Save the Date and Join us for these Fall Banquets:
Nov. 8th Northeast CO Sterling – Contact: Jack & Tammy Malic 970-520-7824
Nov. 9th Yuma County Yuma – Contact: Matt Hardesty 970-630-0250
Nov. 9th Phillips County Holyoke – Contact: Gary Hershfeldt 970-520-1154
Nov. 9th Southeast CO PF Lamar – Contact: Kevin Swanson 719-688-9866
Kevin Dunbar is the Northwest Private Land Conservationist for Colorado Pheasants Forever. Help us welcoming Kevin to our team!
Here’s a note from Kevin Dunbar
I am a 4th generation resident of Western Colorado, making my children, Jackson (12) and Brooklyn (9) the 5th generation of my family to call Colorado’s Western Slope home. I grew up in Meeker, CO where I still have family, and currently live in Cedaredge, CO. I hold a concurrent bachelor’s degree in secondary education and biology from the University of Wyoming (2008) and a Master of Natural Resources Stewardship degree, specializing in restoration ecology, from Colorado State University (2019).
I worked in education for 16 years as a high school biology teacher before making the jump to natural resource conservation. I consider myself an outdoorsman and sportsman, which is a traditional lifestyle that has been passed down from generations before me, and I hope to continue having the opportunity to pass these outdoor and sporting traditions on to future generations. I enjoy spending time with family hunting (big game, small game, upland birds and waterfowl), fishing, hiking, camping and OHV riding. I believe these activities help instill perseverance, work ethic and respect for the landscape and the wildlife that inhabit the many different ecosystems of the state. I also feel there is a greater appreciation for the outdoors and wildlife when experienced firsthand.
When I am not out chasing wild game or trying to catch a fish, my wife and I are following our kids to their sporting events of baseball, football, basketball, soccer and swimming. We enjoy catching a Rockies baseball game every summer at Coors Field and a Broncos game is on the list to get to next.
I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the expanding Pheasants Forever, Inc. and Quail Forever team in Colorado. I look forward to helping advance the mission and vision of the habitat organization working towards habitat conservation for all wildlife in western Colorado.
Tyler Batson, based in Lamar, Colorado, is our new Habitat specialist.
Here are a couple of words from Tyler:
“Hello! I’m Tyler Batson, a passionate Forestry – Wildlife Management graduate from Stephen F. Austin State University. I recently made the move from Lucas, Texas, to Colorado. When I’m not immersed in the great outdoors, you’ll find me casting lines, tracking wildlife, or perfecting my golf swing. But that’s not all—I’m also a published singer/songwriter who thrives on performing live gigs.
Whether it’s harmonizing with nature or creating melodies on stage, I bring dedication, creativity, and a love for life to everything I do. I am blessed to be part of the Pheasants Forever family.”
Help us in welcoming Tyler to the Colorado Pheasant’s Forever team!
Hallie Uhlig is Northeast Colorado’s new Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF) Private Lands Conservationist. Her position partners with USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to implement conservation on private land to preserve natural resources, improve or maintain the quality of working lands, and create wildlife habitat. Hallie has been with PF and QF for over a year and she is very excited to move to Colorado and work in her home state!
Hallie grew up in Omaha NE during her younger childhood and later moved to Colorado Springs CO, where much of her family still resides. She has many fond memories from her time in Omaha making trips out to a family farm in Central Nebraska to help move cattle or ride along in the combine at harvest. After moving to Colorado, she developed an appreciation for the outdoors and natural resources and found that she loves hiking, biking, and skiing. She graduated in 2022 from Central College in Pella, Iowa with a degree in Environmental Science. During and after college, she worked in several different facets of the natural resource world. During a summer internship with the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, she spent the hot summer months working in the Loess Hills of Western Iowa to promote the restoration of native prairies. This included controlling invasive weeds, manually cutting cedars and invasive trees, participating in prescribed burns, collecting native seed, and lending a hand to surrounding conservation groups like The Nature Conservancy and County Conservation Boards. Hallie also assisted the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Upland Game Research Program with field surveys, data entry, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) projects in Boone, IA after graduating. During this position with the Iowa DNR, she performed population monitoring surveys for quail and pheasant, coordinated a statewide small game survey, assisted field staff in dove and goose banding, and worked alongside a Multiple Species Inventory and Monitoring (MSIM) crew with dragonfly, small mammal, and aquatic species surveys. Most recently, she has worked in Southwest Iowa as a Farm Bill Wildlife Biologist with Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever.
The Private Lands Conservationist position provides a one-stop shop for your wildlife needs. Through partnerships with NRCS and CPW, she can help offer and inform landowners/operators of many different conservation practices and programs. Pheasants Forever knows the only efficient and effective way to improve our wildlife populations is to improve our wildlife HABITAT. Private Lands Conservationists can come out to your land and make a personalized plan to help you increase your wildlife habitat, alongside your existing operation, to fit your goals. This service is free of charge thanks to our generous funding partners!
Hallie Uhlig | Private Lands Conservationist II
o. (970) 522-7440| m. (402)763-0151
huhlig@pheasantsforever.org
Working for Pheasants Forever has been a great opportunity for me. It gives me an awesome platform to be involved in conservation at a local and deliverable level.
Also, Pheasants Forever gives me the opportunity to work within a community to get younger kids interested in professions involved in conservation.
Arick Jamie was the first ever Habitat Specialist in Colorado, hired in March 2023. He’s worked for several years with CPW as a technician in Lamar, CO doing habitat restoration on public and private lands in SE CO. Arick works closely with Evan to cover the entire SE corner of the state.
