappear. The lossof these “weedy patches” on the farm is oneof the main reasons bobwhite quail andother grassland bird populations have de-clined. Reestablishing the weedy patches asfield borders of volunteer vegetation will pro-vide valuable food and cover for quail, rabbit,turkey, and many species of songbirds.

With the creation of the CP33 practice inthe Conservation Reserve Program (CRP),landowners have an incentive to recreatesome of the missing weedy patches fieldedges. North Carolina can enroll 11,300 acresof the CP33 upland bird habitat buffer practice.The ten year program pays the landowner theannual soil rental rate, a one-time signing in-centive, maintenance payment, and practiceincentive for the habitat management and in-stallation. The borders must average between30 and 120 feet wide and be located on one ormore edges of the field. The borders will bemaintained in volunteer vegeta-tion by one of the following meth-ods: fall disking or burning one-half to one-third of the bordereach year, or spot-application ofherbicide on woody plants. Thefall disked area may be seededin a small grain such as wheat,seed rye, and/or oats to protectsoil from erosion. The programrequires and will pay for border markers. Themarkers should be 1 and one-half inch by five foot plastic pipes driven at least one footinto the ground. To sign up for the program,landowners should go to their local USDAFarm Service Agency office.

—Bill Edwards, Wildlife Biologist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

The Upland Gazette u Spring 2005 5The Upland Gazette u Spring 20054

North Carolina according to the U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service and Partners in Flight.

Henslow’s Sparrows are most produc-tive in very large grasslands, weedy moistmeadows or overgrown pastures. Grassesare the predominant vegetation present,mixed with smaller plants and often scat-tered small saplings or tall weedy stemsthat serve as perching sites for the birds. At

the VOA sites, therough terrain doesnot allow for evenmowing (as is oftenseen at airports)and some areas areonly mowed onceper year, serving as secure breedingareas. The sheersize of the areasalso helps makethese VOA grass-lands suitable habi-tat for Henslow’sSparrows and other area-sensitivespecies like Grass-hopper Sparrows.

In late 2004, theWildlife Commission and the U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service under the direction of theNorth Carolina Partners in Flight Program,approached staff at the VOA sites to open adialogue to discuss management strategiesthat would best benefit Henslow’s Spar-rows and other grassland wildlife species.The VOA staff was excited about the grass-land birds supported by their mowingmanagement on these unique areas, andwas eager to develop positive partnershipsto help continue and improve conditionsthat benefit these birds.

As a result of this initial meeting it wasdecided by all parties involved to developa Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)to formalize the partnership and helpguide future management of the VOA sitesto benefit grassland birds. This formalarrangement would also be used to helpcontrol site access and also organize and

Rowland CURE Cooperative HostsFirst Special Quail Hunt OpportunityLast fall four parties of quail hunters par-ticipated in the first permit hunt on one ofour private lands CURE areas. The eightlucky hunters were chosen from 47 indi-viduals who applied for the hunts throughthe Commission’s Special Hunt Opportuni-ties permit hunt application process.Hunts were held on the first two Saturdaysof the quail season on the Rowland Coop-erative in Robeson County. A Commissionemployee met with each group of hunterson the morning of the hunt to provide anorientation to property boundaries.

Unseasonably warm weather condi-tions cut hunts short on opening day ashunters and dogs gave out early, but con-ditions improved for the second set ofhunters. The four hunting parties used oneto seven dogs, hunted five to eight hours,located four to seven coveys of quail, andharvested three to ten birds per party. Post-hunt interviews indicated that hunterswere pleased with the hunting opportunity.

Permit hunts on the Rowland area will be offered again next November and on other Game Land and privateCURE Cooperatives as populations reachlevels that will provide quality hunts. Details on the 2005 hunt and applicationprocedures will be published in the2005–2006 Special Hunt Opportunities in North Carolina booklet.

Voice of America: A Unique Opportunity for Grassland Birds

E astern North Carolina is host totwo Voice of America sites in Pittand Beaufort counties. These sites

approach 3,000 acres each of extensivemoist grasslands. The sites are located ontwo facilities maintained by the federalgovernment for the Voice of America(VOA) radio transmissions to points over-seas. These sites were established in 1962

on land that had supported forested wet-land. Both sites had been under cultivationor otherwise disturbed at some point intime, and are bordered by industrial forest-land, cropland and state maintained high-ways. These huge grassland fields aremowed each year on varying schedulesand support very large populations ofarea-sensitive grassland bird species.

