CCC boys to the rescue of quail, ringneck pheasants

Wikipedia

The winter of 1939-1940 had been harsh in Lucas County, including heavy snow cover that persisted into mid-February and threatened Department of Natural Resources efforts to repopulate the supply of game birds --- native northern bobwhite quail and the few ringneck pheasants that had survived from earlier efforts to introduce those somewhat exotic birds in the county.

That offered a new challenge to the young men assigned to CCC Camp Chariton, founded during 1933 and during 1940 in its last full year of operation. The camp would close at midyear 1941 due to a combination of declining number of recruits as defense-related jobs opened, funding cuts and completion of scheduled work at the new Red Haw Hill State Park and the nearly 4,000 acres that would be collectively named Stephens State Forest during the 1950s.

The mission was described as follows in a front-page article published in The Herald-Patriot of Feb. 15, 1940:

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The CCC camp at Chariton has, for the last month, conducted an intensive feeding program for the quail and pheasants in the adjacent country. At the present time, they are caring for over 850 quail and 25 to 30 pheasants with the 47 feeding stations they are maintaining.

For three years the camp has carried on a program of game management and the quail on the 3,800 acres of state owned land were located, their ranges determined, and food patches of corn, cane and hegira were planted to provide them with winter food. Shelters were erected, and cover plantings were also put in for their protection.

This year, however, the deep snow and overabundance of rabbits has enabled the cottontails to feed heavily on these food patches and the birds are being taken care of by installing feeders in their shelters and distributing feed to them.

The birds are being fed a mixture of corn, screenings and gravel or grit. The  Iowa Conservation Commission is furnishing the corn and local mills have donated the screenings.

The pheasants mentioned are a new addition to our game population here, as they are just recently appearing in appreciable numbers in this county.

The game birds found on private land are located, shelters erected of brush, corn stalks, etc., near their roosing places, and feed id distributed them at regular intervals in feeders made by the camp.

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Pioneers had found quail in Lucas County when they arrived and the birds had flourished when 19th century farming practices were in use. But 20th century farming techniques had altered their habitat and numbers were on the decline.

Pheasants had been introduced to the state about 1900-1901 when, according to DNR research published in 1977, "a wind storm blew down fences on William Benton's game farm at Cedar Falls, thus accidentally liberating the 2,000 or so confined pheasants. A rumor was that the wind was helped a bit by a few neighbors who wished to see some birds released into the wild."

Private and public efforts to increase Iowa's pheasant population after that had been successful elsewhere in Iowa, especially in north Iowa, but not in southern Iowa.

Game bird management would move to a back burner during the World War II years, but in 1940, Iowa's DNR was serious about this. Later on that year, a Des Moines hunter was fined $50 --- a considerable amount of money at the time --- after shooting a hen pheasant in Benton Township.