Regional Reports
November/December 2007
- Fawna Gregory
Nevada, Arizona and Texas Regional News - Scott Hampel
Report from the Rockies - Ron Knapp
Sounds of the Northwest - Mike Laughter
High Desert News - Brandon Mason
Northern Great Plains Region - Don Brown
California Regional News
News from the Field
November/December 2007
By Bob Meulengracht
As autumn arrives, the 2007 banquet and fundraising season is winding to a close. Much like all the animals getting ready for winter, the MDF staff is starting to gear up for 2008 banquets and fundraisers. Soon our committees will be getting their new merchandise catalogs, and I believe they will be impressed with the variety of new merchandise that will be available for their upcoming fundraisers. Also, very soon we should have the 2008 MDF calendar. Produced for the first time by Ryan Hatch and his staff at Muley Crazy, we look for it to be a great one. Even though we are getting ready for 2008, there is still quite a bit happening this fall.
Summer 2007 Banquets
Thursday Aug. 9, Regional Director Ron Knapp was in Auburn, Wash., for their annual fundraiser. With over 160 in attendance and a net of ~ $15,000, this one was twice the event it was in 2006. Thanks for a super job goes out to Steve Fant and his committee.
Ray Rugg (left), discussing the "Blackfoot
Challenge" project at the Missoula banquet.
Aug. 25 found Regional Director Ron Knapp and Director of Field Operations Bob Meulengracht in Missoula, Mont. At the same time, Ron’s “better half” Judy, along with Washington State Chair Mike Jones, were in Winthrop, Wash., for each of their annual banquets. In Missoula, Ray Rugg and crew pulled off another great banquet despite Ray’s broken ribs (a horse wreck a week earlier). The head count was down a bit from previous years, but still they produced about a $20,000 net with over a 60% net: gross. They also raised $5,500 in Conservation Partners that will go directly to work on the “Blackfoot Challenge” in Montana. That same evening in Winthrop, Wash., there were 84 in attendance, and according to Judy it was a fun-filled night. Arvid Iverson and his committee bested their 2006 net dollars by over $3,000 and raised their banquet efficiency by 20 percentage points. Thanks for all the hard work and thanks to Judy for being an RD for the night!
Two weeks later Ron was back in Montana at Helena for their third annual banquet on Sept. 8. Judy Dellinger and crew just about doubled the attendance from 2006, with 158 at the banquet. Net dollars increased by over $3,000, and banquet efficiency was up by over 10 percent Congratulations on a great event!
On Friday, Aug. 24, the Pikes Peak Chapter hosted its annual fundraising event at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Security, Colo. With a Friday evening event scheduled, the chapter volunteers were a little skeptical and concerned about attendance. As it turned out, the chapter had its largest crowd ever with 85 people in attendance. They raised over $6,000, which also set a milestone for this smaller chapter. Special thanks to Matt and Lisa Friedel, Mike and Kathleen Kondus and their family, and Earl and Sara Lasley for making the time and commitment to keep this chapter moving forward. These volunteers remain enthused and look forward to setting records again in 2008. If you are interested in volunteering for this chapter, please contact Matt Friedel at 719-439-7745 or Mike Kondus at 719-491-3028.
On Sept. 22, the High Mountain Chapter of Walden, Colo., hosted its fifth annual fundraising event at the Jackson County Fairgrounds. This small chapter in this small Colorado mountain town came out in support of MDF and had its largest crowd ever with nearly 90 people, raising $4,700. A special thanks to Rae Redman and her family for making this event a success.
The East Valley Chapter located in Mesa, Ariz., hosted their annual banquet on Aug. 4 at the Windermere Hotel. Every year this banquet continues to grow. Last year approximately 85 people attended, and this year attendance was over 100. Throughout the year the chapter sold raffle tickets for a rifle, and the lucky winner was Eric Faulkner. Congratulations to Eric! The chapter netted over $14,000. Way to go Art, Jon, Marsha, and Al. A big thank also goes out to all of the other friends and family who helped this committee acquire donations, helped with setup and tear down and provided support the day of the banquet.
According to Regional Director Brandon Mason, the Big Sky Chapter in Billings, Mont., had put a lot of work into their banquet throughout the whole year. Having just under 40 people at their first banquet, they sold out this year with around 115 people in attendance. They increased their net-to-gross percentage by 20 percent and more than doubled their net income from last year! A big hats off to John and Sheila Wilson, Don and Janna Keever, Tom, Tina, and Shelton Hentz, and Matt and Bridget Wagner. Thanks to Don Keever, who owns Anglers and Antlers Taxidermy, for providing a first class head mount display and to Jerry Mader for custom-making metal table decorations with wildlife scenes. The event was a great time and because of these and other hard working individuals, the horizon looks bright for the Big Sky Chapter.
