QDMA Press Release
PRESS RELEASE ON 8/26/04
Tim Lilley
(800) 209-3337
tlilley@qdma.com
QDMA Breaks Ground
On New National Headquarters
Watkinsville, Ga. – August 26, 2004, was
a historic day for the Quality Deer Management Association.
Just after 9 a.m. on that sunny Thursday, workers broke ground
on the QDMA’s National Headquarters and Education Center.
 The
facility’s transformation from dream to reality began
last year when Frank Coggins of Elberton, Ga., made a remarkable
$1 million donation of land to the QDMA. The 23-acre wooded
tract on the western edge of Athens, Ga., is a perfect location
to house the QDMA’s national operations.
The first phase of construction is a combination warehouse
and office building. “This building will be more functional
than flashy,” explained QDMA Executive Director Brian
Murphy, “and it will solve the enormous problems of
limited office and storage space the staff faces at the current,
rented headquarters building in Watkinsville, Ga.”
When Phase I is complete early next year, the QDMA National
Headquarters will expand from 1,600 square feet of total office
and storage space to 18,000. Most of the new building will
be warehouse space, complete with loading docks for large
trucks and drive-in delivery for smaller vehicles.
“Our current method of taking deliveries involves mobilizing
all QDMA staff to unload boxes one at a time by hand, and
then stack them in our auxiliary storage space, which is my
office,” Murphy said. “The extra office and warehouse
space will result in faster, more efficient service for QDMA
members, particularly in the areas of merchandise fulfillment
and Branch support.”
Long-range plans for the site include two additional construction
phases to be pursued as funds allow. Phase II, the permanent
national headquarters building, will serve as the final home
of the QDMA’s administrative offices. In addition to
housing staff, this three-story building also will include
a research library, a 250-seat auditorium for educational
meetings, and several smaller conference rooms.
“Though this sounds like a lot of construction, we have
GPS-marked all desirable trees on to minimize disturbance
and maximize the beauty and ecological integrity of the site,”
Murphy said. “Hiking and interpretive trails will be
built to enable visitors to tour the property’s beautiful
hardwood bottoms, creek, waterfall and upland sites. Field
education opportunities will include onsite food plots, tree-planting
and forest-management demonstration areas and more.”
Phase III, though some years off, features a world-class whitetail
museum, library and conference center.
The Quality Deer Management Association is a national non-profit
conservation organization and the leading advocate of the
quality deer management movement. Founded in 1988, the QDMA
works to educate and encourage hunters, managers and landowners
to practice proper herd and habitat management techniques.
With more than 30,000 members in all 50 states and several
foreign countries, the QDMA helps to disseminate accurate,
up to date information to hunters, landowners, wildlife professionals
and wildlife enthusiasts. Among the QDMA’s members are
hundreds of the nation’s leading deer management professionals
who constantly provide the latest research and knowledge to
ensure that QDMA members remain at the forefront of deer biology,
research and management.
Info: QDMA National Office, (800) 209-3337 or on the Web at
www.qdma.com.
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