On The Wing Podcast Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Mike Amman and Ashly Steinke, both volunteers with the Wisconsin Sharp-tailed Grouse Society, for a conversation about prairie grouse, barrens habitat, and dog training. When most folks think about sharp-tailed grouse and greater prairie chickens, they automatically think about the large expanses of prairie grasslands across the Dakotas or Montana or Nebraska. There is, however, a somewhat “secret” population of sharp-tailed grouse in Wisconsin’s brushland habitat.

Episode Highlights:

• Steinke, an ecologist with Audubon Society, shares his personal passion and professional knowledge focused on growing Wisconsin’s sharp-tailed grouse population through habitat management and brushland connectivity.
• Amman, a forester for Wisconsin’s Bayfield County, discusses his perspective on the importance of the state’s brushland habitat and the wildlife dependent upon this unique form of grasslands habitat, even though he’s also passionate about the state’s Northwoods forests.
• The guys also discuss the value Wisconsin Sharp-tailed Grouse Society find in having a booth to recruit new members from all over the country at National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic.
Learn more about sharp-tailed grouse in Wisconsin by visiting www.WiSharptails.org

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Irene Liu, Wenfei Tong, and Tom Swartwout, along with web developer and software engineer Ben Cooley for a “behind the scenes” conversation about the creation of the Map for Grasslands. The map is the output of a partnership spanning two years between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and more than two dozen conservation organizations working toward the creation of the North American Grasslands Conservation Act.

Episode Highlights:
• As a producer, editor, and director with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Center for Conservation Media, Swartwout explains his organization’s interest in grasslands conservation and his team’s role in turning data into a visual tool for the public.
• Liu and Tong discuss the data sources behind the map’s focus on bobwhite quail, pheasants, monarch butterflies, elk, and northern pintails as five of the fifteen different wildlife species highlighted within the www.MapForGrasslands.org.
• Cooley then explains how he turned the tremendous volume of data sources into a heart-breaking AND compelling story of the need for grasslands habitat conservation by utilizing the “martini glass” principle.

Continuing Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s special Women on the Wing podcast series, host Ashley Chance is joined by co-host Britta Petersen for a conversation with Dr. Jess McGuire who is the Senior Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) Bobwhite Program Manager. Jess shares stories about working on a variety of research projects, the ups and downs of conservation on private lands and why quail can save the uplands.

Episode Highlights:
• Why Jess has multiple unusual species in her freezer…. Cicadas anyone?
• Hear about Jess’s experience as a biologist climbing trees with a chainsaw to build red cockaded woodpecker habitat.
• How gopher tortoise conservation is quail conservation and why working with private landowners is extremely rewarding.
• The crew discusses how sharing their enthusiasm for the natural world with kids, neighbors, former teammates, and private landowners will save the world.
• Quail conservation at large and how creating and restoring habitat will produce more healthy and resilient quail populations.

To learn more about the Bobscapes app referenced in the podcast, visit: https://bobscapes.org/
Suddenly curious about gopher tortoises? Visit: https://gophergamesfilm.com/

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Nick Hoffman, a singer-songwriter, fiddle player, and host of “Nick’s Wild Ride” on Outdoor Channel and Bally’s Sports. At the age of 17, Hoffman ran away from his Minnesota home to chase musical dreams in Branson, Missouri, and then later to Nashville where he landed as the fiddle player in Kenny Chesney’s band. From there, Hoffman takes us on his “wild ride” in the music industry, and growing up in a non-hunting family to hosting an award-winning outdoor television show.
Episode Highlights:
• Hoffman discusses his growing interest in hunting while touring with Chesney for 12 years, then while as a co-founder of the trio The Farm. He then explains how he jumped from a successful musical career into outdoor television.
• The guys also talk about the importance of being a mentor beyond the initial introductory hunt, especially through failures.
• Hoffman also explains the role his grandfather, Harry Hoffman, played in the early days of Federal Ammunition and how it has all come full circle with Federal Ammunition as the longest tenured partner of “Nick’s Wild Ride.”

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever Senior Regional Representative Will Clayton for a conversation with chapter volunteers Nina Hoekstra and Dave Scherf. All four participants in this episode recently contributed to projects as part of PF & QF’s Hands-On Habitat effort to improve upland acres across the country.

Episode Highlights:
• The crew talk about clearing barbed wire, old tires, and other trash during habitat workdays, then they go around-the-horn with tales of the weirdest garbage they have picked up on public lands.
• Nina Hoekstra, a volunteer with Minnesota’s McLeod County Chapter of Pheasants Forever, talks about the intimidation of first getting involved as a PF volunteer, then being so inspired to change careers focused on her passion for wildlife habitat and upland bird hunting. Follow Nina on Instagram @in.ninas.nature
• Dave Scherf, a long-time volunteer with Minnesota’s Metro Minneapolis Chapter of Pheasants Forever, talks about his love for public land and how Hands-On Habitat projects brings him so much personal joy.
Special “THANK YOU” to onX Hunt for supporting PF & QF’s Hands-On Habitat efforts across the country throughout the entire month of May. As part of their commitment, onX Hunt is funding three grants for PF & QF chapters participating in Hands-On Habitat projects.
Learn more and find an event near you at:
www.PheasantsForever.org/HandsOnHabitat or www.QuailForever.org/HandsOnHabitat

Host Bob St.Pierre is joined by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Conservation Leadership Program Manager Levi Day for a discussion about the organization’s effort to foster more interest in conservation careers, ranging from biologists to marketing professionals and accountants to educators.
Episode Highlights:
• Day recounts becoming a hunter, pursuing a career as an education professional, then developing a hunting friendship via social media that resulted in his jump into a conservation career of his own with PF & QF.
• Day also explains PF & QF’s Journey to Conservation Careers program and recaps a successful career curriculum session that occurred on the morning of the podcast in Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s Harrisburg High School.