Fall 2007 Banquets
The Frenchman Chapter of southwest Nebraska has been busy at work preparing for its first annual fundraising event held on Oct. 26. At the time of this writing, the results have not yet been determined, but this enthusiastic group of conservationist is expecting to have 200 people in attendance. If you are interested in joining this committee or making a donation, please contact Brian Perks at 308-737-1305 or Chad Taylor at 308-697-3843. Brian and Chad are biologists of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and they have a variety of projects in their area that need your help and funding.
The Pass the Buck Chapter of Rifle/Silt, Colo., will host its annual fundraising event on Nov. 10 at the Battlement Mesa Activity Center in Parachute, Colo. For information or tickets, please contact Jon or Joan Nestor at 970-876-2036.
In addition to preparing for their December event, the Laramie Chapter has been busy working with the BLM in Wyoming developing a spring in the Jelm, Wyo., area to the southeast of Laramie. For information on the spring development or to get more information on the banquet (Dec. 1, 2007) contact Ed Elliott at 307-760-2653.
The newly formed Ladies Chapter (Women of the Wilderness) located in Reno will be having their first annual ladies luncheon on Saturday, Oct. 27. This luncheon is geared towards women who not only like to hunt, but also enjoy being in the outdoors. We will have a live auction that will include jewelry, framed art, leather goods, kayak, rifle and other outdoor gear. Chapter Reward proceeds will help fund outdoor programs for women. For ticket information contact Regional Director Fawna Gregory at 775-741-1296 or Shawna Huckabey at 775-530-6967.
The first annual banquet of the Teddy Roosevelt Chapter will be held in Dickinson, N.D., on Dec. 8. For more information on this event contact Brandon Mason at brandon@muledeer.org or 701-527-0609.
The Redwood Chapter in Fortuna Calif., is preparing for their first ever MDF event. The event will highlight work for black-tailed deer that inhabit the coastal mountains in the Fortuna area. If you have never been to the northern coast of California, the best way to describe it is “awesome.” The Pacific Ocean at the front door and coastal mountains in back. What a beautiful place to live. The banquet is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 27 at the fire station in Fortuna. The committee has an early bird ticket package limited to 50 with a 4x4 quad as the top raffle item. For more info call Janet or Mark at 707-725-6879.
Teddy Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch Becomes Public
The excitement around the recent acquisition of Theodore Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch by the USDA Forest Service should get everyone in the proper mindset to do great things for wildlife in western N.D. MDF was a supporter of this project, giving $25,000 to help make the transfer of land to public ownership a reality. On Sept. 15, a dedication ceremony was held at the Elkhorn Ranch site and also in the historic town of Medora, N.D. Those in attendance included North Dakota Governor John Hoeven, former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer, Keith Trego with the North Dakota Natural Resources Trust, Lowell E. Baier, Executive Vice President of the Boone and Crockett Club, Simon Roosevelt, Tweed Roosevelt, David Pieper with the Dakota Prairie Grasslands, Stan Lueck, the Chairman of the Board of Directors for MDF, and the list goes on and on.
Utah Fire Rehab Work Begins
In Utah, we are still feeling the aftermath of one of the hottest summers on record. Hot, dry temperatures and lack of summer rains also made this one of the most destructive fire seasons Utah has ever seen. From one end of the state to the other, thousands upon thousands of acres were destroyed by fire. This became a priority for The Mule Deer Foundation in Utah. We have been able to start a fire rehab fund and allocated $250,000 to fire rehab on critical mule deer winter and summer range throughout the state. As the Division of Wildlife Resources identifies the projects, they will submit proposals for review and approval. Though this is a great start, it will fall far short of repairing all the damage caused by this summer’s fires. It could take years to restore some of the burned areas.
Assisting the Colorado Division of Wildlife
Who Won
The winner was drawn March 8 at the
Denver, Colo., banquet.
The winner is:
Jimmy E. Vigil of Hotchkiss, Colo.
Congratulations!
MDF has partnered with the Colorado DOW by offering a firearm drawing to those hunters who submit teeth from their harvested buck deer in Colorado Game Management Units 54, 61, 62 and 80. The Colorado DOW has sent a letter to those hunters who have drawn 2007 general licenses (i.e., excluding landowner vouchers and private land only licenses). In short, successful hunters are being asked to extract and submit teeth from their harvested buck deer so that the CDOW can judge age and develop a statistical model for the age composition of harvested bucks. This will provide some insight into the potential trade offs between hunter opportunity and quality deer management for these specified units. Only those hunters who are hunting the specific units, have received the informational letter/packet from the CDOW, and submit teeth will be eligible for this drawing. If you are one of these lucky hunters, look for the winner of the gun this winter on the MDF Web site.
New Chapters Forming In California
Four new chapters are being established in northern California. Chapter chair names and phone numbers will be posted on the Web site soon. The newly formed chapters are in Sacramento, Antiock, Stockton and Lincoln. If you are interested in assisting with one of these chapters contact Regional Director Don Brown at don@muledeer.org.
Fall – A Season of Change
We would like to say thank you and send our best wishes to Eddie Reynoso. Eddie resigned as Regional Director for Northern Calif., at the end of September. Thanks for the almost two years of service and helping to conserve the deer of the west!