Wildlife Habitat Innovation: Ameren Corporation Partners with Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever in Illinois recently entered into a new partnership with Ameren Corporation – the state’s largest electrical provider – to establish pollinator habitat projects on transmission line rights-of-way throughout the state. This innovative partnership will expand the efforts of local chapters to establish and improve habitat corridors for wildlife, while reducing utility maintenance costs for Ameren Corporation.
 
“Ameren Corporation is very excited to partner with Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapters to promote pollinator and other wildlife habitat under the company’s extensive network of transmission lines in Illinois and Missouri," stated Michelle Henderson, vegetative supervisor at Ameren Transmission.
 
With more than 7,800 miles of transmission lines in the southern two-thirds of Illinois and portions of eastern Missouri, the new partnership for establishing pollinator habitat has the opportunity to positively impact more than 5,000 acres for the mission of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever in Illinois alone. Due to the wide-ranging soils and terrain of each state, seed mixes will be site-specific with an overarching focus on impacts for pollinators, such as monarch butterflies or native bees. Additionally, the cooperative effort is being viewed as the framework for future collaborations with energy companies throughout the Midwest and Great Plains regions.
 
“Although the areas will not be accessible to public hunting due to safety concerns, these habitat projects will provide refuge and critical habitat corridors to a vast array of wildlife in Illinois and Missouri, with the potential to spill over into public areas,” stated Jason Bleich, Farm Bill wildlife biologist for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. “This is a win-win partnership for important wildlife species, habitat conservation efforts of local chapters, and Ameren Transmission who can look forward to lower maintenance costs.”
 
Illinois Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapters will be responsible for all new habitat improvement projects under the new agreement. Several partnership projects have already been established in Champaign County, Illinois with the help of the Champaign County Chapter of Pheasants Forever. For more information about the partnership or for Ameren customers to request habitat project assistance, contact Erin Holmes at eholmes@pheasantsforever.org or (608) 658-0969.
 
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 149,000 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 $708 million on 517,000 habitat projects benefiting 15.8 million acres nationwide.

Media Contact
Jared Wiklund
(651) 209-4953
jwiklund@pheasantsforever.org