Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com.


A local non-profit conservation organization will host its Annual Banquet next week and is also celebrating accomplishments over the past year.

The Livingston County Chapter of Pheasants Forever is headed up by President Shane Preston. He says the local Chapter had existed for a number of decades but around the 2016 – 2017 time frame, it went to the wayside – which he thinks was because a lot of members and leadership had aged out of wanting to be so involved. Preston and some others restarted the Chapter in 2021 and he says they’ve been running strong the last couple of years.

The non-profit’s mission is to protect, restore, and enhance wildlife habitat by establishing and maintaining local projects. Preston says they do that by creating, improving, and preserving upland bird habitat; fostering youth hunting and outdoor activities; and developing, distributing, and fostering conservation education.

Preston said the past year was busy with a 4-H pollinator project in which a number of kids planted seeds to create habitat for pollinators and many went back over the course of the summer to see how the project fared. The group also hosted a youth hunt in the fall at Variety Farms Game Preserve in Hartland that he says went really well, noting a lot of the kids are interested in hunting.

That’s important because the Michigan Department of Natural Resources reports the state’s deer population continues to grow but the number of hunters is on the decline. Numbers are also declining in other states as well.

Preston told WHMI the Chapter takes seriously that hunters are the greatest conservationists out there so they want to recruit, attract, and retain hunters – noting one way of doing that is to reach today's youth and provide exciting hunting opportunities locally in Livingston County.

Preston further commented that in today’s age, any civic organization is competing against social media, youth sports, and various other factors – saying there have never been more opportunities to stay home. He says they want to offer an authentic experience for kids, adults, and like-minded individuals to get outdoors and actually make a difference in their local community.

The non-profit will be hosting its Annual Banquet next Friday, February 16th – it’s biggest event of the year. Doors open at 5:30pm and dinner is served at 7pm. Guests can enjoy gun auctions, silent auctions, bucket raffles, door prizes, games, and more. All proceeds will support the Chapter’s efforts for local habitat development and hunting opportunities for new and youth hunters.

Preston said the trajectory the local chapter is on is very strong and on the upswing, and they‘re hoping to have well over 150 people in attendance this year.

Preston added they have a unique conservation model in that it is Pheasants Forever is the only national organization with a model of the local chapter keeping 100% of funds raised. While they belong to a larger national organization that has a voice on federal and state conservation policies, he says local chapters are tasked with finding local projects for local funds.

In addition to the banquet, Preston said there are numerous volunteer opportunities and the local Chapter meets at the American Legion Hall in Howell at 7pm on 1st Thursday of the month.

Tickets for the Annual Banquet can be purchased via the provided web link. A press release detailing this year's Youth Hunt is also attached.

Preston will be a featured guest on WHMI's Viewpoint program on Sunday at 8:30am. That can later be accessed in the podcast section of our website.