Put your stamp on quail and turkey conservation

LITTLE ROCK — Anyone interested in helping conserve and promote quail and turkey habitat in The Natural State may want to take a second look at their options while renewing their annual hunting and license this year. Although the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s quail and turkey stamps won’t deliver your letter through the U.S. Postal Service, they will deliver much needed habitat for eastern wild turkeys, northern bobwhites and a host of upland wildlife.

The Quail Conservation Stamp was created by former Commissioner Steve Cook of Malvern as an opportunity for conservation-minded people to have a simple, low-cost method of contributing to conservation in Arkansas. Initial sales of this stamp were impressive enough that Commissioner Ken Reeves of Harrison quickly followed suit with a stamp promoting his passion, the eastern wild turkey. Now in their fifth and sixth years, these two stamps have fueled millions of dollars in habitat restoration and management.

Clint Johnson, AGFC quail program coordinator, says turkey stamp sales last year generated $165,950, while quail stamp sales accounted for $78,915. The National Wild Turkey Federation’s Arkansas State Chapter also provided $47,215 from fundraising efforts which were combined with stamp sales to match funds and in-kind contributions from partnering agencies to generate nearly a half-million dollars of habitat work.

“We were able to put $439,314 worth of work toward quail and turkey habitat last year, all which was rooted in the sales of these voluntary stamps,” Johnson said. “We work nonstop to figure out the best way to stretch those dollars, and we guide all those actions where the quail and turkey populations will see the most benefit.”

According to David Moscicki, AGFC wild turkey program coordinator, 17 projects on public lands across the state benefited from this work, directly improving 7,470 acres of habitat through  forest stand improvements to increase forage on the forest floor, wildlife opening maintenance, public access modifications to increase turkey hunting quality and the purchase of additional remote listening devices to monitor gobbling activity across the state.

“This work helps provide the critical habitat structure wild turkeys need for nesting, the food resources needed for brood rearing and supporting local populations throughout the year,” Moscicki said. “Countless other animals, including numerous songbirds, pollinator species and white-tailed deer also benefit from these improvements.”

Each stamp costs $9.50 and is available through the AGFC’s licensing system online or at any license vendor. The stamp code will appear on your license, and physical stamps will be mailed to your home address within a few weeks.

Visit www.agfc.com/license to purchase your stamp and renew your hunting and fishing licenses today.

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CUTLINES:

TURKEY STAMP
The fifth edition of the voluntary Arkansas Turkey Conservation Stamp is derived from the painting “Morning in the Ouachita Mountains” by Chris Gois of Sheridan.

QUAIL STAMP
Dan Andrews of Denver, Colorado, painted the artwork for the sixth edition of the voluntary Arkansas Quail Conservation Stamp, “Bobwhite Pair.”

MAP
Seventeen projects across Arkansas were influenced by funding created through the sales of quail and turkey stamps last year.