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Ensuring the Future

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Awards

Awards

by Paige Culver

WSF Development Manager

REFLECTION, RELATIONSHIPS, AND THE “BUTTERFLY EFFECT”

“It’s on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So, we must dig and delve unceasingly. — Claude Monet

s humans—and these days very busy humans—reflection A is a difficult skill to hone. We are so caught up in the busyness of the moment and the stresses of tomorrow that we often forget to look in the rearview mirror and appreciate the journey thus far. As I sat down to decide what I should write about in the Wild Sheep Foundation world as it relates to development, it seemed unnecessary and a bit redundant to talk about the various giving societies, what our goals are for this year and all the work that needs to be done. If you’ve been a Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) member at any level for any length of time, you should be privy to the amount of money WSF distributes each year in Mission and Program funding via our annual report, and you will already know where we encounter obstacles as hunter conservationists and you will likely have an idea of the many avenues you can help with in either financial support or volunteer time to make an impact. But I’d like to save that for another issue. What is on my heart to focus on is our relationship to one another.

Pouring through past Wild Sheep issues (quite frankly looking for inspiration for this article) something struck me. Something so simple and yet, in the moment, profound. I saw faces and names of folks I didn’t even know existed six years ago. I’ve become friends with them. We’ve laughed together over stories about family and children. I’ve cried with some of them over the same. I’ve cheered them on in their efforts in both work and personal pursuits, and they’ve done the same for me. Some are folks I fully intend to greet with a big hug in January. Others are no longer with us, but their impact in my life still helps guide my decisions today. I’ve poured over incredible stories of triumph and tragedy on the mountain. I’m also swelling with pride as I revisit just a few of the success stories I’ve been here to experience, like the reintroduction of a new herd in Montana for the first time in 15 years through years of relationship-building with key stakeholders. Taking our North American Conservation Model to central Asia and being an example of success to our friends across the globe. Fighting the fight in D.C. against proposed legislation from groups who want to see our way of life disappear. Seeing more and more women come into the wild sheep conservation community, not as bystanders or a “plus one”, but as active and engaged members who care about the wild sheep resource. I am reminded of the tens of thousands of mostly urban kids exposed to the merits of stewarding our natural world through our

(must be present to win)

ATTENTION MARCO POLO SOCIETY MEMBERS

Mark your calendar for Saturday, January 14th from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

(Additional details and personal invitations to follow)

This year’s Marco Polo Society reception is proudly being sponsored by our friends at Cervantes Family Vineyards and Best of the West. We hope you will join us for this special gathering of friends and conservationists for a fabulous winetasting event, plus someone is going to walk away with a custom Best of the West rifle package.

S.H.E.E.P. program. This leads me to the dollars distributed to El Nino Children’s home and the lives impacted in their mission to keep siblings together when their home can no longer be home. (Phew, got misty writing that bit.) Remembering the active military and veterans positively impacted by other non-profits like Wounded Warriors Outdoors whom we are so incredibly proud to work with. It all comes back to one thing. Relationship. Our relationship to one another and the world around us. While we all unite under the banner of wild sheep, we are individually and collectively so much more than that. The tangential impacts of our work as a foundation have a ripple effect that we may never see the full impact of. Much like the theory of the butterfly effect. This, you may know, is the idea that small things can have nonlinear impacts on a complex system. You may have seen this imagined in a commonly-used visual aid in which a butterfly flaps its wings and sets off a series of multiple cause and effect events resulting in a typhoon. While we are all aware that such a chain of events may or may not ever actually take place because of a tiny little butterfly, the theory still applies. One small action can result in massive, exponential change. While the Wild Sheep Foundation is relatively small, my friends, we are NOT butterflies. Our true impact, the final and total realization of our efforts today, will likely be something that none of us will live long enough to see. But my goodness…if you stop and take a look in the rearview mirror you might be impressed by how far we’ve come. WS

For more information on the Wild Sheep Foundation’s giving societies or to make a donation, please contact WSF Development Manager, Paige Culver at 406-404-8758 or pculver@ wildsheepfoundation.org.

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