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Welcome to the 2008 Illinois Quail Unlimited MIDWEST CLASSIC cowboy action shoot. This will be our second year for the event and we plan to make it bigger and better.
In the early 1800’s, the majority of Illinois was covered with tall prairie grass. The lower ¼ of the state was mature hardwood forest. Early settlers encountered elk, bison black bear, cougars, timber wolves and passenger pigeons along with the current species of today, deer, turkey and the bobwhite quail.
As the new settlers moved into the state and the vast western expansion progressed, the prairie soon became farmland. In 1860, 34% of Illinois was farmland, by 1900, the figure had risen to 90%. By the mid 1900’s, farming practices expanded into commercial agriculture and thus, the majority of our “prairie” was gone.
With the enactment of the 1985 Farm Bill, the Conservation Reserve Program, CRP, was created. The program encouraged farmers to retire highly erodible cropland for a minimum of 10 years and replace it with semi-permanent vegetation, usually grass.
The goal of Quail Unlimited is to encourage landowners to seed their CRP acreage with the native prairie grasses. Not only will the prairie grasses benefit wildlife propagation, but are environmentally friendly. In the past two years, Illinois Quail Unlimited has distributed over 5000 acres of “FREE” prairie grass seed to Illinois landowners, valued at over $300,000. Through the assistance of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Habitat Stamp Program, Illinois QU was able to fund the prairie grass giveaway with the help of our fund raising efforts throughout the state. We have been very successful with helping landowners realize the benefits of prairie grass establishments and will continue or endeavor to keep Illinois “The Prairie State”.
Quail Unlimited is a non-profit organization dedicated to the establishment of wildlife habitat that will co-exist with today’s agricultural practices. Our funding comes from many venues, including events such as THE MIDWEST CLASSIC. Last year, we raised over $6000 through the shoot. Your support is greatly appreciated and will help QU maximize our efforts to establish the “prairie” back in Illinois.
For more information on Quail Unlimited national events, go to www.qu.org.
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A.K.A. Mel Gajewski
Illinois Quail Unlimited
Wildlife Habitat Coordinator
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