Illinois Native Named to Pheasants Forever’s National Board of Directors
Pheasants Forever 01.25.12
Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever announce Leonard Sachs of Peoria, Illinois, as the newest member to the organization’s national board of directors. The 18-member board meets quarterly and oversees the operations of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, the nation’s largest upland conservation organization.
Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, Sachs grew up with an appreciation of the outdoors, but it wasn’t until he completed his studies at the University of Illinois College of Law and took a job in central Illinois that he was able to fully dedicate his free time to the outdoors and conservation. That dedication eventually led to his nomination and selection as a Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever national board member in fall of 2011.
“I am humbled to serve on the national board of directors for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever,” Sachs said, “Since attending my first Pheasants Forever banquet nearly 10 years ago, I have always been struck by the passion that Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever members convey, as well as the organization’s grassroots model. The Pheasants Forever board and staff are the most gifted, talented, committed group of people in the conservation community, and I am looking forward to working with them and our partners to make an impact for future generations. Given this team’s enthusiasm and creativity, I remain confident that our best days are yet to come.”
“We are honored and thrilled to have Mr. Sachs as the newest member of the Pheasants Forever Board,” says Bruce Hertzke, Chairperson of Pheasants Forever’s National Board of Directors, “He brings a wealth of talent and passion to our midst that will make our organization an even greater presence in the conservation community.”
A true conservationist, Sachs, through his local conservation club, recently initiated a project in partnership with Pheasants Forever and the DNR to convert his farm in Knox County, Illinois, into a showcase example of what is possible through active conservation management and participation. When he is not practicing labor and employment law at Howard & Howard, Sachs can be found volunteering with a number of different nonprofit organizations, including serving on the board of the Heart of Illinois United Way and the Central Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross, all in an effort to give back to his community.
Illinois is home to 44 Pheasants Forever chapters, 19 Quail Forever chapters and over 10,000 Pheasants Forever and/or Quail Forever members. For more information, please contact Rehan Nana, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever Public Relation Specialist, at (651) 209-4973 / Email Rehan.
Pheasants Forever, including its quail conservation division, Quail Forever, is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have more than 130,000 members and 700 local chapters across the United States and Canada. Chapters are empowered to determine how 100 percent of their locally raised conservation funds are spent – the only national conservation organization that operates through this truly grassroots structure.
Pheasants Forever launched Quail Forever in August of 2005 to address the continuing loss of habitat suitable for quail and the subsequent quail population decline. Bobwhite population losses over the last 25 years range from 60 to 90 percent across the country. The reason for the quail population plunge is simple - massive losses of habitat suitable for quail. There are five major factors leading to the losses of quail habitat; intensified farming and forestry practices, succession of grassland ecosystems to forests, overwhelming presence of exotic grasses like fescue that choke out wildlife, and urban sprawl.
