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Nebraska's Gottschalk Elected to Pheasants Forever's National Board of Directors

PF/QF National Board of Directors adds Chairman of Omaha World-Herald Company

Omaha, Neb. – March 24, 2008 – Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF) announce that John Gottschalk has been elected to the organization’s National Board of Directors. A lifelong outdoorsman and conservationist, Gottschalk is Chairman of the Omaha World-Herald Company. The 17-member board meets quarterly and oversees the operations of Pheasants Forever, Inc. and Quail Forever.

Gottschalk joined the Omaha World-Herald as a general management executive in 1975, after having launched his publishing career in 1965 at the Sidney (Nebraska) Telegraph. He rose to become only the fifth CEO and publisher in the newspaper’s 122-year history and served eighteen years in that capacity through 2007. Outdoor recreation and conservation have received considerable attention throughout his journalism career, with both editorial and financial support a consistent priority.

The Omaha World-Herald provides extensive soil and water conservation coverage and has annually awarded and publicized top conservation projects across the Midlands since the 1930’s. Gottschalk also created the company’s Branching Out program following an early heavy winter snowstorm in 1997 that destroyed thousands of trees in Omaha. The Branching Out program acquired and planted 500,000 trees in the metropolitan area, nearly doubling the canopy of city.

“I grew up hunting pheasant and ducks and turkeys in northwestern Nebraska,” Gottschalk said, “One of my favorite hunting spots is in the environs of my boyhood home, near Smith Lake. As a young Boy Scout, my troop planted the first trees around the 300-acre lake in the early 1950’s. Today, it’s very satisfying to see the entire lake surrounded by mature trees for all to enjoy. Conservation has always been part of my life, and now I’m thrilled to be a part of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, where conservation is a way of life.”

Gottschalk currently serves as a director of Pacific Mutual Holding Company and Pacific LifeCorp and as a director of Cabela’s, Inc., Election Systems and Software, Inc., and McCarthy Group, Inc. He has also served on the board of The Nature Conservancy. He has been honored by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and the Boy Scouts of America with national public service awards and has extensive involvement in regional and national organizations, including chairing the World USO Board of Governors. The Carmen and John Gottschalk Foundation keep him and his wife active in many philanthropic activities. They have two married daughters and one grandson who recently completed his hunter safety certification course in Nebraska and with whom Gottschalk is looking forward to spending time afield.

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasant, quail, and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education.  PF/QF has more than 120,000 members in 700 local chapters across the continent.
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For additional information please visit www.PheasantsForever.org and www.QuailForever.org

Kevin Paulson

Kevin Paulson is the Founder and CEO of HuntingLife.com. His passion for Hunting began at the age of 5 hunting alongside of his father. Kevin has followed his dreams through outfitting, conservation work, videography and hunting trips around the world.

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