Thursday, October 1, 2009
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New York, NY-Field & Stream, the world's leading outdoor magazine, announced the 2009 Heroes of Conservation today. The six recipients of the award are featured in the October issue of the magazine, on newsstands now, and are also featured in episodes of Field & Stream's HOC TV, available now at www.FieldandStream.com/heroes. Field & Stream's Heroes of Conservation Awards recognize sportsmen dedicated to the grassroots protection of fish, wildlife, and habitat.
"Sportsmen don't just talk about protecting wildlife and wild places," says Anthony Licata, Editor of Field & Stream. "They actually do it. The six heroes we're honoring are all out in their community doing grassroots conservation work, while also inspiring a lot more people to get involved and do their part. We're proud to recognize and celebrate their accomplishments."
The six heroes will be celebrated at the fourth annual Heroes of Conservation Awards Gala, sponsored by Toyota, at the RonaldReagan Building and International Trace Center in Washington, D.C., on October 21, 2009. Toyota will honor the six heroes at the event, presenting them each with a $5,000 grant toward their conservation projects. One honoree will be named the Field & StreamConservation Hero of the Year and win a new Toyota Tundra.
"This is a very important program to Toyota because it acknowledges individuals who go out of their way to make the environment a better place," said Keith Dahl, National Marketing Manager for Toyota. "These people aren't looking for gratitude or recognition. Instead, they work tirelessly because they want to make a difference - for our generation and generations to come. We take great pride in being able to spotlight their efforts on a national stage."
The outstanding conservation efforts of these Heroes can be seen in action on Field & Stream's HOC TV. Each week the program will highlight a different honoree's project, demonstrating their commitment and dedication to the preservation of natural resources. For a complete schedule, or to catch the latest episode, please visit www.FieldandStream.com/heroes.
The Heroes of Conservation Awards are open to individuals involved in a hunting- and/or fishing-related conservation project that is well under way or completed. Selections are based on a number of factors, including leadership, commitment, project growth, and results. One grand prize winner will receive a new Toyota Tundra, and a cash prize of $5,000 will be awarded to each finalist. For complete details, including rules, regulations, and nomination instructions for 2010, please visit www.FieldandStream.com/heroes.
FIELD & STREAM'S 2009 HEROES OF CONSERVATION:
William Edwards II, Oden, Ark.
William Edwards has spent his life practicing and teaching conservation through Oden High School's Woods and Waters Club. As Oden's principal, he is the club's leader, and under his watch more than one-fourth of the school's students have joined. Members maintain a stretch of highway and the local rifle range, build bird boxes for the public, and raise catfish for a local derby, where they help young contestants bait hooks and handle fish. "We're a school of natural conservationists," Edwards says. "Our best fisherman is like our star athlete."
Mark Taylor, Everett, Wash.
"The Lake Sammamish kokanee salmon will be extinct within a decade if we don't help," says Taylor, president of the Washington Council of Trout Unlimited. He's devoted his life to saving those fish by restoring habitat and counting fry with the aid of students and Boy Scouts. He also places acoustic tags on adult salmon. To pay for it, he's started the "Adopt-a-Kokanee" program in which a $100 donation buys a picture of a tagged kokanee and updates of its movements, and $300 buys a trip to help catch and tag the fish in person. His hope is to get the fish classified as a distinct subspecies in need of protection.
Derek Fong, Santa Clarita, Calif.
Fong, vice chairman for the Santa Clarita Valley Chapter of Quail Unlimited, has raised over $12 million for habitat restoration projects in the Los Padres and Angeles National Forests. These include erecting concrete guzzlers to ensure that animals have water to drink and planting trees in areas destroyed by fire. "I beat on the doors and ask for money," he says. "I'm the whip." During his tenure, turkeys and quail in the area have flourished. He also raises funds for the Boy Scouts and has been nominated for president of the Hunter Education Instructor Association of Southern California.
Howard Kern, Westlake Village, Calif.
Freeze-dried food first drove Howard Kern to fish on backpacking trips with his father. "That stuff wasn't too good in the '70s and I thought, 'There's a lake full of fresh fish to eat,'" Kern says. He is now making sure those fish are there for future generations. Kern spends up to 40 hours per month as the volunteer coordinator for the Golden Trout Restoration Project. Besides organizing projects and raising funds, he helps maintain cattle-exclusion fences and repair stream banks. A former Boy Scout and avid flyfisherman, Kern helped the Scouts create a flyfishing merit badge in 2002.
Billy Sandifer, Corpus Christi, Texas
For decades, converging currents in the Gulf of Mexico amassed tons upon tons of trash on the Padre Island National Seashore (PINS). "The most trash in Texas," says Sandifer. "It had been there since I was a kid. In 1994, I didn't find it acceptable any longer." Since then, he's led an annual grassroots project called the Big Shell Beach Cleanup, which has removed 1.83 million
pounds of trash from the area, including some 800,000 pounds in the wake of Hurricane Ike. He also started a group called Friends of Padre to ensure the cleanups continue after he's gone. He has raised over $38,000 for the PINS.
Jon Hillmer, Baraboo, Wis.
Hillmer, the president of an equipment rental company and vice president of the local Pheasants Forever chapter, helped start KAMO (Kids and Mentors Outdoors), whose slogan is "Tradition Forward" (KAMOkids.org). Background-checked volunteers from the four KAMO chapters, all in Wisconsin, hunt and fish with children who might not do so otherwise, and teach them about preserving the land-similar to what Hillmer's father, Bud, did with him and other kids during his 43 years as a hunter-safety instructor. Hillmer teaches youths to make such things as duck calls from scratch, and on the conservation side, they have planted hundreds of trees and created a pond on his land (which is stocked for the kids). Hillmer, 50, doesn't have children of his own. "Maybe that's why I do this," he says. "The simplest things can mean the most to them."
Field & Stream has been committed to the preservation of natural resources for more than 100 years. The magazine helped to popularize the term "conservation ethic" in 1907 and in 2005 featured an article titled "Heroes of Conservation," focused on the local efforts of everyday outdoorsmen. Out of this, a new program was created to recognize sportsmen's efforts to protect fish and wildlife. Since the introduction of the program, the magazine has been proud to profile and support the conservation efforts of more than 100 men and women.
The 2009 Heroes of Conservation judging panel consists of four lifelong conservation leaders:
o Jeff Crane―President, Congressional Sportsman Foundation
o Chris Horton―Conservation Director, BASS
o Christine L. Thomas―Dean, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
o Hod Kosman―2008 Field & Stream Conservation Hero of the Year
o Anthony Licata―Editor, Field & Stream
Field & StreamÂ, The World's Leading Outdoor Magazine, is the world's largest and most recognized outdoor publication. Devoted to the complete outdoor experience and lifestyle, Field & Stream gives its readers the knowledge and inspiration to pursue the sports they love. It celebrates the outdoor experience with great stories, compelling photography, and sound advice, while honoring the traditions hunters and fishermen have passed down for generations. Established in 1895, Field & Stream is the country's largest-circulation special-interest magazine and is published 11 times per year by the Bonnier Corporation. The Bonnier Corp. (www.bonniercorp.com) is one of the largest consumer-publishing groups in the United States and is the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences with more than 40 special-interest magazines and with related multimedia projects and events.
"Sportsmen don't just talk about protecting wildlife and wild places," says Anthony Licata, Editor of Field & Stream. "They actually do it. The six heroes we're honoring are all out in their community doing grassroots conservation work, while also inspiring a lot more people to get involved and do their part. We're proud to recognize and celebrate their accomplishments."
The six heroes will be celebrated at the fourth annual Heroes of Conservation Awards Gala, sponsored by Toyota, at the RonaldReagan Building and International Trace Center in Washington, D.C., on October 21, 2009. Toyota will honor the six heroes at the event, presenting them each with a $5,000 grant toward their conservation projects. One honoree will be named the Field & StreamConservation Hero of the Year and win a new Toyota Tundra.
"This is a very important program to Toyota because it acknowledges individuals who go out of their way to make the environment a better place," said Keith Dahl, National Marketing Manager for Toyota. "These people aren't looking for gratitude or recognition. Instead, they work tirelessly because they want to make a difference - for our generation and generations to come. We take great pride in being able to spotlight their efforts on a national stage."
The outstanding conservation efforts of these Heroes can be seen in action on Field & Stream's HOC TV. Each week the program will highlight a different honoree's project, demonstrating their commitment and dedication to the preservation of natural resources. For a complete schedule, or to catch the latest episode, please visit www.FieldandStream.com/heroes.
The Heroes of Conservation Awards are open to individuals involved in a hunting- and/or fishing-related conservation project that is well under way or completed. Selections are based on a number of factors, including leadership, commitment, project growth, and results. One grand prize winner will receive a new Toyota Tundra, and a cash prize of $5,000 will be awarded to each finalist. For complete details, including rules, regulations, and nomination instructions for 2010, please visit www.FieldandStream.com/heroes.
FIELD & STREAM'S 2009 HEROES OF CONSERVATION:
William Edwards II, Oden, Ark.
William Edwards has spent his life practicing and teaching conservation through Oden High School's Woods and Waters Club. As Oden's principal, he is the club's leader, and under his watch more than one-fourth of the school's students have joined. Members maintain a stretch of highway and the local rifle range, build bird boxes for the public, and raise catfish for a local derby, where they help young contestants bait hooks and handle fish. "We're a school of natural conservationists," Edwards says. "Our best fisherman is like our star athlete."
