Pheasants Forever is an organization with a mission to conserve pheasants, quail, and other wildlife through habitat improvements, public access, education, and conservation advocacy. It was founded in 1982 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in response to the decline of pheasant numbers due to habitat loss from intensified farming practices. There are more than 750 chapters throughout the United States and Canada.
The Pheasants Forever organization has more than 480,000 members, supporters, and partners, with a staff of more than 300 biologists. That makes them a leading advocate for wildlife habitat conservation.
The Pheasants Forever chapters retain 100-percent decision-making control over locally raised funds. This allows chapter volunteers to develop wildlife habitat projects and conduct youth conservation events in their communities while belonging to a national organization with a voice regarding state and federal conservation policy.
Pheasants Forever hosts more than 750 fundraising events annually, most commonly annual chapter banquets. These banquets are an important source of revenue and provide chapters with the funds needed to accomplish thousands of wildlife habitat projects annually.
Pheasants Forever members are grassroots volunteers and are passionate hunters, farmers, ranchers, landowners, conservation enthusiasts, and wildlife officials. The common thread among each of them is a strong desire to make a difference for wildlife by conserving or creating habitat.
Their vision is that current and future generations of hunters and conservationists may enjoy abundant populations of wild pheasants, quail, and other wildlife. Wildlife habitats face monumental challenges in an ever-changing world. If there are to be places for wildlife going forward, we have to work harder, be more creative, and build more partnerships than ever before.
I know back in the early to mid-1960s, some of my hunting buddies and I used to pheasant hunt around the Fowler area here is Indiana, and we had many, many enjoyable hunts. We used to see several pheasants every time we went hunting.
We loaded up the dogs and drove to different properties. Tose were certainly the good ol’ days! Today, I am fortunate if I see one or two pheasants a year, and that is truly disheartening because seeing a pheasant in the wild is something many people today cannot enjoy. A pheasant is a beautiful creation of God!
If you are interested in joining the Pheasants Forever group, I strongly encourage you to do so. You can obtain more information by visiting their website at www.pheasantsforever.org.
I am in discussions with a representative in hopes of scheduling them as a future guest on my "Outdoors with Bud” podcast that will be viewable on my Bud Fields Facebook page, on YouTube on The Kokomo Lantern Podcast Network, and also at www.kokomolantern.com.