Pheasants Forever has hired Nolan Benzing as the organization’s newest Farm Bill biologist in Winner, South Dakota. Benzing will work alongside producers and private landowners to coordinate and implement voluntary conservation provisions of the federal Farm Bill and other related wildlife conservation programs, all aimed at sustaining world-class wild pheasant populations in South Dakota.
“We are tremendously excited to have Nolan Benzing join our South Dakota team. His passion for upland birds and wildlife habitat conservation is rooted within his work for Pheasants Forever as a volunteer since 2010,” said Matt Morlock, Pheasants Forever’s assistant director in South Dakota. “Nolan also brings extensive field experience through his work as a habitat specialist with Pheasants Forever in Iowa - his knowledge will serve both landowners and our staff very well.”
South Dakota has initiated steps to replace the 1.8 million acres of grasslands and prairies lost since 2006, including the formation of a Pheasant Habitat Work Group, requesting more acres of CP-38 (State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement), and forming local advocacy groups – the Aberdeen Pheasant Coalition for example – to fund habitat improvements and increase landowner participation in conservation programs. Adding to Pheasants Forever’s capacity for delivering voluntary conservation programs, Benzing will work in one of the most pheasant-rich areas of the state – the famed “golden triangle” – to help private landowners realize conservation goals for working lands.
Benzing recently graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Ecology - Wildlife. During his college years, Benzing dedicated his time toward habitat conservation while serving as the vice president for the Iowa State University Chapter of Pheasants Forever. Additionally, Benzing gained further experience in the field of conservation while working for both the Marshall County Conservation Board and Habitat Forever LLC. By his senior year, Benzing was decorated with honors such as the Natural Resource Ecology and Management Senior Contribution Award.
Benzing started his position with Pheasants Forever on September 1; for more information about private lands conservation programs in South Dakota, contact Nolan Benzing at (641) 751-7439 or
email.
About Pheasants Forever
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 140,000 members and 700 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. Since creation in 1982, Pheasants Forever has spent $577 million on 489,000 habitat projects benefiting 12 million acres nationwide.
Media Contact
Jared Wiklund
(651) 209-4953
jwiklund@pheasantsforever.org