We’re excited to have Arick onboard and helping pilot the habitat specialist program for Pheasants Forever and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Sarah Ashbrook is the new Private Lands Conservationist in Wray, Colorado. She works in partnership with Pheasants Forever, the NRCS, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to serve Yuma and Washington counties on wildlife projects.
Sarah is finishing her Master’s in Wildlife Conservation and Management, and she has previously served in similar biologist roles in both Nebraska and Iowa. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, hunting, and fishing, as well as doing various craft projects.
If you are interested in exploring the various programs the NRCS, Pheasants Forever, or CPW have to offer for putting habitat on the landscape, please feel free to reach out to the Wray, CO, NRCS Field office and speak with Sarah. She is excited to start making a difference for her community and its wildlife.
Peyton will work closely with conservation partners to protect habitat in Colorado
Fort Collins, Colo. – Sept. 9, 2022
Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are pleased to announce the promotion of Michael Peyton to the Colorado State Coordinator. In his new role, Peyton will be responsible for the management of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s programs and field staff in Colorado. He will work closely with partners, local chapters and other stakeholders to ensure habitat continues to be recognized as a critically important driver of abundant wildlife populations, healthy soil, clean water and sustainable agriculture in the state.
“Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are expanding in Colorado and we’re really excited to add Michael to the team there,” said Al Eiden, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s director of field operations for the west region. “He’s an experienced Pheasants Forever staff member with a great background in conservation and the outdoors in general. In addition to his experience, he brings a real passion for protecting wild places to his new position, as well as the work ethic we need to continue to grow in Colorado. I’m really looking forward to seeing what he can accomplish.”
Prior to starting his new position, Peyton was the senior range and wildlife conservationist for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever in Utah. He grew up in Watertown, South Dakota and graduated from South Dakota State University in 2015 with a degree in wildlife and fisheries science.
“I’m really excited to lead the conservation efforts across the state of Colorado,” Peyton said. “One of our top priorities right off the bat is filling a couple of vacant positions and getting Colorado fully staffed from a PF perspective. I’m also looking forward to identifying new growth opportunities in the state where we can have a big impact on habitat.”
Peyton will be based in northern Colorado and began his new role in late August after moving from Utah with his wife Kate and newborn son, Henry. Outside of work obligations, he can most likely be found fly fishing or pursuing upland birds with his two black labs, Sage and Ace.
“Colorado has such a great atmosphere as far as the outdoor lifestyle and culture goes,” Peyton said. “That’s what Kate and I like to do. We both grew up in the Midwest, so to have a chance to live out West and experience Utah and Colorado is really special.”
About Pheasants Forever
Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever make up the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. This community of more than 400,000 members, supporters and partners is dedicated to the protection of our uplands through habitat improvement, public access, education and advocacy. A network of 754 local chapters spread across North America determine how 100 percent of their locally raised funds are spent — the only national conservation organization that operates through this grassroots structure. Since its creation in 1982, the organization has dedicated more than $1 billion to 567,500 habitat projects benefiting 22 million acres.
Media Contact
Casey Sill
(402)-657-4143
csill@pheasantsforever.org
Jacob Bobenmoyer of the Denver Broncos has chosen to represent Pheasants Forever during the My Cause My Cleats campaign this year.
My Cause My Cleats celebrates the positive impact that players have made in communities across America and provides players with an opportunity to highlight the cause-related work they are passionate about on the field.
The Denver Broncos announced players’ involvement on Monday, Nov. 28 and the players will have the option to wear their cleats on Sunday, Dec. 4 when the team plays at the Baltimore Ravens.
All participating Broncos and the causes they have chosen to represent can be found here: www.denverbroncos.com/mycausemycleats.
By Greg M. Peters
When Rebecca Burton arrived at the NRCS office in Craig, Colorado, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect for her first day of work. It was 2019 and even though she would be working on private lands conservation under the direct supervision of NRCS staff, Burton wasn’t officially an NRCS employee.
Like more than 19 other conservation professionals across the West, Burton works to advance rangeland conservation through the Sage Grouse Initiative as a Strategic Watershed Action Team (SWAT) member. Many “swatters,” as they’re affectionately known, are trained in rangeland ecology or wildlife biology (like Burton), and their work on western rangelands is part of a shared-capacity approach to conserving the biologically and culturally rich sagebrush sea.
Burton and her counterparts are employed by one of a handful of the NRCS’s Western Working Lands for Wildlife partner organizations; in Burton’s case, it’s Pheasants Forever. Through a multi-year agreement with the NRCS, these organizations can hire and manage these partner positions to add much-needed capacity to the important private lands conservation work that is the NRCS’s specialty.
Michael Brown oversees SWAT staffers across the West (Brown is also a Pheasants Forever employee in a shared-capacity position), and the crew is busy indeed. According to Brown, collectively these positions have developed customized grazing plans on over 2.95 million acres, worked to remove over 333,000 acres of encroaching conifers, and marked or removed 318 miles of fence since SGI started.
So, even though Burton may not have known just what to expect on her first day in the office, the Craig, Colorado NRCS staff was ready for her.
“Basically, they told me, ‘You’re the partner biologist, and you’ll be working on sage grouse and other wildlife-related projects,’” she explained. “The office had a long list of producers who had requested a variety of technical assistance help. That’s where I started – working through that list with a focus on wildlife projects.”
It didn’t take her long to start making a difference. Kendall Smith is the District Conservationist in the NRCS’s Craig/Meeker Office, and he’s thrilled with the added capacity Burton provides.
