WHIP Projects, Good Planning Help Wildlife Thrive for Alabama Landowner

by Shannon Weaver, Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations, NRCS, Auburn

Jane Kourkoulis owns two tracts of land in Macon County, Alabama, near Warrior Stand. Her primary objective for both tracts is quail and turkey management, with timber production as another.

Jane’s brother, Andy Hornsby, manages the land with the help of forestry consultants. Mr. Hornsby sought NRCS technical assistance to develop a conservation plan to meet the landowner’s objectives. The conservation plan emphasized wildlife management. NRCS explained the focus of wildlife management as conservation rather than preservation.

NRCS identified several practices that would help the landowner meet her goals. Suggested practices included site preparation (kudzu was a major problem), planting Longleaf pine, and wildlife habitat upland management. In strategic locations, openings, hedgerows, and strip-disking were planned. Prescribed burning also was planned.

NRCS explained to Ms. Kourkoulis the benefits of the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), which encourages creation of high-quality habitats that support wildlife populations. She applied for financial assistance through WHIP in 1998, but funds were limited and her application was not funded. She applied again in 1999, and was approved for funding. Longleaf pine trees were planted in 2000, but because of drought, the trees died. In 2002, new trees were planted, fire lanes installed, and stripdisking and prescribed burning applied.

Ms. Kourkoulis bought a second tract of nonmerchantable timber, initially as an investment. After the trees were cut for salvage, she began to plan for wildlife management. NRCS developed a conservation plan on the second tract of land, with the landowner’s objectives in mind. Two hundred acres are managed for quail habitat. Half of this acreage has undergone site preparation and planted in Longleaf pine. The other half is managed with strip-disking, fire, and partridge pea plantings. Ms. Kourkoulis again received assistance through WHIP to assist her in implementing these practices.

“Most wildlife species have the potential to dramatically increase their population,” Jeff Thurmond, NRCS Wildlife Biologist, says. “However, this growth usually is limited by one or more habitat factors, such as food or cover. The WHIP program helps the landowner create an environment that supplies everything wildlife needs: food and cover in the correct spatial arrangement. When these habitat factors are in good supply, they ensure healthy individual animals, as well as a healthy overall population.”

According to Ms. Kourkoulis, “With the technical assistance provided by NRCS and the financial assistance of the WHIP program, my land and the wildlife on it are now thriving and supporting a small quail hunting group.”

Visit the NRCS Alabama Web site.