eNews
Fall 2019 | Vol 12 | No 4
FALL EVENTS
Tall Timbers has been busy this fall with fundraising, outreach and education events. Take a look at the events and the event sponsors who made it possible.
Thank you to all our Kate Ireland Memorial Dinner & Auction Sponsors, Attendees and Bidders. The evening was a huge success with over 300 attendees, 130 auction items, and new fundraising records set for the Tall Timbers Foundation. What a great privilege it was to honor Mr. Gene Phipps, a true steward of the Red Hills Region. Be sure to check our website for details on next years event!
Economics Trade-offs and Quail Management
Field Workshop
It was a hot and dusty September day in the woods in central Georgia, but it fit with the theme of making decisions and evaluating trade-offs. For those deciding to brave the heat and dust, the field tour provided a “wealth” of knowledge with a change in pace compared to our typical field days. Participants learned about implementing quail management on a dime by nickeling economic return, while managing multi-use objectives. Bobwhite quail remained a highlight and focal species, but not without first weighing the costs associated with operating expenses, balanced by revenue streams to remain in the black on a shoe-string budget. We greatly thank Queensborough National Bank and Trust for hosting the field day and workshop at Belmont Plantation!
Red Hills Fall Field Day
The 32nd Annual Fall Field Day hosted by Four Oaks Plantation provided more than 275 land owners, managers, and biologists an amazing opportunity to learn what plantation life is all about, but not without first leaving folks with a true understanding of what keeping up with the Jones’ means. A wagon tour of the property afforded breathtaking views of fishing lakes, duck ponds, and quail woods, as well as a glimpse into what world-class management looks like in the Red Hills. The field day was diverse—epitomizing the vast interests of the landowner and showcasing how true dedication, and a conservation ethic provides a rich and eclectic wildlife mecca in a quail-friendly way. As such, a wide array of topics was covered on the tour, where attendees heard about fisheries, deer, turkey, waterfowl, and quail management. Truly a marvelous day in the piney woods on a marvelous property in the Red Hills. Thank you Four Oaks!
South Carolina Bobwhite Funding Partnership Event & Auction
Central Florida Fall Field Day
The rangelands of central Florida provide some of the most unique and ubiquitous restoration potential left in the historic range of Northern Bobwhite Quail. Much like the area surrounding Tallahassee, Thomasville and Albany areas, thousands of acres of undeveloped land exist in central and south Florida. But, unlike the plantation belt of the Red Hills and Albany regions, the ranch lands in central and south Florida present unique challenges, such as overgrazing and water inundation, when managing for bobwhite. In just 3 years, Escape Ranch has experienced a 127% increase in bobwhite abundance, and participants at the field day learned how this was manufactured while touring through palmetto flatwoods, pastureland, and piney woods. In true central Florida fashion, the field tour was abridged by pop-up thundershowers, forcing the wagons to high-tail it back to the tent where we finished out the day. Rain and shine—it was a great day to be in the flatwoods and talking all things quail! A huge thanks to Escape Ranch owners and staff for hosting this magnificent day in the field in central Florida!