Bottineau, N.D. – October 13, 2009 – Residents from Bottineau County, North Dakota have formed the newest chapter of Pheasants Forever (PF). The group’s first fundraising banquet will be held on Thursday, October 29th at the Bottineau Armory with the chapter’s leaders focused on using those dollars to improve local habitat for pheasants.
“Being only 10 miles south of the Canadian border, our birds face tough winters. Through Pheasants Forever’s model, our banquet dollars stay under our control for habitat projects to create winter cover for the birds here in Bottineau County,” explained Ryan Getzlaff, the chapter’s president and Bottineau resident.
PF is the only national conservation organization that empowers local chapters with the responsibility to determine how 100 percent of their locally raised conservation funds will be spent. This local control allows members to see the fruits of their chapter efforts in their own communities, while belonging to a national organization with a voice on federal conservation policy in Washington D.C.
“I hunted last week’s opener near Crosby, which is roughly the same distance south of Canada as Bottineau, and there were birds everywhere,” reported Getzlaff. “The recipe is simple; plant the habitat and establish the winter cover, and the pheasants here in our county will respond too.”
North Dakota’s 27 chapters account for nearly 3,000 PF members statewide. Those chapters have completed 4,000 habitat projects benefitting over 43,000 acres in the state since the first PF chapter formed in North Dakota in 1986.
“I am very excited to finally have a chapter based in Bottineau County,” said Jesse Beckers, PF’s regional wildlife biologist for North Dakota. “There is tremendous potential for increasing the bird numbers in the area with some strategic thermal cover habitat projects. I hope all the bird hunters and pheasant fans across the county will come out for the chapter’s banquet on the 29th of October to support this group of volunteers working hard to improve wildlife habitat for the entire community.”
To purchase tickets for Bottineau County’s first-ever Pheasants Forever banquet, please contact Ryan Getzlaff at (701)228-4959, Kenny Fix at (701)228-2220, or Stuart Coleman at (701)263-7375. You can also email Getzlaff at ryangetzlaff@yahoo.com for more information about the chapter.
If your are interested in joining a chapter or starting a chapter in North Dakota, please contact PF’s Jesse Beckers at (701) 202-8120 or email jbeckers@pheasantsforever.org .
