Michigan Pheasants Forever’s State Convention is Feb. 4th
OutdoorHub 01.29.12
Bath, MI– The 36 Michigan Pheasants Foreverchapters will host the organization’s 17th annual state convention on Saturday, February 4th at the Eagle Eye Golf Club in Bath, Michigan. Designed for landowners, resource professionals, conservationists and hunters, this event provides educational seminars throughout the day on habitat conservation issues. Keynote speakers for the day’s event include U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow and Howard K. Vincent, President and CEO of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, both of whom will discuss the recent accomplishments and future of Michigan’s Pheasant Restoration Initiative.
The initiative, which is a 10-year, species-focused collaboration of partners including Pheasants Forever, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and other non-governmental conservation groups, is Michigan’s response to the long-term decline of upland grassland habitat and wild pheasant populations in the state. Unveiled at last year’s convention, the initiative saw on-the-ground success in 2011, and the Pheasants Forever Michigan State Council hopes to duplicate this success by re-loading Michigan’s 36 Pheasants Forever chapters and partners with the tools necessary to implement the initiative locally.
To help deliver this message, Senator Debbie Stabenow is scheduled to deliver a special luncheon presentation at this year’s convention. As a champion of conservation and a supporter of Pheasants Forever, the Senator will provide the crowd with a forecast of the next federal Farm Bill, and what it may hold for conservation programs and policy in the state. The Senator was also on hand at last year’s event helping launch the Pheasant Restoration Initiative.
“We are honored to have Senator Stabenow speaking at this year’s convention,” says Pheasants Forever President and CEO, Howard K. Vincent, who will be attending this year’s meeting. “As Chair of the Senate Agricultural Committee, the Senator knows the value of strong, well-executed conservation programs like CRP, WRP, WHIP, Public Access, and what those programs mean to Michigan’s outdoor sportsmen and women and the state’s economy. Additionally, I am looking forward to working with her and other conservation leaders in the U.S. Senate to build a strong conservation-oriented 2012 federal Farm Bill.”
The convention runs from 8am to 6pm, at which point the state’s annual Pheasants Forever fundraising banquet and conservation awards ceremony will begin. The day’s session topics include dog training, habitat management and youth outdoor education. Also in attendance will be Department of Natural Resources Director Rodney Stokes, and acting NRCS State Conservationist Gary O’Neill, both of whom will give brief speeches during the day’s events.
For more information or to register for this event, contact Pheasants Forever Michigan Regional Representative Ben Wickerham at (517) 316-5106 or Email Ben. For all other inquiries, please contact Rehan Nana, Pheasants 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.
