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December 9, 2025
New National MOU with Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever
I am pleased to announce a new national Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever (PF/QF), nonprofit organizations dedicated to conservation and habitat enhancement. With a significant network of 480,000 members and supporters, a team of over 300 biologists, and 750 local chapters, PF/QF represents a valuable potential partner for advancing our conservation objectives.

This MOU provides a framework for collaboration, enabling us to work together to conserve and restore native grassland, shrubland ecosystems, and timber stands on and around USACE-managed lands. The overarching goal is to improve wildlife habitat and promote biodiversity.

Through this MOU, PF/QF and USACE aim to:

Enhance Wildlife Habitat: Collaborate on the maintenance and restoration of wildlife populations, address species of concern, and improve habitat on selected USACE lands.
Foster Collaboration: Work with state and local partners in developing and implementing management plans for grassland and forest resources, including research, monitoring, habitat restoration, and maintenance.
Raise Awareness: Inform PF/QF members and the public about our joint efforts to conserve pheasants, quail, and associated wildlife habitat.
Share Knowledge: Exchange collaboratively collected data to inform best practices and improve conservation strategies.
Showcase Projects: Jointly prepare publications and materials highlighting the outcomes of cooperative USACE/PF/QF projects.

We've already seen the value of partnering with PF/QF through successful habitat improvement projects such as warm-season grass interseeding, invasive species removal, prescribed burning, overstory removal, wildlife food plot development, and a Handshake funded project to convert a borrow area to viable wildlife habitat.

This MOU presents an opportunity to enhance our conservation efforts. We encourage you to consider it as a starting point for discussions with your local PF/QF chapters or the national office. Let's explore potential projects where we can combine our expertise and resources to further our shared missions and goals. You will find a copy of the agreement on the NRM Gateway: https://corpslakes.erdc.dren.mil/employees/cecwon/mou.cfm

To learn more about these organizations, check out the PF and QF websites:

https://www.pheasantsforever.org/
https://quailforever.org/

We will also host an informational webinar sometime after the holidays in January/February. A meeting invitation will be sent via Outlook separately.

Please feel free to contact me, or your division Partnership Advisory Committee member if you have any questions: (NAD-Jared Gagnon; SAD- Cassie Cross; MVD-Breanna Trovillion; LRD-Mike McCoy; SWD-Arianna Jacinto; SPD-Taylor Baughn; NWD- Keith Hyde)

Thanks,
Heather Burke
National Partnerships and Volunteer Program Manager

Item is restricted to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CAC required. Document will open in a new window.