Two major developments at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation (RPQRF) will ensure the organization’s quail conservation efforts will continue into the future. RPQRF broke ground on a new headquarters facility at its research ranch near Roby, Texas on May 7. The $2.4 million facility was funded with generous gifts from Park Cities Quail Coalition and private individuals and is expected to be completed in early 2022.  

In addition to its new headquarters, RPQRF also announced that Brad Kubecka will step into the role of Executive Director, effective June 1, 2021. Kubecka will succeed Dr. Dale Rollins, who has served as the Executive Director since the inception of RPQRF and its research ranch in 2006.  Rollins will continue with RPQRF with a new title of Outreach Director.

“It is an epic day in the 15-year history of RPQRF and we are very grateful to our donors and partners who have helped get us to this day,” said Joe Crafton, President of the RPQRF Board of Directors. “Dr. Rollins is a living legend in the world of quail conservation. He established the organization and his contributions to our body of knowledge are immeasurable. We are thrilled he will remain with us as an ambassador and educator. Through his leadership, we are positioned to start a new chapter with a talented new Executive Director and a much-needed state-of-the-art facility.”

The new 6,400 sq. ft. headquarters facility is comprised of three buildings:

The James R. Currie Research Lab will include offices, conference space and a research laboratory, which will allow RPQRF to increase its technical research capacity, analyze tissue samples, perform necropsies and accommodate the various needs of RPQRF’s graduate students and technicians.

The Park Cities Quail Coalition Education Center will provide ample space to host

presentations and seminars for biologists, students, landowners, ranch managers and field day attendees. It will also serve as a classroom for RPQRF’s Veterans Sporting Ranch Training Program, a new four-month series of courses to equip military veterans with the knowledge and skills necessary to earn a living as wildlife habitat and ranch managers.

The Gordy Family Guest Lodge will contain six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a living area and kitchen to host overnight visitors at the research ranch. Expected guests include biologists from government agencies, ranch managers seeking guidance on habitat management, researchers from other conservation organizations and visitors participating in multi-day events. The lodge will also house military veterans enrolled in the RPQRF’s new Veterans Sporting Ranch Training Program.

“These new facilities will make us more effective in meeting our mission of preserving Texas’ heritage of wild quail hunting for this and future generations,” said Rollins. “We’re thrilled to recruit Brad Kubecka as our new executive director–he’s definitely one of the ‘young guns’ in the quail research community. I’ve known Brad since 2013 when I recruited him as an intern from Tarleton State University, and he’s one of the best graduate students I’ve ever worked with. His command of the scientific literature across a broad array of topics is impressive and he is well-prepared to lead the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation’s continuing efforts to save wild quail.”

After earning his Bachelor’s in Wildlife Management at Tarleton State University, Kubecka completed his Master of Science in Range and Wildlife Management at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, researching various methods for surveying quail in the Rolling Plains. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Georgia, studying bobwhite brood ecology with Tall Timbers Research Station. Over the past few years, Kubecka has served on the graduate committee for RPQRF’s Erath County bobwhite translocation project and helped establish the Western Pineywoods Quail Program—a new Tall Timbers regional quail program based in east Texas.

“The Director’s role, combined with RPQRF’s state-of-the-art new facilities, offers an exciting opportunity to expand our breadth of research,” said Kubecka. “I’m humbled to follow in Dr. Rollins’ footsteps, yet eager to bring a fresh approach as RPQRF begins a new era of work to help wild quail.”

Photo credit: David Sams

Photo cutline: RPQRF President Joe Crafton, RPQRF’s incoming Executive Director Brad Kubecka, RPQRF Director Stephen Howard, Park Cities Quail Coalition Executive Director Jay Stine, RPQRF Executive Director Dale Rollins, RPQRF Director Gary Cooney

The Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation (RPQRF) is dedicated to increasing populations of wild quail.  Its 4,720-acre Research Ranch in Roby, Texas makes it the only quail conservation group in the world with its own research ranch dedicated exclusively to the scientific understanding of quail. Using that property, as well as two million additional acres on partnership properties across Texas, RPQRF conducts research to study quail health and devise the best management methodologies for quail and quail habitat.  The Foundation then shares its findings with other “students of quail” through scientific papers, newsletters, social media and outreach initiatives. For more information visit RPQRF’s website www.quailresearch.org