Minneapolis, Minn. – Feb. 7, 2019 – During the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association’s recent 50^th anniversary celebration, Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever signed a formal partnership agreement with NAVHDA.  As a result of the alliance, NAVHDA will help fund the organization’s Hunting Heritage Program Manager position, participate together in “Learn-to-Hunt” and bird dog-related events, and help engage more people in habitat conservation and dog training.

“Bird dogs and habitat conservation go together like peanut butter and jelly. We’ve worked with the folks at NAVHDA for decades and they’ve always understood the connection between our habitat mission and successful outings with bird dogs. This new agreement is the natural evolution of two groups who understand they share mutual goals for the future,” explained Rich Wissink, Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s vice president of education and outreach.

Through the mutually understood connection between hunters buying licenses and funding for wildlife habitat conservation, the new partnership centers around the Hunting Heritage Manager position.  This employee serves as Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s lead for recruiting, retaining and reactivating hunters through the development of content, organization of events, and cultivation of mentors.  In addition, NAVHDA will be providing dog training content for the Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever websites, will be helping to promote membership in the conservation organization, will be receiving advertising in the organization’s publications, will be exhibiting at National Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic, and will be participating in the annual Bird Dogs for Habitat campaign.  Bird Dogs for Habitat occurs every April and engages the organization’s online followers in a fundraising campaign centered around a bird dog breed popularity contest.  With NAVHDA’s dog-loving membership, the intersection between habitat, hunting and bird dogs is natural.

“We are excited to join forces with Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever to support the growth of hunting heritage programs and habitat conservation. Hunting dogs hold a special place in our hearts and often open avenues for new hunters to quickly connect to the traditions we cherish. NAVHDA is proud to support Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever by providing on-the-ground support with bird dog related events and habitat conservation,” added David Trahan, NAVHDA’s President.

About North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association

The North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) is a nonprofit organization with over 7400 members and 88 chapters spread across the United States and Canada. NAVHDA’s purpose is to foster, promote, and improve the versatile hunting dog breeds in North America. NAVHDA recognizes 30 different pointing dog breeds and offers local hunt tests throughout the year to help evaluate versatile hunting dog characteristics for both upland and waterfowl hunting. Over its fifty-year history, NAVHDA has grown to be the largest versatile hunting dog organization in North America and fundamentally is a mentoring organization with the goal to help people experience the thrill of a well-trained versatile hunting dog.

About Pheasants Forever & Quail 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 740 local chapters across the United States and Canada. Since creation in 1982, Pheasants Forever has spent $867 million on 540,000 habitat projects benefiting 18 million acres nationwide.