Giving Back: The Other Side Of The Coin
Sine Aqua Mortis, Part I
As consumers of our natural resources, we all have the moral obligation to give back. For most of us in the Midwest who enjoy hunting and fishing, giving back means belonging to and spending money at banquets for Ducks or Whitetails Unlimited, Pheasants Forever and similar organizations. We know that our license fees help fund conservation efforts, and some of us participate in highway clean ups or maybe even put out wood duck or bluebird houses. Really getting down and dirty isn’t often part of our efforts to give back for the wonderful opportunities we have to harvest our game and fish.
A group of Wisconsin/Minnesota/Iowa students recently had the opportunity to give back in a nontraditional way, getting down and dirty to experience an adventure of a lifetime. How did this group end up in the high desert of Arizona?
Emily Noyes MN, Chase Friendt WI, Ryan Miller MN, Brody Miller MN, Serena Fields MN, Jay Stowater IA, Morgan Vennie WI, Lane Reinikainen WI, Justin Meyers WI, Haley Krehmeyer WI, Allison Becker WI, Skyler Ruetz WI, Kathy and Larry Strong WI, John Babler WI, Val and Oscar Carlson MN
It all started 24 years ago during Desert Storm. The Foundation for North American Wild Sheep MN/WI Chapter, now the Wild Sheep Foundation-Midwest Chapter, a group of individuals who enjoy hunting wild sheep and have a vested interest in preserving these animals, historically helped fund waterhole projects and other conservation efforts throughout North America to benefit wild sheep and other wildlife. In addition, members who could donated their labor for these projects.
Each year the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society builds or redevelops five or six waterholes in collaboration with Arizona Game and Fish Department and other agencies responsible for the management of desert bighorn sheep habitat. The projects are usually scheduled January through May and require one weekend to complete. Funding comes from the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, various Wild Sheep Foundation Chapters, including the Midwest Chapter, and private donors. Most of the labor is done by volunteers, with the only paid workers being the employees of the Arizona Game and Fish Department who are paid their regular wages for planning, coordinating and overseeing the projects.
Several Midwest Chapter members planned to travel to Arizona in 1990 as volunteers to work on a project in the Mojave Desert on the Yuma Proving Grounds Laser Missile Testing Site that the MN/WI Chapter was funding. Air travel was markedly depressed at that time, so one of the airlines offered free airfare to one person under 18 for every adult who purchased a ticket. The idea was born that every adult member who could volunteer his or her labor would sponsor a student to travel with him or her and work on the project. Our Midwest group was able to provide twice the number of volunteers for the same cost in airfare. The hope was not only to provide more workers for the project but to raise awareness in youth of the need to conserve our natural resources, possibly influence their career choices, and instill a lasting interest in nature.
Ten youths participated in that initial project, which proved so successful that in subsequent years eight more youth projects were funded, several through the generosity of the Oscar Carlson family and by the Midwest Chapter. The most recent project was initiated in March 2013, at the Spring Conference of the Wild Sheep Foundation Midwest Chapter, when a call was made for members to donate $1000 sponsorships to fund expenses for students to work on a project. Twenty sponsors came forward and the wheels started rolling. A call was put out for applicants who were interested in attending.
Five young ladies and seven young men, grades 8 through 12, were chosen to fly to Arizona with five chaperones. Early on Feb 20, 2014, the excited group met at the Minneapolis airport just as a major snowstorm was moving into the area. Everyone passed security and settled in to what for many was their first flight and first opportunity to venture into a new part of the country. Despite the worries about the impending snowstorm, the flight to Phoenix went off as planned.
The project our group was to work on was Catchment 689 near Newman Peak in the Picacho Mountains north of Tucson, which we accessed by traveling miles of rocky, dusty, undeveloped paths through the desert. Camp was set up and supper waiting for us when we arrived shortly after dark that evening. Canvas tents—one for boys and one for girls—complete with cots and nothing else, served as deluxe accommodations for the next three nights. Some of the students didn’t notice the announcement on the gear list that nights are cool in the high desert. Nighttime temps dropping to 32 degrees, along with excitement about being there, kept many of the students from getting much sleep.
Read more about the waterhole project in the next issue of OWO.
Happy hunting.
Kathy Strong is owner of Yellow River Game Farm and Piddle Creek Kennels in Barronett, Wisconsin, and is a dog trainer, breeder, guide, hunting dog competitor, and Life Member of the Wild Sheep Foundation-Midwest Chapter. For more information on hunting, dog training, pups and/or started dogs, contact Kathy at 715.822.8071.