Conservation Education

by Ryan Brock

WSF Youth Education Coordinator

YOUTH WILDLIFE CONSERVATION EXPERIENCE

This will be the 12th year of the Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience (YWCE), the youth component of the Sheep Show®. The goal is to showcase our largest event of the year, pulling in a variety of conservation groups and over 100 volunteers a day to provide inspiring hands-on conservation and outdoorrelated education. We simply want to inspire the next generation!

The first two days of the YWCE focuses on bringing in local school groups for a customized experience. Two-hundred eighty students will attend on Thursday, January 12th and another 320 on Friday, January 13th.

The day will begin with presentations on wild sheep conservation efforts and outdoor career seminars. The focus is on helping these young minds understand what wildlife conservation is and how conservation is different from preservation. The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation will be introduced and examples of wild sheep conservation efforts will be given. The career seminars allow opportunities for specialists in a variety of outdoor-related careers to introduce a variety of jobs that most students don’t even know exist. The lunch keynote speakers are the Life Membership Fund Scholarship Award winners for this year. They will talk about their journey in life that has taken each of them to pursue a degree in wildlife management and give pointers on what kids can do now to start in a similar direction if desired. After lunch, around thirty hands-on learning stations will provide vast opportunities in introducing skills, conservation, and hobbies of the outdoors.

On Saturday, January 14th, the YWCE opens to the public. Running from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., the entire F-Meeting Rooms and Hall Four will be filled with about 1,000 kids and their parents. Free youth raffles and all the stations will keep youth of all ages engaged for hours. The Tracks Program, an additional program for youth ages 12-17 will also take place. This involves picking up a Track Program card at the YWCE registration and taking it to participating vendors to learn more about the outdoors and conservation. The cards are put in a special raffle that takes place back at the main YWCE stage at 3:00 p.m. for large

item prizes, including Kenetrek boots, Sitka gear, and a rifle.

Help us make this year a huge success. Let families who are attending Sheep Show® know about this free youth event and help us spread the word to northern Nevada.

NEW LASER SHOT

Our Laser Shot, a critical component for many of our Shooting, Hunting & Ethics Education Programs (S.H.E.E.P) finally had its last event this year. Lasting for over a decade and allowing somewhere in the estimated range of at least 25,000 kids to learn and practice shooting skills, finally broke. We made a plea to our WSF community

BIGHORN SHEEP CURRICULUM KIT

DO YOU KNOW A TEACHER WHO TEACHES LIFE SCIENCE, OR THEMED UNITS ON WILDLIFE?

The Wild Sheep Foundation has put together an educational kit that includes a variety of information and hands-on items that teaches about bighorn sheep and their conservation. The kit can be checked out for week-long segments for free and shipping is paid for. Kit includes a ram skull, GPS collar, hide sample, curriculum book with over 20 lessons, Ovisopoly game, consumables to hand out to the students, a curriculum book and a USB drive with PowerPoints and movies for lessons with an optional “talk to a sheep expert” through Skype or Zoom class meeting.

To reserve your week, contact: Ryan Brock Youth Education Coordinator Rbrock@wildsheepfoundation.org

and were very happy with the results. A number of chapters and individuals raised funding to help our program get a new one, which will be showcased at its first large event, the Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience.

We are so grateful to the following organizations and members who made this possible. Multitudes of kids will surely benefit. • Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn • Northern Nevada SCI • Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society • Utah Wild Sheep Foundation • Washington Wild Sheep

Foundation • Brett Jefferson • Glen Pyne • Zach Walton

SHOTGUN SHOOTING CLINIC

In October, we sponsored and helped assist with a shotgun shooting clinic at Capital City Gun Club in Carson City, Nevada. A Boy Scout troop was looking to introduce the boys to shooting. Connections were made and Fran Jacobs stepped in to help make this a success. Fran, a coach for USA Shooting and Main Line Trap Academy, came with a wealth of knowledge and coaching experience.

From the start, Fran easily relaxed the nerves of the boys with his coaching tactics. Most of the boys had never shot anything besides a BB gun, so shooting a shotgun was exciting, but also involved some anxiety at the beginning for some. A safety briefing took place first. Kids learned the acronym MAT to remember “muzzle”, “action”, and “trigger” in order to help them understand the three components that need to be paid close attention to when shooting. They practiced carrying unloaded shotguns and learned about the differences between 20 gauge and 12 gauge shells, including the color. They learned the differences between pump, semiautomatic, and breakaway shotguns, and even watched a shotgun shell be cut apart to understand how the powder, primer, wad, and shot work together to propel the shot through the air. Then they practiced with unloaded shotguns on the trap line.

Finally, it was time to load and try a few shots. At first, the focus was on placement of the shotgun on the shoulder and simply shooting with no trap target being thrown. After nerves relaxed, targets began to fly. With craftful coaching, they began to break clays.

The clinic covered so many aspects that most of the boys were even able to fulfill the majority of the shotgun shooting merit badge. In the end, all boys improved and walked away with a sense of understanding the safety and hands on elements of the shooting sport of trap. WS

DO YOU NEED ONE MORE RAM TO COMPLETE YOUR FNAWS?

This unique opportunity is made possible through the Bernie Fiedeldey “1 More For 4 Challenge” and all the amazing sponsors listed below. Bernie has generously offered to match up to $25,000 in donations for the 1 More For 4 drawing and you can help sponsor a hunt for 2023. If you would like to be recognized as a sponsor of the 2023 “1MF4 Challenge”, please contact Paige Culver at 406.404.8758 or pculver@wildsheepfoundation.org.

WSF SALUTES THE 1MF4 SPONSORS FOR 2023

Renee Snider Richard Pierce Darla Fiedeldey David Combs Kevin Gilbert Darin & Tonya Fiedeldey Charles & Denise Swanson Midwest Chapter Kip & Sue Slaugh Kris Kohlhoff Jeff Haynie WA WSF ECWSF

CURRENT AS OF PRESS TIME Receive one of these beautiful medallions commemorating the “1 MORE FOR 4” Challenge. Donations of $500 receive a bronze medallion and contributions of $1000 or more receive a 1.75” silver medallion (2 Troy ounces of .999 pure silver) in a presentation case.