These VOA sites support the largestknown populations of breeding Henslow’sSparrows east of the Mississippi River.Henslow’s Sparrows require extensivegrasslands and have experienced long-term range wide population declines aslarge grasslands have been broken intosmaller patches. Surveys in the 1990’s doc-umented extensive numbers of singingmales for several years after the birds werefirst discovered in 1980. This bird is aspecies of high conservation concern in

Pass It Along. . .We are working to expand our mailing list to in-clude other interested landowners and sportsmen.Please pass along your copy to friends who may beinterested. Send names of others who may find theinformation useful to

The Upland GazetteDivision of Wildlife ManagementN.C. Wildlife Resources Commission1722 Mail Service CenterRaleigh, NC 27699-1722

(Note: Hunters who participated in last season’s Avid Quail and Grouse Hunter Survey will auto-matically be included in further mailings and need not reply.)

Name_________________________________Address_______________________________City________________ State____ Zip______

Name_________________________________Address_______________________________City________________ State____ Zip______

!

D ove hunting is a traditional, funfall event for North Carolina’sfarmers and their guests. The

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission offersadvice to promote a successful and legaldove hunt.

All hunters should know that it is a fed-eral and state crime to hunt doves overbait. As written in the N.C. GeneralStatutes, “No wild birds may be taken withthe use or aid of salt, grain, fruit or otherbait. . . .” However, birds may be hunted

Plan Now for Fall Dove Hunting

promote future research related to moni-toring, habitat management, fire manage-ment, and research related to grasslandwildlife and vegetative ecological relation-ships. This MOU has been developed andsent on by local VOA staff to headquartersin Washington, D.C. for approval.

Obviously this is a very important stepto help conserve significant grassland birdpopulations at these unique VOA sites,which can in turn serve as priceless learn-ing laboratories via formal collaborativeresearch projects in the future while long-term grassland bird monitoring continues.

—Mark Johns, Partners in Flight Biologist, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission

over fields planted and harvested as partof normal agricultural operations.

Crops preferred by doves include: rye,oats, millet, sunflowers, corn, sorghum,and wheat. All can be planted in latespring, with the exception of oats, rye andwheat which should be planted in the fall.

Normal agricultural operations includeplanting, harvesting and standing crops.Practices that fall outside the definition ofnormal agricultural operations and may beperceived as baiting are: seeding a field

more than once, post-harvest seed concen-trated in rows or piles, and top-sowing.

It’s not difficult to attract doves to yourfarm in most areas of North Carolina.However, to keep doves on your property,limit shooting to one or two days a week.Too much shooting will cause the doves tomove on to alternate foraging areas.

More information about the guidelinesfor attracting doves and baiting regulationsis available at: http://www.ncwildlife.org/pg04_HuntingTrapping/pg4f1.htm.

Doves prefer rye, oats,millet, sunflowers, corn,sorghum, and wheat.

The Upland Gazette u Spring 2005 7The Upland Gazette u Spring 20056

I t is early January and the familiarsmell of diesel fuel, gasoline and woodsmoke will soon permeate my truck,

cloths, and according to my wife my hairand skin. All my friends say I remind themof their youthful camping trips. It is earlyJanuary and the beginning of another pre-scribed burning season that will extendinto June. It is a long season briefly inter-rupted by rainy days and weekends. Wealready have a block prepared and readyto burn, but before we head out I need tocheck on a logger who just moved onto asale. As I cross over U.S. Highway 1 andhead east on the Old Laurel Hill Road, Ienter Scotland County and one of the fourCURE sites on state-owned game lands. AsI drive slowly down the road I begin to re-call all the work that has gone into thisprogram.

The implementation of the CURE pro-gram on the Sandhills Game Land is now

CURE Management on the Sandhills Game Lands

in its fourth year. The technicians, biolo-gists and foresters assigned to design andimplement the plan have been very busy.What began as an idea shared among man-agers who recognized theneed for a change in landmanagement is beginningto take form. The land-scape, once dominated bythick stands of pines andmidstory hardwoods, isgiving way to an open pineforest with grasses andforbs carpeting the ground.The evergreen shrubdrains that had becomechoked with poplar, gumand maple are being converted back topond pine canopies and a diverse groundcover of switch cane, grasses and flower-ing shrubs and herbs. The many smallopenings, totaling over 200 acres, have also

tion of our drains to a pond pine/switchcane/grass type habitat. Most of our drainscurrently have a mixed pine/hardwoodcanopy. Removing the larger merchantablehardwoods has proven to be very effectivein producing high quality habitat forground nesters. The remaining pine-domi-nated, evergreen/switch cane plant com-munity can be managed with prescribedfire. Past experience and research tells usthese wetlands will play a major role in de-termining how many birds can be pro-duced in the sandhills. This canopy conver-sion of over 750 acres of wetlands withinthe CURE area will help assure an abun-dance of nesting and escape cover.

seen a change in management. They arebeing planted into thick stands of warmseason bunch grasses such as Atlanticcoastal panic grass or food plantings. Over

30 acres of new open land havebeen created by removing poorgrowing stands of loblollypines. The goal is to create over5000 acres of open pine/grass-land forest habitat and to re-store species like the bobwhitequail in the Sandhills of NorthCarolina.

