Habitat

Local Habitat Efforts

Inland Empire Chapter of Pheasants Forever's members are truly passionate about creating, preserving and restoring habitat that benefits pheasants, quail and other upland wildlife. This unique model empowers local chapters with the responsibility to determine how 100 percent of their locally-raised conservation funds will be spent.

Whether it's through improving habitat, informing the public about land management or educating future generations of hunting enthusiasts, conservation is the underlying principle in all we do at the grassroots level.

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Swanson Lakes

Read our writeup on the Swanson Lakes habitat project here or read about it in the Spokesman Review or OnX Blog.

On May 11, 2024, chapter 800 built and planted a 225 foot by 100-foot (22,500 square foot) shrub plot with the goal of creating critically needed winter food source for sharp-tailed grouse, as well as thermal and escape cover for pheasants, valley quail, and other wildlife that reside at Swanson Lakes.

In total, 700 plants were put in the ground. Water Birch, Aspen, Chokecherry, Red Osier Dogwood, Buffaloberry, Serviceberry, Black Elderberry, and Douglas Hawthorn that ranged in size from 10- centimeter plugs to 2-gallon pots were planted. Weed barrier fabric was laid before the planting by Pheasant Forever volunteers and a deer fence enclosure was put up during the project to protect the plants.

This project was especially important to our chapter because Swanson Lakes is one of a few recovery areas for Columbian Sharp Tailed grouse as well as Sage Grouse in Washington. In 2020, a fire devastated this area and with it, much of the habitat wildlife depended on. 

Read more the project

Lamont Habitat Project

In April 2024 the chapter hosted a shrub planting on Feel Free to Hunt land near Lamont. The project involved planting 200-300 shrubs and trees.  Size of the plants will 10” plugs. We also laid landscape fabric to help eliminate weed competition and to help retain moisture in the soil. We enclosed the planting area with a 320’ 7.5’ high deer fence using 10’ t posts to prevent deer and elk from browsing on the plants until they have a chance to mature.

Revere

The Revere Wildlife Area is over 2,300 acres of Palouse grassland and shrub-steppe scabland terrain with seeps and springs in the Rock Creek drainage.  The Inland Empire Chapter of Pheasants Forever has established 11 food plots and 28 fenced shrub plots.  The food plots target pheasants but will aid all wildlife in this area to survive the winter and give them a jump start advantage in the spring.  The shrub plots were planted in 2023 to help restore habitat after the Wagner fire burnt most of the area.

For our 2023 Habitat Project the we planted 28 shrub plots at the Revere Wildlife Area in Whitman County following the Wagner Wildfire in August of 2022. Volunteers included folks from the Spokane and Puget Sound chapters of Pheasants Forever, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, master hunters, a handful of Washington State University students, and WDFW staff from multiple programs. Together, we planted 700 native shrubs and trees to re-vegetate the area before invasive weeds can move in.

Please E-mail Mike Gruenke, our Habitat Chairman if you are interested in helping with future habitat work days.

Packer Creek

The Packer Creek unit is a 1650 acre parcel of land, that is managed by the BLM, and is located approximately 16 miles south of Sprague Washington on Highway 23. For several years we have partnered with the BLM to plant hundreds of shrubs, trees, and native grasses.