Wildlife Conservation Volunteer wins Award

Quality Deer Management Association founder Joe Hamilton has been named winner of the 2013 South Carolina Environmental Awareness Award. Hamilton, whose voluntary wildlife conservation work spans over five decades, founded the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) in 1988. Today, the QDMA is a rapidly growing organization with more than 50,000 members in all 50 states and several foreign countries. He was recognized for his efforts at a ceremony April 16 at the S.C. Forestry Commission’s Environmental Education Center at Harbison State Forest in Columbia. QDMA promotes sustainable, high quality white-tailed deer populations, wildlife habitats, and ethical hunting experiences through education, research, and management in partnership with hunters, landowners, natural resource professionals, and the public.