Banquets planned to benefit wildlife

Volunteers with a passion for elk, ducks and turkeys are once again busy organizing Inland Northwest fund-raising dinners and auctions to boost wildlife conservation projects.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited and the National Wild Turkey Federation are particularly active, raising millions of dollars to improve habitat for these and other wildlife species.

Turkey federation chapters, for example, have been instrumental in helping wildlife agencies trap and relocate turkeys in a program that’s been wildly successful in boosting hunting opportunities and local economies in Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

The Missoula-based Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has spearheaded habitat conservation programs in the Blue Mountains as well as a huge initiative to protect wildlife habitat on private timber company lands in the Yakima Region.

Ducks Unlimited has restored wetlands on thousands of acres in Eastern Washington and North Idaho for waterfowl and numerous other species.

“We put a lot of emphasis on hunting because the majority of DU’s constituency is duck hunters, but it’s all the habitat values for other wildlife that make these projects so important,” said Ivan Lines, DU’s regional private lands coordinator in Spokane.

Small creatures such as amphibians and songbirds as well as big creatures such as elk and moose benefit from wetlands, he said, noting that human development has drained about 50 percent of America’s original wetlands.

The water is already starting to gather in the ditches and behind the dikes in a new project to create about 450 acres of wetlands on a 7,200-acre parcel of public land in Lincoln County. DU began a partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to enhance the wildlife values of the land immediately after the agency purchased ranch featuring scablands and scattered ponderosa pines north and south of U.S. Highway 2 along Telford Road.

“We have 20 to 30 projects in the region, including several along the Kootenai River near the Canada border,” Lines said.

A 1994 project finally filled with water in 2004, creating 150 acres of wetlands near the Winchester Wasteway in Grant County.

“This is being managed as a quality hunting area by the Fish and Wildlife Department and sportsmen love it,” Lines said. “But the coolest thing was hearing the biologists doing the department’s aerial survey during spring and they couldn’t believe there were 20,000 pintails in that area. Pintail populations are in decline, but these birds that spend their winter in the California rice fields now have another important place to stop and rest on their spring migration north to prairie potholes in Canada. We’re an important part of the bigger picture.”

The projects organized by DU and the other sportsmen’s conservation groups depend on money that trickles in from fund-raising banquets held in communities across the continent. Many people eagerly pay $30 to $60 for a dinner ticket as an initial sign of support. Pre-registrations are appreciated.

Some of the upcoming fund-raisers in this region include:

Mule Deer Foundation

Spokane, April 8 at Mukagowa-Fort Wright Commons. For tickets and details, contact Mike Jones, chapter chairman, 922-1268.

Wild Turkey Federation

Okanogan County Strutters, Feb. 4. Contact George Martin, (509) 422-0849.

Pend Oreille Turkey Talkers, Feb. 10, Cusick American Legion. Contact: Alice Moran, (509) 445-1401.

Lincoln County Longbeards, Feb. 4 at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds in Davenport. Contact: Curt Wood (509) 725-8385.

Moscow Palouse Longbeards, Feb. 18, University Inn-Best Western. Contact Amber Gray, (208) 882-3304.

Spokane Inland Empire Chapter, March 25, Southside Community Center. Contact: Jennifer Mimnaugh, 292-8151.

Colville Upper Columbia Gobblers, April 1. Contact: Bruce Hubbard, (509) 684-6505.

Panhandle Double Beards, April 7, Coeur d’Alene Inn-Best Western. Doyle Renolds, (208) 783-4701.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

Scheduled banquets for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation include:

Moses Lake, Feb. 4. Contact: Megan Cormier, (509) 765-6276.

Spokane, Feb. 4, starting at 5 p.m. at Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute. Contact: Michelle Dane, 475-0431.

Walla Walla, March 25. Contact: Betty Wilson (509) 529-8147.

Kellogg/Wallace, March 18. Contact: Frosty Greenfield, (208) 744-1504.

Newport, March 11. Contact: Brad King, (509) 671-1134.

Moscow, April 8. Contact: Bruce Anderson, (208) 882-2874.

Sandpoint, April 1. Contact: John Malison (208) 266-0141.

Coeur d’Alene, April 1. Contact: Kelly or Brad Hogeweide, (208) 762-1329.

Ducks Unlimited

Upcoming banquets for Ducks Unlimited include:

Pullman, Feb. 11 in Pullman. Contact: Joe Ford (509) 872-3030 or Vic DeMacon (509) 332-3243.

Spokane, March 24. Contact: Shawn Crawford 251-8361 or Gordon Hester 755-7565.

Spokane Valley, in April or May. Contact: Jason Moline, 991-9422.

Post Falls Prairie Chapter, March 11. Contact: Dennis Hayes (208) 762-5322.

St. Maries, March 24. Contact: Pat Flach (208) 245-5667.

Kellogg, April 22. Contact: Gene Turbak, (208)-784 6814.