Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever Hire Sara Lyda as South Region Conservation Delivery Manager

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are proud to announce the hiring of Sara Lyda as the manager of conservation delivery for the south region. In her new position, Lyda will serve as the primary contact for the United States Department of Agriculture and various other partnerships while leading a large team of conservation delivery staff – state coordinators, Farm Bill wildlife biologists and precision ag specialists – to help expand habitat programs throughout the quail range.
 
“Sara has been a rockstar for our southern region since joining us,” said Tim Caughran, Quail Forever’s director of conservation delivery in the south. “I really look forward to working with her in her new position and am excited to see what she can continue to bring to The Habitat Organization.”
 
Lyda grew up on a hunting plantation in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where she spent her time in a kennel full of pointers and hunting over a three-legged black and white setter. She attained a bachelor’s degree in wildlife sciences at Auburn University and a master’s degree in wildlife ecology at Oklahoma State University – she had the honor of conducting the first black bear research in Oklahoma. After graduate school, Lyda focused on helping private landowners manage their properties for the wildlife they were most passionate about, which led her to upland game bird management with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.  
 
One of Lyda’s main duties will be coordinating with Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever staff to promote and deliver Farm Bill program opportunities such as Working Lands for Wildlife, Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Reserve Program. Working one-on-one with partners, she will help develop annual work plans, targets and goals for her region to restore quail habitat on a landscape level.

“I’m most excited about working with the people in my new position,” she said. “The organization as a whole, but the Quail Forever south region specifically is loaded with incredibly talented humans who are passionate about quail, habitat, and wildlife conservation. It’s an honor to be a part of this team and to do my part to help restore quail populations."
 
For more information on Quail Forever in the south region, contact Sara Lyda at (405) 612-6889 or slyda@pheasantsforever.org.
 
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