Policy

"The most productive point of input of professionals interested in the ring-necked pheasant lies in efforts directed towards the implementation of federal agriculture programs that recognize wildlife as a desirable product of wise land use."  --George V. Burger, Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, 1988

Pheasants are predominately birds of private lands and agricultural landscapes, so the forces that shape those landscapes inevitably shape the distribution and abundance of pheasants, as well.  History has shown that outside of climate and technological advances, nothing shapes agricultural landscapes - and hence pheasant populations - more than the federal Farm Bill and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's associated policies and administrative rules.

Both the Commodity and Conservation titles of the Farm Bill, as well as their interplay, can have large impacts on the state of pheasant habitats (Conservation Reserve Program effects on pheasants and hunters is shown at right).  An excellent guide to the 2014 Farm Bill and its implications for wildlife conservation can be found here.

Preliminary Farm Bill White Paper

The Farm Bill of 2014 is due for renewal in 2018.  A white paper describing our partnership's preliminary recommendations for the upcoming legislation can be found here.

Farm Bill Survey of the Pheasant States

The partnership performed a survey of the pheasant states to ascertain priorities for the 2018 Farm Bill.  Results of that survey can be found here.

Testimony

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry invited testimony regarding the 2018 Farm Bill in July of 2017; the partnership's submission can be found here.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture held several 2018 Farm Bill listening sessions across the country in July and August of 2017; the partnership provided oral testimony at the session in Morgan, Minnesota.  A transcript of our testimony is available here, as is a video of the full event.

Letters to Congress

The partnership's letter to Senate and House Ag Committee members, December 2017