Saint Paul, Minnesota – Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever announce Steve Riley of Waverly, Nebraska, has been named to the organization’s newly-created Farm Bill Biologist Manager position. Riley joins Pheasants Forever after 11 years with the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission (NGPC) as its Wildlife Division Assistant Administrator. With Pheasants Forever, Riley will oversee and help expand the organization’s successful Farm Bill Biologist program.
Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program is designed to provide technical assistance to farmers and ranchers – through one-on-one consulting – about the benefits of conservation programs (such as the Conservation Reserve Program), as well as assisting farmers and landowners through program implementation. Pheasants Forever first began employing Farm Bill Biologists in 2003 and will soon have more than 80 biologists working in at least nine states – Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Farm Bill Biologists have contacted and consulted with over 30,000 landowners, resulting in the improvement of over 1.3 million acres of land for wildlife.
As Farm Bill Biologist Manager, Riley will directly oversee Farm Bill Biologists, continue the mentorship and development of existing Farm Bill Biologists and work to create new Farm Bill Biologist positions. “Steve is no stranger to Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program, having been an integral partner since the inception of our Nebraska Farm Bill Biologist program six years ago,” said Rick Young, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s Vice President of Field Operations, “He brings more than 20 years of leadership and program development experience and has a proven track record for innovative solutions and partnerships.”
As Wildlife Division Assistant Administrator with the NGPC, Riley was responsible for agricultural and natural resource policy development, wildlife habitat and hunting access management on private lands, wetland management and ecology, and wildlife diversity program and policy development. Prior to that, he served for 10 years as a Senior Wildlife Biologist for the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks, administering its private lands habitat and access program, leading its upland wildlife program and serving as the manager for Farm Bill policy development.
“I am excited about the opportunity Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program and this new position present for conservation,” Riley said, “I’ve been deeply engaged with Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologists here in Nebraska, and am committed to seeing this successful model adopted throughout the country. It’s an honor to work for Pheasants Forever, an organization I have long served as a proud volunteer and dedicated partner.”
Riley earned his B.S. in wildlife and fisheries sciences from South Dakota State University, and his M.S. in plant ecology also from South Dakota State. He will work out of his home office in Waverly, Nebraska, and can be reached at (402) 433-5078 and sriley@pheasantsforever.org.
For more information on Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program, contact Jim Inglis, Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator, at (419) 569-1096 or via email at jinglis@pheasantsforever.org.
Pheasants Forever is dedicated to the conservation of pheasants, quail and other wildlife through habitat improvements, public awareness, education and land management policies and programs.
