Habitat Specialist Program

What is a Habitat specialist?

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Habitat Specialist staff work cooperatively with local, state, federal agency partners and private landowners to enhance habitat on public and private lands across the country. We currently have habitat specialists working in 16 different states across the country providing on-the-ground implementation expertise to complete a diverse array of practices including prescribed fire, upland restoration, woodland thinning, riparian and wetland restoration, and invasive vegetation management. Habitat Specialist positions were created as a natural extension of the work of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. These positions are an additional means of implementing the habitat work planned by our partners and their Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever colleagues.

The objective of Habitat Specialists is to restore and enhance wildlife habitat, increase the number of positively impacted acres, increase accessibility of habitat management practices to private landowners where there has historically been a lack of contractors, and increase the capacity of our partners where additional staffing is needed.

Habitat Specialist positions are versatile enough to function well as individuals, paired specialists working together, or as five person Habitat Strike Teams. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have established average costs for individual positions and teams. The flexibility of Habitat Specialist positions adds strength and utility to Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and gives us additional ways to work with all our partners in conservation across the country. These positions are in constant development as new partner opportunities that align with the Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s mission become available. Although Habitat Specialist positions have been around since the early 2000’s they represent a continued tradition of creativity when it comes to achieving our vision and mission of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever across the U.S.

Burn workers talking in field during burn process

Where is the habitat specialist program?

The Habitat Specialist Program provides technical implementation services to private landowners as well as our state and federal partners. The program is active in 16 states with more states getting involved as we speak.

Practices vary by region and include but are not limited to, prescribed fire, woody encroachment removal, native plantings, herbicide application, TSI, riparian and wetland restoration, and more.