Chair’s Corner

by Glen Landrus

Chair

BIGGER AND BETTER

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” — Henry Ford

Ihope all of you were able to get out and enjoy some fresh air and outdoor activities this fall. In the Pacific Northwest, it felt like we skipped over fall and went right from summer to winter! I live in close proximity to Hells Canyon so it is always nice to get out on a drive or a hike and enjoy seeing some of the greatest wild sheep habitat anywhere —and the fruits of our labor with lots of big healthy lambs going into our winter months. Speaking of winter, for the WSF staff and your board of directors, winter means full on Wild Sheep Week® Convention planning! That said, I wanted to delve deeper into some of the great events we have planned that I encourage everyone to attend:

Ram Awards/FNAWS & International Awards now on Thursday, January 12th at Noon in Expo Center

Under the leadership of WSF director Tony Caliguiri, some big changes are being made to the Ram Awards. First, the event will now be held on Thursday at noon in the Expo Center. We’ve noticed some diminishing attendance over the last few years so we thought a few modifications were in order. In addition to it being a lunch time event, it is also FREE! Come in at noon on Thursday and check out the amazing program put on by the Ram Awards, FNAWS & International Awards committee. This is a great celebration of some amazing hunts, but more importantly, it is a celebration of the success of our mission of Putting and Keeping Wild Sheep On the Mountain®. Thanks again to the committees for their stellar leadership and thank to VP of Operations Kim Neiters for her leadership as well. This should be bigger and better than ever so we’ll see you all Thursday at noon!

Ladies’ Luncheon on Friday, January 13th from Noon to 2 pm in the Naples Ballroom at the Peppermill

From all I’ve heard, Ladies’ Luncheon Chair Jann Demaske and her committee have put together another amazing event with a Black and White theme. For many years, the Ladies’ Luncheon was a social event with the hopes of returning some profit to fund our WSF Mission programs. However, that is no longer the case! In addition to being a great social event for our lady conservationists, this has grown into an important mission funding program for WSF! Last year this event put over $130,000 back into our mission programs! Thank you to Jann and her committee for taking this event over the top! This year they have a Broadway star to sing the National Anthem, a fashion show of items up in the live auction including Azyre Gear, Williams Furs and the Alaska Fur Gallery. They’ve secured full donations from Josh Spies, Tara Banks, and Justin Young. In addition, the Pocapalia Trust Fund bronze will be sold during the live auction. So for our dedicated female contingent, get your ticket to the Ladies’ Lunchen and enjoy free champagne as we raise critical funds for wild sheep!

Life Member Breakfast on Saturday, January 14th in the Peppermill Banquet Room

What a program we have planned for this year! The annual WSF Life Member Breakfast once again will be held in the Peppermill Banquet Hall on Saturday, January 14th. Doors open at 7:30 am—and don’t be late because our annual hat raffle will sell out quickly. Once again, a huge thanks to SITKA Gear, KUIU, Kryptek, Stone Glacier and Barney’s Sports Chalet for donating the hats! If you’re new to the LMB, each hat has a raffle ticket inside, and we will draw for $1000 floor credit for each of the brands! Cost is $50 for one hat. We will offer only a limited group of all five hats for $200 as well. NEW this year is a raffle for a Weatherby Thinhorn Edition rifle! We will only sell 200 tickets at a cost of $100 each so we expect those to go quickly as well. Thank you, Weatherby for supporting the LMB.

We are really excited to welcome our keynote speaker for the LMB, Charles Hartford. This year’s Life Member Breakfast welcomes Mr. Charles Hartford, a passionate hunterconservationist, father of four, retired military officer, and a recently kickedout member of the <1Club®. Charles

“I would like to thank Frontier Outfitters for making this Once in a Lifetime hunt a success for my son. This experience will be something that we will remember forever.” - Mike Sawicki -

“the pelly mountains of yukon stone outfitters concession in the yukon delivered a great fannin ram in my quest for all the subspecies.” - terry rathert -

will share some of his past life and combat experiences and memorable takeaways from having just returned from a first successful sheep hunt. Among them, what military training has taught him about being and staying mentally and physically prepared so we can all stay on those sheep mountains. Thank you, Charles for your service and for joining us this year.

Of course, no LMB would be complete without our drawing for a desert bighorn hunt with La Palmosa. Remember that all WSF Life Members get one chance in the drawing and our Summit Life Members get three. In addition, we are looking for at least 50 members to serve as LMB Patron Sponsors at a cost of $1000! Along with to helping underwrite the event, Patron Sponsors earn additional chances in the drawing. Contact our WSF World Headquarters or LMB Chair Glen Landrus if you are interested. Thank you to Emilio Rangel and La Palmosa for making this amazing hunt available for our LMB!

