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By Lvt Wood
Rappahannock New* Special Writer
“That’s typical of foresters - they give wildlife the tail end every time.” That remark by Captain W.J. Keim, owner and manager of Quail Call Farm near Viewtown, was both a joke and a serious statement.
He was joking about the fact that his farm was the last stop on a Forestry and Wildlife bus tour last Tuesday, sponsored by the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service and the Virginia Division of Forestry. Eightyfive people showed up late at his farm.
But his remark was serious in that it referred to the present predicament of wildlife on private land in Virginia. Keim is concerned that current laws, tax regulations and economic pressures offer little opportunity for landowners to put wildlife management ahead of farming and forestry.
Keim’s 215-acre tract is a model wildlife management area that reverses this trend. He raises thousands of Christmas trees as a cash crop, but on Quail Call Farm, the wild animals get top priority.
Keim pointed to the long rows of nicely sheared spruces, Scotch pines and white pines in the weedy fields, “Note that none of these fields have been mowed,” he said, “nor will they be mowed till mid-August, in hopes of bringing back the quail.” He said that delaying mowing will make his tree shearing operation more difficult, but will give the ground-nesting bobwhite quail a chance to complete their nesting cycle.
“This place is run primarily for wildlife. Period. The Christmas trees are just to make it possible — wildlife costs time and money,” said Keim. “It’s run for all wildlife, and that includes
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