Some of the most intensivemanagement has taken place inconverting over 450 acres oflongleaf pine plantation into

open pine/grassland habitat. Most of thesestands were established over 70 years agoand have been managed to produce pinestraw for the landscape industry for thepast 30 years. They were stocked with as

many as 70–100 trees per acre. An ab-sence of ground cover made thesestands less than desirable habitat formost species of wildlife. To date wehave thinned six pine plantations, re-moving over two million board feet oftimber to create an open pine canopy.Such conditions are necessary for creat-ing ground cover. Instead of waiting fornature to seed in these areas on herown, we devised several strategies tospeed up the process. Where loggingdebris was heaviest dozers were used towindrow and pile limbs and tops fromthe trees that were harvested. An inno-vative method of applying seed and fer-tilizer was devised and used by wildlifemanagement technicians. Leaf blowersdesigned to apply granular herbicideswere modified to make quick work ofthe job. Types of seed applied includedAtlantic coastal panic grass, ragweed,partridge pea, wiregrass and nativeflowering herbs found in the Sandhills.The results are looking very promising.Thick clumps of panic grass and broomstraw are creating a dazzling array ofvertical structure. Exactly what the pre-scription called for. If I had the money Iwould buy a bird dog.

Stands of natural longleaf have beenthinned where needed. Many of themore open pine stands where chokedwith thick stands of midstory hard-woods. While not wanting to eliminateall the oaks from the CURE area we real-ized we had to regain control of our up-lands if we were to create the type andamount of habitat needed to make theCURE program a success. Last year weprescribed burned over 1200 acres on theCURE area. Where fire has proven inef-fective we have resorted to herbicides toremove dense hardwood midstories. Todate we have treated between 240–250acres. These upland sites though low inproductivity do cover a large area andwill connect the more productive siteswith moderate to good habitat.

Most of our timber sales include bothupland and wetlands. As mentioned ear-lier one of our major goals is the restora-

Midstory hardwoods are removedfrom a stand of pines.

Spotlight on

Spring is the season for prescribed burns.

We still have two years of logging andhabitat restoration work left to do. Afterthat we hope to use prescribed fire to main-tain the majority of the acres, but where firecan not maintain the desired result mowingand herbicides will be used. Many chal-lenges still lay ahead of us and the mainte-nance will have to be aggressive and ongo-ing. Quail are a product of disturbance. Ifthe cycle of disturbance is broken the habi-tat needed for survival will disappear.

As I leave my logger on the designateddeck I point my truck toward the depotand an eagerly awaiting burning crew.

—Bill Parsons, Wildlife Forester

The Upland Gazette u Spring 20058

Division of Wildlife ManagementN.C. Wildlife Resources Commission1722 Mail Service CenterRaleigh, NC 27699-1722

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Pre-sort StandardU.S. Postage

PAIDRaleigh, NC

Permit No. 244

This publication was printed on recycled paper. 5,500 copies of this public document were printed at a cost of $X,XXX, or $.XX per copy.

T hanks to a new agreement between the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and theNorth Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission,

private landowners will receive additional wildlifeconservation assistance.

A full-time wildlife biologist is joining NRCS Area Officesin Goldsboro, Salisbury, and Waynesville. They will dedicatetheir time to enhancing the capabilities of NRCS and Soiland Water Conservation Districts to provide landownerswith technical assistance in wildlife management.

Wildlife Biologists Don Barker, Patrick Farrell, and JohnIsenhour have reported to NRCS Area Offices in Goldsboro,Waynesville, and Salisbury. Don and Patrick each have gainedyears of wildlife management experience working as WildlifeTechnicians on North Carolina Game Lands. John comes toWRC having experience with the N.C. Forest Service and adegree in Wildlife Management from N.C. State University.

Both the Commission and NRCS look forward to theincreased capability to provide technical assistance tolandowners.

—Matt Flint, NRCS State Biologist

NC Wildlife Resources Commission Biologists Join Natural Resources Conservation Service Area Offices

NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE

N.C. Wildilfe ResourcesCommission WildlifeBiologists will work closelywith NRCS conservationists.