Jim Willis

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Jim Willis, Founder and President of the Wildlife Habitat Federation

Jim Willis is the founder and president of the Wildlife Habitat Federation. Over his esteemed career, Jim has served as a foreign service officer in three American Embassies, has been an agricultural economist/Soviet specialist/rice analyst for the Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and was the Director of Foreign Programs for the USA Rice Council. Jim also served as President of the International Programs for the U.S. Rice Producers Association.

The Wildlife Habitat Federation (WHF) is a non-profit conservation organization that facilitates on-the-ground restoration of habitat that is needed to re-establish healthy and sustainable populations of quail and other upland wildlife species native to the Texas Oaks and Prairie Eco-region. WHF provides information, specialized equipment and on-the-ground physical assistance to landowners and lessees committed to re-establishing native grasses and forbs.

WHF Habitat Action Teams provide technical, financial and mechanical assistance to landowners wishing to restore native grasses, wildflowers or forbs to conserve all native resources, including soil, water, air and wildlife. WHF also harvests seed from local native ecotype species of grass and wildflowers to ensure successful plant establishment. Restoration activities include invasive species removal, managing prescribed burns and grazing, and wildflower seeding, among others. A 7-mile-long wildlife corridor and other restored native habitat serve as models for landowners wishing to restore native species of both plant and animal species.