Did your dogs find fewer quail coveys to point this year? Did your beagles have fewer rabbits to run? You were probably not alone.

Truth is, small game populations across Missouri have generally seen a decrease in recent years. Hunters and biologists alike have debated the causes. Predators, ranging from hawks to coyotes, have been blamed. Weather has been blamed. Overharvest has been blamed. Pesticides have been blamed.

However, the main reason for small game declines is the lack of suitable habitat. Therefore, the answer for producing more game is creating more quality habitat.

Species such as bobwhite quail and cottontail rabbits depend heavily on farmland habitats. In Missouri, 93 percent of land is in private ownership and 29 million of this is in agricultural production. This makes private owned lands a great place to concentrate wildlife habitat improvement.

Recent changes in federal farm programs have placed additional emphasis on providing wildlife habitat in conjunction with soil and water conservation. In response, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation have entered into a partnership to provide landowners with additional technical assistance with wildlife habitat improvement. This cooperative effort resulted in 11 new wildlife conservationist positions statewide to work with private landowners.

The NRCS and MDC identified six geographic wildlife priority areas to concentrate habitat improvement efforts. Areas with the most potential for improvement were chosen. One of these areas includes the Benton Hills, Puxico Hills, Hickory Ridge, and Crowley's Ridge in Scott, Stoddard, and Dunklin counties. When compared with the surrounding bootheel and the Ozarks, these hills provide better potential for improvement.

Current land uses in these hills is a mosaic of pasture, row crop, and woodlands. This mix of land uses and smaller field and woodlot sizes results in excellent potential for farmland species such as quail and rabbit. Both species need all of their habitat requirements in small areas.

Quail need food, nesting cover, brood rearing cover and escape cover all in about 40 acres or less. Rabbits need food and cover on an even smaller scale. Depending on what currently exists on a piece of property, habitat improvement can be as simple as building brushpiles or as complex as converting pasture land to wildlife friendly grasses.

If you live or own property on Crowley's or Hickory Ridge or the Benton and Puxico Hills and are interested in wildlife habitat improvement, additional help is now available.

I have recently started in the new Wildlife Conservationist position and work out of the Benton NRCS field office. I'm available to provide one on one technical assistance to landowners and can be reached at (573) 545-3512.

In addition to the expertise and advice available, there are new cost-share programs that help offset the costs of doing wildlife habitat work. Typically, these programs can pay up to 75% of the costs, with the landowner responsible for the other 25%. Some of these programs have short sign-up periods so it is important for landowners to act quickly.

Kevin Nelms is a wildlife biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation.