Other View: Pheasant Country’s efforts paid off over years

Editorial in Published in the The Daily Republic on Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Posted: 03/04/09

Pheasant Country Ltd. now is a chapter of Pheasants Forever, a national organization that, according to its Web site, is dedicated to the conservation of pheasants, quail and other wildlife through habitat improvements, public awareness, education and land management policies and programs.

Pheasants Forever says it is the only national conservation group that empowers local chapters with the responsibility to determine how 100 percent of their locally-raised conservation funds are spent. And — again, according to the group’s Web site — this practice allows chapters to see the fruits of their efforts in their own communities.

We feel the efforts of Pheasant Country — a group born and raised in Mitchell — have been exhaustive, and whereas we at first were surprised to hear that the organization will be morphed into the Pheasants Forever family, we at least understand. There are distinct benefits for both organizations.

Pheasant Country wants to “move up another step on the ladder and grow bigger,” according to chapter president Dave Allen. Uniting with Pheasants Forever also gives local outdoorsmen a stronger voice on federal and state conservation issues while still maintaining local habitat and youth programs. There already are more than 30 Pheasants Forever chapters in the state and 650 in North America. Too, the local chapter now will have access to Pheasants Forever’s biological staff.

The benefit for Pheasants Forever is obvious. It gains a strong and established chapter that already has more than 600 members. It also gains financial access to the annual Pheasant Country banquet, which is the largest outdoors-related event in the region.

We can’t help but feel nostalgic about Pheasant Country’s move. Pheasant Country is the epitome of grassroots, growing from a simple idea that sprouted over coffee in the 1980s into a rather formidable organization absolutely dedicated to conservation and the preservation of pheasants in the immediate Mitchell area.

Through seed giveaways and field planting programs, and later through shelter-belt programs, Pheasant Country has made a huge impact on the wildlife population in Davison and surrounding counties.

Yes, the federal Conservation Reserve Program has helped. And so have the many efforts of landowners in the region who have converted a portion of their operations to accommodate pheasant hunting.

But Pheasant Country was there at the beginning, back in the 1980s when the state’s pheasant population was just a fraction of what it is today. It grew into an outdoors powerhouse through the hard work of many local boosters and backers.

Today, the pheasant-hunting industry contributes greatly to local tourism.

Did Pheasant Country do it by itself? No, but it sure did help.

We wish the new Pheasants Forever chapter well and hope the new relationship is everything its members hope.