Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

But as it turns out, you can use FOIA to get the stocking schedules for trout.

So if you don't know, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources stocks trout, as in they literally take fish out of trucks and they throw them into the creek or the lake.

And people have been FOIAing the schedule ahead of time so they can figure out where the department is going to stock trout.

And then they essentially show up ahead of time, like it's Black Friday or something, to get the trout before everyone else.

So the W3 program stands for Woods, Water, and Wildlife.

And that is a great opportunity if you're looking to support the Department of Wildlife Resources and the Conservation Police with our different projects that we have going on.

Uh, you can donate through, through that W3 program.

You can find information on our website.

That's fascinating.

So how are you guys funded? So we're funded through license sales.

So when you buy your fishing license, your hunting license, that money goes to the Department of Wildlife Resources and helps fund our biologists, our fisheries programs, the trout stockings, and my job as a conservation police officer.

Wow.

Much of the surrounding area has seen the natural landscapes that quail need to thrive converted to large-scale pine plantations that offer little to no value for bobwhites.

But thanks to a $50,000 donation from conservationists Briscoe and Keenan White, alongside matching funds from the National Wild Turkey Federation, Quail Forever has helped the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources establish 55 acres of patch openings throughout the area to help provide local quail populations with the early successional habitat they need to thrive.

The work included thinning overstocked pine plantings, mulching the remaining stumps, converting the openings to native grasses and forbs, and reestablishing longleaf pine.

Now that the restoration work is complete, the areas will be burned on a two-year cycle to maintain habitat quality.