Message from the CEO

March/April 2008

Mule Deer Foundation’s 20th Anniversary Celebration
“Leaving a Lasting Legacy”

In conjunction with the second annual Western Hunting and Conservation Expo (WHCE), the Mule Deer Foundation held their 20th Anniversary Celebration during early February in Salt Lake City, Utah. Both of the events were smash hits, and those who were there will attest to the fact that it was nothing short of a phenomenal four days! The Expo started slow with bad weather and closed roads, but it quickly heated up by the second day and final attendance figures exceeded 25,000 people! The March/April 2008 issue of the magazine, along with our Web site, will give you a glimpse of the entire show, but to be fair, you really needed to be there to feel the buzz that was present – the level of excitement about the Mule Deer Foundation was incredible!

On February 7th MDF held their 20th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and Banquet, and what an exciting event it was. Everyone in attendance was able to celebrate MDF’s past, while at the same time, looking to the future. Great hunts, awesome prizes and incredible raffle items were able to raise a record amount of dollars for mule deer during the evening of fun and excitement. The Mule Deer Foundation’s National Endowment Fund was unveiled, and the initial Charter Membership into the Endowment Fund was purchased for $34,000 by Stan and Pamela Atwood of San Jose, Calif. (Click here for more info about the Endowment fund and how you can donate). Before the evening was over, a total of $175,000 was raised for the Endowment Fund and that, combined with previous donations, now has the fund at over $300,000! The Endowment Fund “Leaving a Lasting Legacy” was primarily the idea of our Chairman, Stan Lueck and with the support of the Board of Directors, the Fund has provided the vision to ensure that mule deer and black-tailed deer have a secure source of funding into perpetuity.

The exhibition hall was a-buzz during the days that followed MDF’s Thursday night event. Everywhere I walked people were talking about how great a show we put on and everyone was congratulating me on what a great job MDF is doing! I am proud to be a part of the great team of staff and volunteers here at MDF.

The combined Saturday night event with the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) and Sportsmen for Habitat (SFH) continued to wow and amaze those in attendance. The Utah Mule Deer Governor’s Tag sold for an all-time record for any mule deer tag ever sold at $187,500 – shattering the old record of $150,000 set two years ago in Reno, Nev. The Utah Henry Mountain Mule Deer Tag also sold for an all-time record of $90,000! But the evening ended with a huge bang when WSF auctioned a Kluane Dall Sheep Permit for $315,000! In all, a total of over $1.6 million dollars were raised from the selling of these coveted tags – all of which will go directly on the ground to benefit our wildlife. In addition, there was a total of over $10,000,000 raised during the four-day convention for all wildlife in North America!

The four-day celebration included a number of outstanding events for MDF members. The Volunteer Recognition Night showcased many chapters for their outstanding effort in fundraising and sweat equity hours on projects. I am extremely proud of MDF’s passionate and dedicated volunteers and members. The Lifetime Member Brunch was attended by over 100 life members and was also able to raise money for the Endowment Fund. In all, we were able to sign up 13 new life members to MDF during the expo!

The 20th Anniversary Celebration will continue throughout the year as we now move into the banquet season. We have already had several record-breaking banquet events. The excitement of our local committees is resulting in increased funds raised and we expect a record number of dollars to stay locally to be spent on Chapter Reward projects.

MDF is poised for explosive growth in revenue, membership, and visibility in 2008. Our message is getting out that mule deer need our help. Mother Nature has reminded us this winter that we have much to do to bring back mule deer to their historic levels. Record snowfall and cold temperatures throughout the west have resulted in several states taking the initiative to implement feeding programs. The winter of 2007-2008 reminded us of how much habitat we have lost in the last few years. Emergency Deer Feeding programs were implemented in early January in the Gunnison Basin of Colorado. Utah and Idaho implemented feeding in early February, and local populations of mule deer will be greatly reduced by the anticipated die-offs in those areas. However, I am proud to say that MDF members and volunteers stepped up to help in the efforts of saving our deer herds. MDF volunteers worked tirelessly to man feeding stations and clear areas so deer could get to the feeding sites. Many of you sent donations to help in the feeding effort and we are proud to say that 100% of all donations to the feeding programs were given to the states to help offset the cost of these programs.

We are already planning next year’s convention/expo. Mark your calendars for Feb. 5-8, 2009, in Salt Lake City for the third annual Western Hunting and Conservation Expo. We promise it will be bigger and better than ever. We will have more taxidermy displays, more great hunts, and of course, the exhibit hall will be bigger and better than ever! Thank you to all who attended this year’s show. I hope you won a hunt of a lifetime, purchased the hunt of a lifetime, or just had a great time with family and friends.

Miles Moretti

View January/February 2008 CEO Message