Page 19 - Safari Trails December 2017
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AIR BOAT (18 X 8’), 502 CU. INCH CHEVROLET ENGINE 502 HP RATING WAS PURCHASED FOR OKLAHOMA DEPT OF WILDLIFE
     CONSERVATION USE. Over the past several years, the ODWC has worked to develop comprehensive lake-level plans supporting
     Japanese millet-seeding programs on Oklahoma Corps of Engineers lakes. Most of these areas are inaccessible to conventional
     boats due to very shallow water depths and are quite extensive in size, ranging from just a few acres to several hundred. The
     airboat offers a much higher degree of safety and durability, in addition to increased accessibility to the seeding areas, essential
     to ensuring the program’s continued success.

     ODWC Contributions – Since the foundation of the Oklahoma Station Chapter of SCI, over $ 300,000 has been funded for various
     Wildlife Department programs either through direct funding or purchase of equipment for ODWC use.

     Education

     OSU SHOTGUN CLUB – OSU Gun Club Representing Oklahoma State University, we are dedicated to practicing and teaching
     gun safety while also participating in recreational shooting.  We participate in competitions with other universities all over the
     United States, including but not limited to Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, Kansas, and others. OSCSCI worked with the gun club to
     fund their new Trailer and cargo container for on-site storage for all equipment as well as Liberty Safe for storing shotguns used
     by club members.

     SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR YOUTH EDUCATION & OUTDOOR PROGRAMS – Archery in the Schools program ($
     19,500), Last Frontier Council - Boy Scouts of America; Eddy Eagle Gun Safety program; Make a Wish Foundation, Youth Hunter
     Education Challenge, & the 4H Youth Shooting Team.  Further provided initial funding to the ODWC to facilitate The Oklahoma
     Scholastic Shooting Programs and introduction in the schools of the Explore Bow Hunting Program

     OKLAHOMA CITY GUN CLUB YOUTH SHOOTING AREA – Helped fund the structures needed to create a separate youth shooting
     area and the gun club with a $1500.00 donation

     OKLAHOMA DEPT OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COLORING BOOKS - We purchased 65,000 wildlife conservation coloring books
     for school children.

     APPRENTICE HUNTER PROGRAM -An annual youth essay writing contest that focuses on America’s hunting heritage sponsored
     through the Okla. Dept of Wildlife Conservation. Two students in the 11-14 age category win scholarships to attend a weeklong
     conservation program. One boy and one girl, 15-17, each win a guided pronghorn antelope hunt and presentation of their
     mounts at the Annual OSC Awards Banquet & Charity Fundraiser.

     THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS LEADERSHIP SCHOOL - Each year, our Chapter and the Okla. Dept. of Wildlife Conservation
     sponsor two Oklahoma educators, and some years 3, for an 8-day experience at SCI’s Granite Ranch near Jackson, Wyoming, in
     fields of wildlife ecology, firearm safety and shooting sports, camping, white-water rafting, stream ecology, natural resource
     management with a base knowledge from which to evaluate conservation efforts. They bring this training back to their
     classrooms to educate thousands of Oklahoma youth on the value of hunting as a wildlife management tool.

     STEP PROGRAM – Okla.  Dept of Wildlife Conservation’s Shotgun Training Education Program (“STEP”) – OSC-SCI supported this
     program by originally purchasing a custom built 26-foot long gooseneck equipment trailer. OSC purchased two additional
     trailers. These trailers carry the program’s portable trap machines, firearms, ammunition, safety and gun maintenance
     equipment.  In the past 10 years, 100,000 persons in the state of Oklahoma (65% are youth under the age of 18) have
     participated in STEP, leaning the importance of hunting as a conservation and management tool and improving their shooting
     skills to ensure the humane harvesting of wildlife.

     OPERATION GAME THIEF TRAILER – Okla.  Dept of Wildlife Conservation’s Operation Game Thief  (“OGT”) – OSC-SCI supported
     this program by supplying funding in excess of $28,500. The OGT is a program of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife
     Conservation designed specifically to stop illegal killing of the fish and game which belong to YOU, whether you’re a sportsman
     or not. It’s a big problem with no simple solution. Help from the public sportsmen, makes a difference.
       One day before the opening of a recent deer season, two men killed four whitetail bucks. Late one summer night, three men
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