2023 AWARDS OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: JIM AND LEANN CRAIG
For more than 30 years, Jim and Leann Craig of Bloomfield, Indiana, have been supporting and promoting WSF in spectacular ways. They have attended every FNAWS/WSF convention since 1988 – other than the San Diego FNAWS convention
102 WILD S HEEP® ~ SPRING 2023
due to a car accident. They are WSF auction and permit buyers, auction donors, convention and showbooth volunteers, and table buyers. As advocates and ambassadors for conservation, the Craigs have brought many celebrities into the WSF family, including the First Lady of Indiana Janet Holcomb, who is a new sheep hunter and graced the
convention issue of Wild Sheep® magazine with her stunning Yukon ram. In addition to giving so much to WSF, the Craigs have been 25-plusyear volunteers and committee and banquet chairs for WSF partner organizations, including the NRA, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Safari Club International. The Craigs are heavily involved in youth education and outreach and for years operated the Craig Family Camp, a youth shooting and hunting education experience on their farm. They continue to educate through regular presentations to youth groups and by opening their Craig Wildlife Museum to area schools and other organizations for young people. Every year, the Craigs host numerous youth hunts, and they mentor both young and old to be sheep hunters and wild sheep conservationists. In addition to all this service, the Craigs are avid mountain hunters. Jim has completed 7 ¾ FNAWS. He has actually completed eight but does not count a bighorn he took in British Columbia in 1994, as it was taken by a grizzly while he was waiting two days on the mountain for a helicopter rescue after he was brutally mauled and severely injured by another grizzly while packing out the ram. Humble, impactful, tireless and dedicated servants of WSF, the Craigs are also tough. Now in their 80s, these two sheep soulmates continue to support and advocate for what they consider the finest conservation organization in the world. They stand as examples of how, as we age and mature, we can remain relevant leaders steering the world in a positive direction. Perhaps it is best summarized by WSF’s Auction and Awards Director Kim Nieters, who said as the Craigs accepted their award, “God gave you to us.” WS