NWTF, Quail Forever Create Healthy Habitat

“The Virginia NWTF State Chapter has supported multiple projects on public lands in close proximity to the Flippo-Gentry WMA in recent years,” said Cully McCurdy, NWTF district biologist. “The management objectives of the VDWR with this project fit nicely with the NWTF’s goal to create quality nesting areas in close proximity to wild turkey brood range for poult rearing. The mulching accomplished in phase one of this project will set back succession and create valuable nesting areas in the future. Our volunteers are appreciative of the opportunity to assist Quail Forever with this project by providing Super Fund dollars to increase the acreage positively impacted by this project.”

Across the 1,700-acre WMA, a timber harvest was conducted to allow more sunlight to reach the forest floor, helping turn crowded canopies into a more open savanna-like structure.

Coupled with the mulching and the timber harvest, the site will be followed by periodic prescribed fire every three years, benefitting the longleaf ecosystem and the wildlife that inhabit it, including wild turkeys, quail and the state endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, among many others.

Longleaf pine ecosystems once dominated the Southeast, extending from Virginia to Florida and expanding as far west as eastern Texas. Today, however, estimates show that America’s longleaf pine ecosystem encompasses about 5% (5.2 million acres) of its historic range and is highly fragmented. Thus, projects like the Century Project are vital to restoring these important ecosystems.

In addition, more than 20, 4- to 5-acre clearings will be established throughout the management area that will be managed in perpetuity for quail and wild turkey brood rearing and winter-feeding fields. Future management will also include herbicide treatments to address invasives and additional timber harvests. Additional longleaf plantings may be required if the native seedbank does not respond to disking and prescribed burn treatments.

“Utilizing these partnerships gives us the opportunity to work toward shared habitat goals rather than approaching projects independently, a feat almost impossible based on the scale of this project,” said Alison Menefee, Quail Forever state coordinator for Virginia. “While each of our organizations may have a particular species at the heart of our missions, the habitat work we accomplish together has benefits that extend far beyond any one species. Improving the diversity and quality of these habitats provides food, cover and other resources for everything from game species, like quail and turkeys, to songbirds, pollinators and countless other wildlife. Ultimately, co-organizational partnerships allow us to make a much broader impact on the natural resources within our landscape.”

The NWTF’s Super Fund is a funding model through which volunteers raise money at banquets and other fundraisers and allocate a significant portion of those proceeds to impactful conservation, research and outreach projects at the state level and beyond. The Flippo-Gentry WMA project is one of many projects NWTF volunteer leaders in Virginia are funding across the state in 2026.

About the National Wild Turkey Federation

Since 1973, the National Wild Turkey Federation has invested over half a billion dollars into wildlife conservation and has positively impacted over 25 million acres of critical wildlife habitat. Since 2022, the NWTF has also invested over $2.3 million in critical wild turkey research that, when leveraged with partner contributions, has resulted in more than $22 million to guide the management of the wild turkey and to ensure sustainable populations. The organization continues to deliver its mission by working across boundaries on a landscape scale to create healthy forests and wildlife habitats, clean and abundant water, resilient communities and robust recreational opportunities. With the help of its dedicated members, partners and staff, the NWTF is committed to creating a nation united by the life-changing power of the outdoors.