Kentucky Lake Chapter and UT Extension Team Up to Improve
Wildlife Conservation

The term wildlife means different things to different people. To a backyard wildlife enthusiast, it may mean bluebirds, chickadees and cardinals. To a hunter, it may mean bobwhite quail, squirrels and white-tailed deer. To a livestock producer, it may mean coyotes. To a gardener, it may mean hummingbirds and butterflies. For this reason, the definition of wildlife includes all living things out of the direct control of man, including undomesticated or cultivated plants and animals.
           The path for success as a wildlife enthusiast is a management plan. Wildlife management can take place in your backyard, on your farm and/or on property you lease. Wildlife has four basic requirements: food, cover, water and space. Before you can development a management plan, there are some basic concepts of wildlife management you should understand. Not all species of wildlife have the same habitat requirements. A diversity of habitats and vegetative types will benefit more species than an area with homogenous vegetative cover. Increased plant diversity gives rise to increased animal diversity, where diversity is the number of species, not the number of individuals. With this said, an area can only support so many animals, which is expressed as the carrying capacity. This is why your plan should include conservation and preservation along with management.

These three components (conservation, preservation and management) serve as a foundation for your plan. Conservation is an effort to maintain and use natural resources wisely in an attempt to ensure those resources will be available for future generations. Preservation is a component or part of conservation in which natural systems are left alone without human disturbance or manipulation. Management is also a component of conservation that usually means controlling, directing or manipulating wildlife populations and/or their habitats by planting food and cover plots and hunting to produce a sustained yield.

            Managing wildlife is not a new concept in Henry County. Landowners and leasers have been planting food and cover establishments for years. The difference between the past and the present is now these same individuals are beginning to develop management plans.

            Quail Unlimited and the University of Tennessee Extension have teamed up to improve wildlife conservation. Over the years, the University of Tennessee Extension has promoted and conducted wildlife conservation opportunities for youth through its 4-H program. Due to budget cuts, many of these opportunities have been eliminated at the state level. With the leadership of a group of UT 4-H and agriculture agents and the support of the Kentucky Lake Chapter, the 4-H Food and Cover Establishment (F.A.C.E.) Wildlife Project has been revived.

            The 4-H F.A.C.E. Project provides a unique learning experience for 4-H youth and is designed to teach the principles of wildlife conservation and management. 4-Hers begin their projects by selecting an area of land to develop their plan. The second step is to evaluate the types of habitat and vegetative sources. The third step is to select the logical location, prepare the plant seed bed and plant the wildlife food plot. The fourth and final step is to observe and evaluate the project site for the different types of wildlife that use the plot.

            The Henry County 4-H program named Brooke Williams as the 2010 Henry County 4-H F.A.C.E. Project Champion. Brooke was also named the Tennessee River Cluster 4-H Reserve Champion. Eleven counties up and down the Tennessee River were given the opportunity to participate in the 2010 Tennessee River Cluster 4-H F.A.C.E. Project. The Kentucky Lake Chapter sponsored the 2010 F.A.C.E. plot seed and awards on the county and area cluster levels. The 2010 4-H participants received a certificate, county champions received a free, one-year membership in Quail Unlimited and an educational wildlife publication, A Guide to Successful Wildlife Food Plots Manual by Craig A. Harper, and the cluster champion received an all expenses paid guided quail hunt.