Sharpe Honored For 30 Years of Service

[NCangler]

RALEIGH, N.C. (Sept. 07) – Retired biologist Terry Sharpe was honored recently by Quail Unlimited for three decades of work surrounding one of North America’s most beloved game birds.

Sharpe, who retired from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission in December 2006 as an agriculture liaison biologist, received a lifetime service award at the Aug. 29 Commission meeting. The award was presented by Wes Coltrane, state chairman of Quail Unlimited, who remarked that Sharpe’s knowledge and dedication created a lasting impact.

“He never wavered; he was always there. If he didn’t know the answer to the questions we had, he found them,” recalled Coltrane. “Sometimes we didn’t like the answer, but he gave us the answer, and that’s what you have to have. You need good information, and Terry was a source of good information. He kept us on the right path so that we didn’t waste a lot of time and resources. He is exactly the type of person we’ve got to have in trying to resolve this problem and bring the quail back.”

When asked about his proudest achievement from 30 years of service, the Richmond County resident said it wasn’t an individual accomplishment. Instead, he took pride in the agency’s vast accumulation of knowledge over that time span.

“We learned a lot in the 30 years I’ve worked with the Commission about quail biology,” he began. “There were a lot of misconceptions and a lot of things we didn’t know 30 years ago. Today, we know why we have a quail decline; we know what the problem is.”

Biologists have cited a loss of critical breeding, nesting and forage areas – called early successional habitats - as the single biggest factor in the small bird’s downfall. Those issues are being addressed head on, however, through Commission-run programs such as CURE - the Cooperative Upland habitat Restoration and Enhancement program.

Sharpe grew up in Wentworth before receiving an undergraduate degree from N.C. State University in 1974. He then received a master’s degree in wildlife management from Louisiana State University in 1976.

His first job with the Commission – a temporary laborer at Jordan Lake – soon led to his hiring as a district biologist.

To learn more about the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission or North Carolina game birds, visit www.ncwildlife.org.