Conservation Trailblazer Award

The winner of the 2025 Conservation Trailblazer Award will come as no surprise to people paying attention to Texas quail hunting over the past few decades. Dr. Dale Rollins led the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation for almost two decades, establishing himself as one of the preeminent experts on quail and upland game bird conservation.

Dr. Rollins earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Southwest Oklahoma State University, his Master of Science Degree from Oklahoma State University (researching bobwhite and scaled quail), and his PhD from Texas Tech University. From 1987 to 2018, he worked across west Texas as a wildlife specialist for Texas A&M University.

He has earned numerous awards for his efforts, including most recently being inducted into the Texas Conservation Hall of Fame (2018) and the Texas Quail Hunting Hall of Fame (2024). He was honored as Texas Tech’s Distinguished Alumnus for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources in 2017.  Among his other awards he is perhaps most proud of being named “National Quail Calling Champion” (2002) by Quail Unlimited.  In 1994, Dale “hatched” the idea of a youth camp for future leaders called “Bobwhite Brigade”, now celebrating its 31st year. 

Since its inception in 2007, Dale served as Executive Director of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation and its experimental ranch in Fisher County for 15 years, and now serves as Director of Outreach.  When he’s not talking about quail, he’s hunting them with his “associates” Gus, Ivy, and Coli.

“I began hunting when I was 6 years old with my Daisy BB gun that I bought via money I earned from selling flower seeds!” Dale said. “From that beginning I went through a BB, or pellet gun on an annual basis; a new one was my perennial Christmas wish. Graduated to a .410 shotgun at 13 and bagged my first bobwhite on the wing a month later (I could mark the location with GPS precision). Where I grew up (rural SW OK) if you were “going hunting” it was implied you were going quail hunting … there were no deer or turkeys there until 20 years later. I was “diverted” to deer hunting beginning in mid-1980s, but when I acquired a Setter pup named Suzie in 1991, my die was cast. I often quote “Suzie’s 12-point Plan for Success” (i.e., some life lessons learned from my time afield with her), including No. 1 (“ALWAYS hunt with good dogs”) and No. 10 (“Be thankful if your vocation and avocation are one and the same.”) My personal and professional life have revolved around quail and quail hunting, and continue on that odyssey.”

He continued, “I judge the honor and prestige of such recognition by the list of those who’ve earned such recognition in the past, and this roll includes some big hitters. When awarded such an honor, I’m quick to point out that whatever successes I’ve achieved in my career follow “Suzie’s plan,” including hunting with good dogs (metaphorically and literally), and others (e.g., Point No. 2 “Hug your giants.” As a messenger for quail I’m flattered that an organization like DSC acknowledges that “every quail is a trophy.”