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North Dakotan Wins Friends of NRA National Survey Prize

National Rifle Association

FAIRFAX, Va.--(AmmoLand.com)- Chuck Russell of Bismarck, North Dakota, is the winner of the 5th Annual National Survey conducted by the National Rifle Association’s Friends of NRA program. He received the grand prize of a Ruger Signature Series Mark I .22 pistol. Chucks’s name was chosen from over 1,500 people that submitted surveys this past year.

A NRA member who has attended Friends of NRA banquets for years, Chuck had never before won anything from an event and was very excited about his early Christmas present.

Friends of NRA is a grassroots fund-raising program that fosters community involvement, raises money and gives 100% of the net proceeds to qualified local, state, and national programs.

For the fifth year in a row, Friends of NRA banquet attendees had the opportunity to fill out surveys asking about their recent experiences at their local Friends of NRA banquet. Their feedback provides insight as to how Friends of NRA staff can improve events and better cater to communities in the future. Friends of NRA banquets support community services such as firearm education, hunter safety, wildlife conservation, range improvements, youth marksmanship, and law enforcement, among others.

Participation in next year’s contest starts January 1, 2010. Attend a Friends of NRA banquet in your area, fill out the survey, and become eligible to win a Winchester 1300 Pump Action Shotgun 12GA. The contest deadline is December 8, 2010.

For additional information on the 2009 Friends of NRA Survey please call 1-800-672-3888, ext. 1354. You may also visit www.friendsofnra.org/events to locate an event or banquet in your area.

About:
Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen’s group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military.

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Pheasants Forever Adds Conservation Program Experts in North Dakota
Farm Bill Biologists in Forman and Dickinson helping landowners with conservation options.

Pheasants Forever

Saint Paul, Minn. – -(AmmoLand.com)- Pheasants Forever is expanding its Farm Bill Biologist program in North Dakota with the addition of two new positions created in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and local Soil Conservation Districts. Matthew Olson of Fort Ransom, North Dakota, is the new Farm Bill Biologist based out of Forman and Jeff Potts of Watertown, South Dakota, is the new Farm Bill Biologist based out of Dickinson.

Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program is designed to educate farmers and landowners – through one-on-one consulting – about the benefits of conservation programs (such as the federal Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP), as well as assist those farmers and landowners after programs have been implemented. Pheasants Forever first began employing Farm Bill Biologists in 2003 and now has over 45 Farm Bill Biologists working in seven states – Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Farm Bill Biologists have contacted and consulted over 28,000 landowners, resulting in the improvement of over 1.3 million acres of land for wildlife.

“These positions come at an especially critical juncture for North Dakota, where nearly 775,000 acres have expired from the wildlife-friendly CRP in the past five years and another 1.8 million acres are slated to expire in the next five years,” said Jim Inglis, Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator, “With continuous CRP practices and other conservation programs, landowners have numerous conservation options. The challenge has always been informing them, and these Farm Bill Biologists meet that challenge head on.”

Matthew Olson
A native of Fort Ransom, North Dakota, Olson joins Pheasants Forever after four years with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. An avid outdoorsman, Olson has an excellent knowledge of the Forman and surrounding area. Olson earned his B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Management from North Dakota State University. He is based out of the Wild Rice Soil Conservation District Office in Forman and can be contacted at (701) 724-3247 or via email at molson@pheasantsforever.org.

Jeff Potts
Potts joins Pheasants Forever after earning his B.S. in Wildlife Fisheries and Science from South Dakota State University. He already has extensive experience in the natural resource field, having worked previously with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks as a wildlife technician and a land/habitat intern. Potts is based out of the NRCS office in Dickinson and can be contacted at (701) 225-3811 x118 or via email at jpotts@pheasantsforever.org.

Pheasants Forever also has a Farm Bill Biologist position in Jamestown, North Dakota. Steve Stensgard can be contacted at the Jamestown NRCS office (701)252-2521 ext. 129 or via email at SStensgard@pheasantsforever.org. For more information on Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program, contact Jim Inglis, Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator, at (419) 569-1096 or via email at jinglis@pheasantsforever.org.

About:
Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasant, quail, and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever has 125,000 members in 700 local chapters across the continent.

For additional information please visit www.PheasantsForever.org and www.QuailForever.org

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