Mark Taylor, Everett, Wash.
"The Lake Sammamish kokanee salmon will be extinct within a decade if we don't help," says Taylor, president of the Washington Council of Trout Unlimited. He's devoted his life to saving those fish by restoring habitat and counting fry with the aid of students and Boy Scouts. He also places acoustic tags on adult salmon. To pay for it, he's started the "Adopt-a-Kokanee" program in which a $100 donation buys a picture of a tagged kokanee and updates of its movements, and $300 buys a trip to help catch and tag the fish in person. His hope is to get the fish classified as a distinct subspecies in need of protection.
Derek Fong, Santa Clarita, Calif.
Fong, vice chairman for the Santa Clarita Valley Chapter of Quail Unlimited, has raised over $12 million for habitat restoration projects in the Los Padres and Angeles National Forests. These include erecting concrete guzzlers to ensure that animals have water to drink and planting trees in areas destroyed by fire. "I beat on the doors and ask for money," he says. "I'm the whip." During his tenure, turkeys and quail in the area have flourished. He also raises funds for the Boy Scouts and has been nominated for president of the Hunter Education Instructor Association of Southern California.
Howard Kern, Westlake Village, Calif.
Freeze-dried food first drove Howard Kern to fish on backpacking trips with his father. "That stuff wasn't too good in the '70s and I thought, 'There's a lake full of fresh fish to eat,'" Kern says. He is now making sure those fish are there for future generations. Kern spends up to 40 hours per month as the volunteer coordinator for the Golden Trout Restoration Project. Besides organizing projects and raising funds, he helps maintain cattle-exclusion fences and repair stream banks. A former Boy Scout and avid flyfisherman, Kern helped the Scouts create a flyfishing merit badge in 2002.
Billy Sandifer, Corpus Christi, Texas
For decades, converging currents in the Gulf of Mexico amassed tons upon tons of trash on the Padre Island National Seashore (PINS). "The most trash in Texas," says Sandifer. "It had been there since I was a kid. In 1994, I didn't find it acceptable any longer." Since then, he's led an annual grassroots project called the Big Shell Beach Cleanup, which has removed 1.83 million
pounds of trash from the area, including some 800,000 pounds in the wake of Hurricane Ike. He also started a group called Friends of Padre to ensure the cleanups continue after he's gone. He has raised over $38,000 for the PINS.
Jon Hillmer, Baraboo, Wis.
Hillmer, the president of an equipment rental company and vice president of the local Pheasants Forever chapter, helped start KAMO (Kids and Mentors Outdoors), whose slogan is "Tradition Forward" (KAMOkids.org). Background-checked volunteers from the four KAMO chapters, all in Wisconsin, hunt and fish with children who might not do so otherwise, and teach them about preserving the land-similar to what Hillmer's father, Bud, did with him and other kids during his 43 years as a hunter-safety instructor. Hillmer teaches youths to make such things as duck calls from scratch, and on the conservation side, they have planted hundreds of trees and created a pond on his land (which is stocked for the kids). Hillmer, 50, doesn't have children of his own. "Maybe that's why I do this," he says. "The simplest things can mean the most to them."
Field & Stream has been committed to the preservation of natural resources for more than 100 years. The magazine helped to popularize the term "conservation ethic" in 1907 and in 2005 featured an article titled "Heroes of Conservation," focused on the local efforts of everyday outdoorsmen. Out of this, a new program was created to recognize sportsmen's efforts to protect fish and wildlife. Since the introduction of the program, the magazine has been proud to profile and support the conservation efforts of more than 100 men and women.
The 2009 Heroes of Conservation judging panel consists of four lifelong conservation leaders:
o Jeff Crane―President, Congressional Sportsman Foundation
o Chris Horton―Conservation Director, BASS
o Christine L. Thomas―Dean, College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
o Hod Kosman―2008 Field & Stream Conservation Hero of the Year
o Anthony Licata―Editor, Field & Stream
Field & StreamÂ, The World's Leading Outdoor Magazine, is the world's largest and most recognized outdoor publication. Devoted to the complete outdoor experience and lifestyle, Field & Stream gives its readers the knowledge and inspiration to pursue the sports they love. It celebrates the outdoor experience with great stories, compelling photography, and sound advice, while honoring the traditions hunters and fishermen have passed down for generations. Established in 1895, Field & Stream is the country's largest-circulation special-interest magazine and is published 11 times per year by the Bonnier Corporation. The Bonnier Corp. (www.bonniercorp.com) is one of the largest consumer-publishing groups in the United States and is the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences with more than 40 special-interest magazines and with related multimedia projects and events.
Contact:
Amanda McNally/Field & Stream/ amanda.mcnally@bonniercorp.com /212.779.5527
Amanda McNally/Field & Stream/ amanda.mcnally@bonniercorp.com /212.779.5527
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