Who We Are?

Ventura Quail Forever is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to wildlife habitat conservation that dates back to the last half of the 20th century.

Around that time, a group of like-minded sportsmen, prominent among them the late Jack Eichman (SP? Eichmann), formed a chapter under the aegis of a nationally known and well respected organization known as Quail Unlimited.

For the next few decades, that core group, along with others who joined along the way, dedicated themselves to the identification and completion of projects in the Ventura County area (and, to a lesser extent, parts of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties) that maintained and improved habitat for wildlife.

A few years ago, the parent organization, Quail Unlimited, closed its doors. The then leadership of the now defunct Quail Unlimited Ventura Chapter investigated the options available at the time. After consultation with the membership of the chapter, we joined Quail Forever. We continue to operate as a Quail Forever Chapter to this day.

Throughout the change from one national organization to another, the purpose of the chapter has stayed constant: preservation and improvement of wildlife habitat.

We currently manage nearly seventy wildlife water sources (commonly known as guzzlers), mostly in the Ventura County backcountry. In addition, two guzzlers have been placed at the Ventura Botanical Gardens and we’re working with the Ventura Land Trust to place one, possibly more than one, in the Harmon Canyon Preserve.

Maintenance of these water sources is a demanding task. Work crews of as many as 15-20 individuals of all ages and backgrounds gather several times a year to maintain existing guzzlers and, when the opportunity presents itself, install new guzzlers. These volunteers log thousands of miles of travel and hundreds of hours of time given freely to further habitat conservation in the area.

For the past few years, the chapter has branched out into an area that’s not so much habitat conservation for wildlife but more along the line of habitat beautification for people. Ventura Quail Forever cleans a three mile section of California Highway 33 in the vicinity of the Chorro Grande Trailhead as part of CalTrans’s Adopt-A-Highway Program. Look for our signs: while northbound, near the Munson Canyon Bridge and while southbound, just before the Chorro Grande Trailhead.

Ventura Quail Forever invites anyone who’s interested to join us.