The Crowing Post:  2/19/07

Pheasants Forever Spent over $3 Million in Nebraska in 2006

Pheasants Forever (PF) spent over $3 million on Nebraska habitat projects and youth education efforts in 2006.  It was the first time PF surpassed the $3 million mark in the state and represents a 14 percent increase over last year's $2.6 million total.  In fact, the mark represents a 152 percent rise since the beginning of the decade.  The total represents the spending of the state's 60 PF chapters, 3 Quail Forever (QF) chapters, and statewide partnership projects.

Pheasants Forever's 2006 Expenditures and Habitat
Results in Nebraska
CATEGORY        2006 DOLLARS                ACRES
                                        SPENT           IMPACTED IN 2006
PF/QF Chapters          $1,983,374                     232,939
Focus on Pheasants     $92,303                         5,402
Conservation Reserve  $29,498                          922
   Enhancement Program
Youth Mentor Hunt      $20,000                         N/A
   Programs
Grass Seed Program      $14,565                         N/A
Farm Bill Wildlife           $321,999                     35,715
   Biologist Partnership
Coordinating Wildlife    $32,327                        N/A
   Biologist
Nebraska PF State          $168,713                     2,288
   Council
Corners for Wildlife       $349,272                      1,048
TOTALS                      $3,012,051                278,314

"Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapter volunteers across the state should be proud of this historic accomplishment.  Their habitat and conservation work locally is literally changing the landscape across the entire state," reported Pete Berthelsen, PF's senior field coordinator. 

"Of course, we couldn't report any of these accomplishments without recognizing our partners," added Berthelsen.  "In this day and age, nothing happens without a team working together.  We are very fortunate to count the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Farm Service Agency, and many more organizations as our teammates."

Pheasants Forever has over 30 Nebraska partnership programs in place.  Following, are some of the highlights of those partnerships:

• Focus on Pheasants – program focused on improving nesting cover on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields.
• CRP-Management Access Program (MAP) – program to improve habitat and provide public access on 180,000 acres of CRP annually.
• Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program – Pheasants Forever administers Nebraska’s CREP incentive payments, focusing on the water quality and wildlife habitat of the Central Nebraska Basin.

 habitat today….pheasants forever!