CONTACT
Mel Gajewski
Phone: 812.455.8309
Email: mgajewski@qu.org
My job as Illinois Quail Unlimited Wildlife Habitat Coordinator is to aid and assist the landowner in deciding the best possible habitat decisions for your acreage. Our QU cost-share programs, coupled with USDA CRP programs, will offer you the maximum wildlife benefit on your farm. Even the smallest acreage is important in the broad picture of benefiting wildlife habitat.
Our biggest asset toward habitat restoration is our web of Illinois Quail Unlimited Chapters throughout the state. From the forest lands of the Shawnee to the prairies of the heartland to the confluence of the great rivers, our QU chapters have assisted our QU programs with countless fund raisers and educational programs. If you would like to be involved in wildlife habitat restoration, please contact the QU chapter in your area. Your help and assistance is greatly appreciated.
In closing, the sport of hunting is currently under tremendous pressure. Yes, partly due to the anti-hunting sentiment that abounds in this country, but mostly due to a more severe aspect. The days of knocking on a neighbors door for permission to hunt are long gone. Now days, we must nurture our own acreage towards maximizing it's wildlife potential. We must develop this "legacy" farm that our youth my have the opportunity to relish the thrill of a covey flush, the big 8-pointer working it's way up a draw, the big Tom turkey, gobbling it's way to a decoy, or a flock of Canadian geese locked up, landing gear down, and committed. It is our responsibility to leave these cherished experiences to our youth.
