Annual event to be held in conjunction with Dallas Safari Club’s annual convention
Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu
Contact: Dr. Dale Rollins, 325-653-4576, d-rollins@tamu.edu
DALLAS – The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will conduct the Distinguished Lectureship in Quail Management from 9:30 a.m.- 12:15 p.m. Jan. 8 in Dallas.
Dr. Dale Rollins, AgriLife Extension statewide coordinator for the Reversing the Quail Decline Initiative at San Angelo, said the program will be in Seminar Hall C4 of the Dallas Convention Center. The program is being held in conjunction with the Dallas Safari Club’s annual convention.
Admission to the quail lectureship is free, but admission to the Safari Club’s trade show is $20.
“This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Bill Palmer with Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee, Florida,” Rollins said. “His topic will be ‘Restoring Quail Populations: From Quail Plantations to National Forests.’”
Rollins said Palmer is the president and CEO of the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy. His research interests include northern bobwhite quail management on public and private lands, behavioral ecology and population dynamics with an emphasis on predator-prey relationships. He has more than 50 research publications to his credit and guided development of the national quail restoration plan.
“We started the lectureship series in 2008 to keep ‘students of quail’ updated by leaders in quail research and management and Dr. Palmer epitomizes those credentials,” Rollins said. “Tall Timbers is recognized throughout ‘quaildom’ for their achievements of cutting edge research and sustained contributions to our knowledge of quail management.
“Tall Timbers has cracked the code for sustaining wild quail populations in the southwestern Georgia area, but annual management costs can exceed $60 per acre. We’re fortunate in West Texas that our quail come at a lower cost, but our populations can fluctuate wildly. We can learn from Tall Timbers’ research discoveries and management philosophies then adapt them to fit our needs here in West Texas.”
The agenda features two presentations by Palmer with the remainder of the morning devoted to updates from the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation and from AgriLife Extension’s Reversing the Decline of Quail Initiative.
The lectureship is sponsored by the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation and is funded in part through the legislatively funded Reversing the Quail Decline Initiative, in cooperation with AgriLife Extension, the Dallas Safari Club and the Quail Coalition.
For more information, contact Rollins at 325-653-4576, d-rollins@tamu.edu .
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