A new Quail Forever chapter has been added in northern Indiana.

The Pulaski County-based “North Central Indiana Quail Forever” is expected to be an active force in reestablishing quail habitat in the region.

The chapter is led by chapter president, upland hunter and Indiana native Kent Wamsley. A longtime supporter of Pheasants Forever’s habitat mission, Wamsley served as the Twin Lakes Pheasants Forever chapter's (White County, Ind.) habitat specialist and most recent vice-president. Having recently moved to Pulaski County, Wamsley and others saw an opportunity to continue the organization’s habitat mission by starting the North Central Indiana Quail Forever chapter.

“When we found out there wasn’t a chapter in the area, it seemed like the logical idea to start a chapter,” he said. “Pulaski County has a number of areas, on both public and private ground that would be perfect for habitat restoration through Quail Forever chapter work.

“Indiana Division of Wildlife’s Winamac Fish and Wildlife Area is one area that we hope to use chapter funds and time to increase wildlife through the planting of food plots and native Indiana grasses, as well as through youth outreach and education at the facility. The chapter also hopes to complete other projects in Pulaski County that reclaim habitat for quail and other wildlife.”

In addition to habitat projects, the new chapter plans to host a community youth event with the intention of introducing Indiana youth to upland hunting and the outdoors through archery, wingshooting, hunter safety seminars, and much more. The chapter will also have an educational aspect to the event, teaching youth about the importance of native wildflowers and grasses for wildlife.

The North Central Quail Forever chapter has also elected Rock Roudebush of Pulaski as vice-president, Linda Byer of Monterey as secretary, and Jeff Richwine of Winamac as treasurer.

For more information, contact Kent Wamsley at (574) 595-0636.

For information on “The Habitat Organization” in Indiana or starting a Quail Forever chapter, contact Brian Nentrup at (317) 835-9705.

Pheasants Forever, including its quail conservation division, Quail Forever, is the nation's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have more than 135,000 members and 720 local chapters across the United States and Canada. Chapters are empowered to determine how 100 percent of their locally raised conservation funds are spent, the only national conservation organization that operates through this truly grassroots structure.