Funds available for bobwhite habitat

Incentive funds are available for landowners willing to put at least five acres into native habitat to improve the bobwhite quail population in Tennessee.
Conservationists say now is a good time to enroll land in the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative because those who get in early can receive an extra $100 per acre. The U.S. Department of Agriculture pays 75 percent of the cost of approved development of quality bobwhite habitat. That goes up to 90 percent for some farmers.
The incentives also apply to habitat for pollinators like native bees, beetles and butterflies.
Enrollment is statewide, but priority for incentives will go to farmers in 28 counties.
Bobwhite populations have declined more than 70 percent since 1980.
On the Net: USDA CCPI Program: www.tn.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/CCPI.html