SIBLEY, Iowa -- Conservation efforts in Osceola County are about to get a shot in the arm thanks to the formation of the 104th Pheasants Forever chapter earlier this month.
"We're all kind of like-minded," said chapter president Randy Wills. "We're thinking of more habitat for the animals, not just pheasants. The more habitat there is, the more wildlife will succeed."
About 10 people came to the first informational meeting. Wills hopes more people will attend the next meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at The Court in Sibley.
"It'll let people know what we're planning on doing ... and telling them what Pheasants Forever is all about," Wills said.
Youth programming such as hunting education programs and conservation are both major goals of the new group. Wills even hopes to get some young people on the new chapter's board, so they can give input.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Osceola County chapter has elected its officers. Doug Roth of Ashton, Iowa, is vice president, Doyle Naig of Sibley is secretary, Todd Kruger of Sibley is treasurer, John Wills of Rock Rapids, Iowa, is treasurer and Tom Wietzema, Sibley, is youth chairman.
Osceola County's new chapter means that only one county in Iowa remains without a chapter of Pheasants Forever: O'Brien County.
Pheasants Forever field representative John Linquist, who lives in Sibley, hopes to help get an O'Brien chapter started soon. A meeting for interested O'Brien County residents will be 7 p.m. March 15 at Kinbrae Steakhouse, Sheldon, Iowa.
In the state of Iowa, there are 22,000 members of Pheasants Forever and its quail division, Quail Forever. The groups have spent more than $27.8 million on habitat and youth education programs since 1984, when the first chapter was formed. The money has completed 82,000 habitat projects influencing more than 800,000 acres for Iowa wildlife.
Pheasants Forever, though a national organization, has a strong emphasis on local control and local projects.
"The money that is raised in Osceola County stays in Osceola County, which we think is a really good deal," Wills said.
