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Prairies for Tomorrow Award

The Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) and Pheasants Forever (PF) are proud to announce the new Prairies for Tomorrow Award. This award has been created to encourage the completion of corporate wildlife habitat projects, specifically prairie restoration projects.

Northern Bobwhite
A northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) walks with its chicks. Photo courtesy of South Carolina DNR.
Prairies are home to a myriad of wildlife species, including pheasants, quail and a variety of endangered species. Prairies also remove and store carbon from the atmosphere, conserve soil resources, and filter run-off. Unfortunately, prairies are the fastest disappearing ecosystem on the planet.

As the U.S. population grows and the agricultural landscape changes, it can have a major impact on wildlife and their natural habitat – including pheasants, quail, songbirds, deer, waterfowl, and the entire native prairie grassland ecosystem. Sometimes this impact happens so gradually that we don’t realize what we’ve been losing until it’s gone.

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are nationally recognized non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to improving and sustaining wildlife habitat in ecosystems where pheasants and quail thrive. Both organizations achieve this mission through a unique model where funds raised by local chapters stay under local control.

 

The organization’s network of more than 700 chapters and 115,000 members work locally to raise funds used to improve, preserve and manage land that benefits pheasants, quail and a range of other wildlife species. Those habitat efforts also protect our soil, water and air resources. The organization’s chapters also introduce youth to the outdoors and our conservation values through events and education programs. The national headquarters supports those chapter efforts by providing a staff of wildlife biologists, advocacy at the state and federal level, and educational resources through the Leopold Education Project.

WHC certified programs that include upland habitat initiatives are encouraged to apply for this award. The primary criteria include the upland habitat’s value to wildlife and the corporate team’s commitment to upland habitat stewardship.

The project does not have to be on corporate property, but must involve active corporate participation through one of several channels, such as volunteers, grass seeding beyond basic ground cover requirements to include native prairie grasses, and/or participation in the PF No Child Left Indoors program. Providing access for public hunting, or involvement with PF and the Grassroots Campaign or PF sponsored carbon sequestration programs will be factored into the ranking, but not required for consideration. The first award recipient will be announced at WHC’s 20th Annual Symposium in November 2008.

 

Apply for recognition today! Download the application online. Visit the Directory of Awards to learn about this and other WHC awards.