Magazines, T-Shirts, Gift Certificates, Oh My! Go “Wild” this Holiday Season with Gifts that Benefit Wildlife in North Carolina
OutdoorHub 11.15.12
Shop the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Wild Store this holiday season where affordable wildlife-related gifts are just a click away.
The N.C. Wild Store offers a wide range of products — from books to calendars to apparel — that make terrific gifts for hunters, anglers, birders and other outdoor enthusiasts. Best of all, a portion of the proceeds from several products support projects and programs that benefit wildlife in North Carolina.
Proceeds from the newly created wildlife diversity T-shirt go to the Wildlife Diversity Program, which conducts research, conservation and management projects on behalf of nongame and endangered wildlife in the state. T-shirts feature full-color graphics of all the Commission’s 32 State Fair buttons and are available in adult sizes, $15, and youth sizes, $12.
Other gifts where a portion of the proceeds benefit the Wildlife Diversity Program are “The Frogs and Toads of North Carolina” book with audio CD ($15) and the North Carolina Birding Trail guides for the Coastal, Piedmont and Mountain regions ($10 each). The N.C. Wild Store is running a special on the birding trail guides — buy two, the Piedmont and the Mountain, and get the Coastal version free. The guides, which provide a driving trail linking great birding spots across the state, feature detailed maps, site descriptions and full-colored photographs — a wonderful gift for your favorite birder.
Purchase the 2012 North Carolina Waterfowl Conservation Stamp and Print and help the Commission conserve waterfowl habitat in North Carolina. The stamp and print, “Redheads in Needlerush,” depict a pair of brilliantly colored redhead ducks by Delaware artist Richard Clifton. Proceeds from the acrylic painting, which sells for $145, go into the Commission’s Waterfowl Fund, which is used to conserve waterfowl habitat in North Carolina, including acquiring and improving habitat. Stamp and prints from 2011 are also available at the store.
To help fund the management of mountain trout, the Commission offers the perennially popular “North Carolina Trout Fishing Maps” book for $12. This book includes color-coded maps of trout waters in western North Carolina, as well as information on trout regulations in effect.
Other top-selling products offered through the N.C. Wild Store include:
- Wildlife in North Carolina magazine, the official educational publication of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, which provides exceptional color photography and outstanding articles on hunting, fishing, wildlife research, natural areas and the state’s environment. One-year subscriptions run $12; 3-year subscriptions, $30.
- The 2013 Wildlife Calendar ($7), which combines outstanding wildlife art with useful information such as fishing days, moon phases and wildlife migration and rut peaks.
- North Carolina Freshwater Fishes and North Carolina Marine Fishes posters, which colorfully depict 96 of the most popular game and nongame fishes that swim in North Carolina’s fresh and coastal waters. Each poster is $12 or a set of two is $20.
For the outdoors woman on your gift-giving list, purchase a gift certificate ($225) to the 2013 Becoming an Outdoors-Woman® Weekend Workshop, which will be held at YMCA Camp Harrison Herring Ridge in Wilkes County, May 3-5, 2013. BOW workshops are geared specifically toward women and offer safe, expert instruction in outdoor skills such as fishing, target shooting, archery, canoeing, outdoor cooking, tracking and much more.
For more generous gift-givers, a lifetime sportsman license is a terrific buy-it-once, buy-it-for-a-lifetime gift for hunters and anglers of all ages. The license, ranging from $15-675 for residents depending on the age of the licensee, is the ideal gift for grandparents and parents to give to the future hunter or angler in the family because it provides a lifetime of hunting and fishing privileges in North Carolina, even if the holder moves out of state. Call 1-888-248-6834 for more information.
Finally, for the person who has everything, an online donation in his or her honor to the Wildlife Diversity Endowment Fund makes a terrific gift and protects the future of nongame and endangered species because the accrued interest, not the principle, will be spent on programs that benefit animals not hunted or fished — from bog turtles in western North Carolina, to red-cockaded woodpeckers in the Sandhills to colonial waterbirds along the coast.
“If you’re buying Wild Store merchandise to be shipped, as opposed to making a donation in someone’s name, be sure to order early for best selection as well as on-time delivery,” said Joey Creech, who works in the Wildlife Commission’s purchasing department. “Shipping is free for products ordered through the N.C. Wild Store, but you need to place your orders by Dec. 11.”
