Habitat Management
Partnering for Wildlife Habitat
More than 90% of the land in Tennessee is privately owned. To successfully manage our state’s wildlife resources, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) must work cooperatively with private landowners across the state. Many landowners desire property that is welcoming to wildlife species and some may need technical assistance to accomplish their goals and vision.
TWRA has Wildlife Habitat Biologists throughout the state whose primary job is to assist landowners with technical assistance and managing their property for wildlife. See below for a link to these biologists and also to articles on specific management techniques. We’d love to speak to you, visit your property and assist you in reaching your wildlife goals!
Landowner Resources
Contact a Wildlife Habitat Biologist
TWRA has partnered with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for over a decade. This partnership has helped to establish tens of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat in TN through our Wildlife Habitat Biologist and Partner’s positions. The majority of habitat programs and funding are from Farm Bill programs administered through the USDA system. To be most effective, TWRA Wildlife Habitat Biologists and most Quail Forever Farm Bill Biologists are housed within USDA NRCS offices. The map below indicates office locations and contact information for the listed partner biologists, and county colors reflect the four NRCS administrative areas that the TWRA Wildlife Habitat Biologists are assigned to.
| Christopher Hunter, TWRA USDA-NRCS Building 1179 S. Dupree Ave Brownsville, TN 38012 731-772-2965 Ext. 3017 Christopher.Hunter@usda.gov |
Clint Borum, TWRA USDA-NRCS Building 811 Hatcher Lane Columbia, TN 38401 Office: 931-548-3434 Cell: 615-202-0536 Clint.Borum@usda.gov |
Richard Underwood, TWRA USDA-NRCS Building 900 S. Walnut Avenue Cookeville, TN 38501 Office: 931-526-6472 (ext. 110) Cell: 931-213-4742 Richard.Underwood@usda.gov |
Stephen Thomas, TWRA USDA-NRCS Building 1105 East Jackson Blvd, Hwy 11E, Suite 3 Jonesborough, TN 37659 Cell: 865-201-9187 Office: 423-788-2018 Stephen.Thomas@usda.gov |
| Alex Tamboli, Quail Forever Farm Bill Biologist 630 High Street Huntingdon, TN 38344 731-418-6107 Ext. 115 Alex.Tamboli@usda.gov |
Collin Stanley, Quail Forever Farm Bill Biologist 791-B Tennessee Street Bolivar, TN 38008 731-658-3631 Ext. 3 Cell 615-881-9606 cstanley@pheasantsforever.org |
Paul Underwood, Quail Forever Farm Bill Biologist Coffee County, NRCS Field Office 1008 East End Road Manchester, TN 37355 Cell: 865-304-6251 punderwood@pheasantsforever.org |
Jacob Taylor, Quail Forever Precision Agriculture Consultation Specialist Cell: 731-487-2234 jtaylor@QuailForever.org |
| RCPP Grasslands Initiative | |||
| Jeremy French, Quail Forever Southeastern Grassland Initiative 311 College St. Clarksville, TN 37040 641-295-0833 Jfrench@Quailforever.org |
Brittney Viers-Scott, Quail Forever Grasslands RCPP Coordinating Biologist Southeastern Grasslands Initiative 311 College Street Clarksville TN 37040 731-358-1860 |
RCPP Priority Counties: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/twra/documents/RCPP_GRASSLANDS-map.pdf |
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| NRCS Partner Foresters | |||
| Dustin Stutts National Wild Turkey Federation USDA-NRCS 4730 New Harvest Ln. Knoxville, TN. 37918 865-214-1330 dstutts@nwtf.net |
Ben Shamblin National Wild Turkey Federation USDA Service Center- Columbia 811 Hatcher Ln. Columbia, TN 38401 931-388-1307 Ext. 3430 bshamblin@nwtf.net |
David Lowman Quail Forever Coordinating Forester White County, NRCS Field Office 751 Millers Point Road Sparta TN 38583 Cell: 615-337-7619 Dlowman@QuailForever.org |
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Additional Contacts
USDA NRCS Staff: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/tn/contact
TN Quail Forever Staff: https://www.quailforever.org/Habitat/findBiologist.aspx
TN Division of Forestry Staff: https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/forests/staff-directory.html
TN Division of Forestry Landowner Assistance: https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/forests/landowners.html
Agency Well-Represented at NWTF Annual Convention
TWRA had a strong presence at the Annual National Wild Turkey Federation Convention held at the Opryland Resorts and Convention Center. NCRS representatives were available to answer questions and provide information for landowners. TWRA private lands biologists who were present at the NWTF Convention to answer inquiries from landowners, pictured left are Richard Underwood, Stephen Thomas, Clint Borum, and David Lowman.
Quail Focal Areas in Tennessee
The northern bobwhite quail is Tennessee’s state game bird and historically was a prominent game bird across the southeastern United States. Unfortunately, due to the large-scale loss of farmland, changes in agriculture, and increases in forest land, quail habitat has been reduced or eliminated. As a result, the northern bobwhite population in the U.S. has been on a decline.
The TWRA has designated five of its wildlife management areas (WMAs) to serve as anchors within a quail focal area (see map below.) They are Wolf River WMA (Fayette County), Bark Camp Barrens WMA (Coffee County), Bridgestone/Firestone Centennial Wilderness WMA (White County), Kyker Bottoms WMA, and Lick Creek Bottoms WMA (Greene County).
The anchor areas act as reserves where wildlife management efforts are focused on maximizing ideal habitat and conditions to foster healthy quail populations. As the quail population increases, it should expand out into the surrounding focus area if suitable habitat exists. The focal area is comprised of private and other public lands that have the potential to provide suitable quail habitat. The Wolf River WMA is a focal area for the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, a multistate initiative of 22 states that are working to increase quail numbers.
Landowners interested in improving their lands for quail should contact their local TWRA or Quail Forever Habitat Biologist. These biologists will meet with landowners or property managers and develop a habitat management plan at no charge and provide other advice, such as programs that can provide financial assistance for creating and managing wildlife habitat.
Kyker Bottoms Refuge Quail Management
Northern Bobwhite Management in Tennessee
The Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) is the state game bird of Tennessee and an important part of the state’s landscape and heritage. Northern Bobwhite populations have declined dramatically range-wide since the 1950s, primarily due to landscape-scale habitat conversion and loss.
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) collaborates with a myriad of partners to foster robust, self-sustaining Northern Bobwhite populations by enhancing existing and developing new habitats across the state.
The vision of this plan is: To rebuild, manage, and monitor Northern Bobwhite populations in suitable habitats while partnering with stakeholders and continuously evaluating conservation efforts with an adaptive management approach.