<1Club® and <1iClub® Reception

Whether you are eligible for the drawings or not, this is a must-attend event on Friday afternoon from 4 pm to 6 pm in the Expo Center. If you are looking to go on your first sheep hunt, join WSF and get your ticket to this event! The odds for winning a great hunt will never be better! If you’ve already harvested a North American Wild sheep, then it’s time to join the >1iClub® and put yourself in for a drawing for some amazing international adventures. We will also have a huge selection of raffle prizes, so get there early and buy some tickets. Good luck to all of you in the drawing for your first North American or International sheep hunt!

As you can see, we have a stacked agenda, so I hope to see you all in January at Sheep Week® 2023! WS

Yours in Conservation,

SCAN ME

LIST UPDATED QUARTERLY

YOU CAN HELP WSF PUT AND KEEP WILD SHEEP ON THE MOUNTAIN BY JOINING THE CHADWICK RAM SOCIETY!

In 2013 the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) launched a legacy campaign, Ensuring the Future of Wild Sheep, that includes tax and estate planning opportunities, counsel and advice, major gifts, and giving societies to raise the funds required to ensure the future of the wild sheep resource by directing even more dollars to wild sheep restoration, repatriation and conservation. Our vision is to build a series of funds from which a targeted annual offtake of ~4% will allow WSF to direct 100% of our convention fundraising to mission programs. Our goal is $5 to $6 million annually in mission focused Grant-In-Aid and other funding to “Put and Keep Wild Sheep on the Mountain.” With your help we can achieve this vision and goal.

The Marco Polo Society was established in 2008 as WSF’s premier giving society. To compliment the Marco Polo Society and expand this giving concept to ALL WSF members and wild sheep advocates, WSF created a new giving society in the fall of 2013 – the Chadwick Ram Society with five benefactor levels enabling tax-deductible, donor directed gifts from $250 to $5,000 per year to mission areas of the donor’s desire. Donations can be made to the WSLF Endowment Fund, WSF Conservation Fund, our annual Convention and/or Area of Greatest Need to fund specific programs and initiatives. Chadwick Ram Society members are recognized with an embroidered badge displaying their Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum benefactor level. Members may also “upgrade” their benefactor levels within the Chadwick Ram Society as well as to the Marco Polo Society.

For more information on the Chadwick Ram Society, the Marco Polo Society or the Ensuring the Future of Wild Sheep campaign, contact WSF President & CEO, Gray N. Thornton, Development Manager, Paige Culver, or visit our website.

We cordially invite you to join the Chadwick Ram Society and help Ensure the Future of Wild Sheep!

WSF SALUTES THE 2022 NEW/UPGRADE

CHADWICK RAM SOCIETY® MEMBERS

CRS MEMBERS ARE LISTED IN ALPHA ORDER BY BENEFACTOR LEVEL

PLATINUM - $50,000 George and Grace Vandenberg (CO)

GOLD - $25,000 Daniel Hinz (WY)

SILVER - $10,000 David Antley, Jr (OR) Kemp Copeland (TX) Jeff Geiger (OH) Marty Harsin (NV) Lucas Humbard (AK) Kyle & Tess Hurley (ID) Dan & Jessica Kluth (ID) Zachary McDermott (WY) Craig & Laureen Nakamoto (IA) Michael Opitz (WA) Greg Pope (WY) Steven Quisenberry (VA) Gary Sessions (NM) Steve & Carrie Thompson (IN) Jeremy & Jessica Tripp (ID)

BRONZE - $5,000 Aaron & Amy Burkhart (MN) Alan Day (OR) Hal & Emily Frye (AK) Paul & Tami Hanson (WA) Keith Hite (PA) Shad & April Hulse (UT) Rachel Kidwell (AK) Steve King (NM) James Lewis (AK) Christopher & Kari Loomis (MT) Robert E. Mays, Jr. (NV) Elliot Niemi (AK) Jerry Remaklus (AZ) Mike Schmillen (MN) J.T. “Skip” Tubbs (MT) Bob Van De Rostyne (WY)

COPPER - $2,500 Thomas Adrien (GA) Michael Avery (LA) John Blankenship (MA) Angie Bloomquist (AK) Eric Cavage (PA) Christopher Estes (TX) Jason Gentz (MN) AD Hancock (FL) Charles W. Hartford (CA) Grant Hill (AK) Scott Homrich (MI) Anthony & Chris Lingenfelter (CA) Brendon McCarney (AK) Kenneth Mee (CA) Jacob Mock (AK) Carl Nelson (AK) Shawn Nelson (WY) Laura Pettett (CO) Daryl Reid (CA) Alan Shultz (CA) Jay Stanford (AK) Zachary Walton (CA) Kelli White (AK)

Sheep Family Snapshots

“I became a member of the Chadwick Ram Society so I could do more to help sheep than what my Lifetime Membership could accomplish alone. I have been fortunate to take a few rams in my life, so putting more sheep back on the mountain than I have taken is a real goal of mine. Being a Chadwick Ram Society member is a start to that pledge that I made to not only myself but the Wild Sheep Foundation family and anyone who loves Wild Sheep…” -Jason Matzinger