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CLICK PATCH TO JOIN FTA ********************* WHAT'S NEW?** Circle of Friends Trapper's Data Base HOME ALERTS CHAPTERS/AFFILIATES COLLEGE CONVENTION FUR TAKER MAGAZINE GOVERNINGBOARD LINKS MAKE A DONATION MERCHANDISE MOTHER NATURE BROCHURE STATES CONTACT US	NEWS FROM YOUR FUR TAKER FAMILY News items may also appear in the Fur Taker magazine and on the state page of the associations. If you wish to submit a news item e-mail it to NEWS. 6/06/08 St. Lawrence County Trappers Association during the past year has: Awarded a $500 scholarship to a high school senior who will be attending college this fall to pursue a career in a wildlife or natural resource management field. Sending 5 kids to N.Y.S. Dept. of Environmental Conservation Education Camps. Held our annual Sportsmen Recognition Dinner/Auction, which is our main fundraising event of the year. Conducted informational presentations for area sixth grade students at Indian Creek Nature Center’s Conservation Field days. 12/11/06 Chapter 7-E Northwest Indiana During 2006, they held a Spring Meet and had an election of Officers. They also had a Fall Meet and a Trapper Education Course. In 2007, they will be helping with a Trailblazer Event at Camp Buffalo. They will also have a raffle and a fund raiser at the NTA convention. 5/03/06 Chapter 7B Indiana On April 15th, at the FTA 7-B spring meeting Tim Rose was elected to serve as president of the chapter. Other officers are: Jesse Melton, vice-president; Jim Mahoney, secretary-treasurer; Charlie Masheck, director; Elliot Murdock, director. FTA 7-B looks forward to a having a growing chapter. They would like to invite everyone to stop by their booth at the FTA convention in Evansville, June 15-18. 11/12/05 Chapter 17 East Central Illinois Fur Takers Cody Wyman, president of East Central Illinois Fur Takers, Chapter 17, received the American FFA Degree at the 78th National FFA Convention in Louisville, KY, on October 29. It is the highest degree awarded by the National FFA Organization and recognizes Wyman's demonstrated leadership abilities and achievements in agricultural business, production, processing and service programs. Less than one in 165 FFA members advance through their local chapter and state FFA degree programs to earn the degree. Congratulations, Cody. Affiliate 20B Missouri Trappers Association is forming the MO Trappers Education Foundation (MTEF) a 501c(3) corporation that will allow them to receive monies (grants, funds, donations,etc.) from others and apply them to trapping education, mostly, but not exclusively, for the youth who are interested in trapping. They are also establishing and maintaining the Al Perry National Hunting, Trapping, and Trading Museum in Brunswick, MO, as a mostly trapper’s museum to preserve what is left of Al’s museum in Cliff, NM. Chapter 17I North Central IL Fur Takers sets up a trapper’s booth for 11 days at the McHenry & Boone County Fairs. They also participate at Silver Springs for National Hunting & Fishing Days. They hold a trapper’s class for all first time trappers 18 & under. They have a one-day fall meet open to all trappers. Chapter 7G SE Indiana Fur Takers hold a spring and fall meet at Scott County Conservation Club in Scottsburg, IN. They hold a cookout and have trapping demos. They set up at the Jim Strader’s Show in Louisville, KY in February. They hold sweepstakes on a bear trap and muzzleloader. Affiliate 33 Louisiana Trappers & Alligator Hunters will hold a state convention the last Saturday in September at the North LA Woodman of the World Youth Camp, 770 Fish Hatchery RD, Forest Hill, LA 71430 Chapter 3A North Dakota Fur Takers helped this past year during the North Dakota State Fair in a booth promoting trapping and furbearer management. They also had members spend 2 evenings at a 4-H camp giving demos on snaring, making water sets, and how to skin and stretch a muskrat pelt. During the past year they have been working with Game and Fish personnel on a new trapper education manual. This manual will cover trapping, calling, snaring, hound hunting, and fur handling. Chapter 24C West Tennessee Fur Takers hold a number of fur sales each year. Each year in June they set up a booth the Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoor Festival where they pass our Fur Taker magazines and other trapping material. In the fall they hold a Family Affair meeting with a potluck dinner and trapping demonstrations. Affiliate 24A Tennessee Free Trappers Association has three meetings and holds three fur auctions each year. They set up booths at the Boy Scout Jamboree, Deer and Turkey Expo, and West Tennessee Youth Outdoor Jamboree. They have appeared on a cable TV sportsman’s outdoor show informing the public about trapping in Tennessee. They have been on a radio show for sportsmen and did a 2-hour talk show on trapping and selling fur in Tennessee. Chapter 17 East Central Illinois Fur Takers set up a display at the Iroquois County Fair in 2003 and will be so again in 2004. Members of the chapter regularly assist with mass mailings made to the membership of FTA. Recently, they financed and put together a renewal mailing to past FTA members. Affiliate 10B Michigan Trappers Association has developed a Novice Trapping Course. The course is designed for the youth that are interested in trapping. New to trapping adults also attend this course. It is held over a week end in the latter part of September each year. Certified Michigan Trappers do the instruction as well as DNR Officers. It is held in Rose City, Michigan. For complete information contact Jack Otteson at jjotteson@m33access.com or 989-685-8092. Michigan Trappers Association Lifetime Member Jack S. VanHoose passed away. Trapping, fur buying as well as mink and fox ranching were a big part of Jack’s life. He was often referred to as the Outdoorsman’s Outdoorsman. Since fur was so much of his life, his family asked that memorial donations be made to MTA. These donations along with a most generous family donation were used to set up the Jack S. VanHoose Trapping Endowment. This Endowment is for the continued education and preservation of fur trapping. At this time the funds are being used to sponsor 2 kids to the Michigan Trappers Association Novice Trapping Course and provide an annual contribution for the funding to operate the course. Michigan Trappers Association solicits donations to this Endowment at all functions that it has representation as well as District Meetings. If interested in making a donation to this Endowment please send it to The Jack S. VanHoose Trapping Endowment, c/o Gary A. Schinske, Michigan Trappers Association, 10781 Baker Road, Greenville, MI 48838. Affiliate 47 Vermont Trappers Association during this past year put on two gun raffles and a banquet that netted their organization monies that allowed them to donate three set of display furs to educational organizations, send 30 plus young people to conservations camps, and six $500 college scholarships. It is their intention to continue with these programs to help educate the non-trapping public and look for additional projects that will promote trapping. Affiliate 37 New Hampshire Trapper Association is quite active with an agenda of long standing and continuing activities, and have recently established some new goals which we will be working on into the future. We have a fairly new website at http://www.nhtassoc.org/ which can provide a tremendous amount of information to supplement some of what I will mention here. The website is being heavily visited and offers a significant amount of information of interest to all trappers. Partially the website is becoming a repository of information related to the trapping history or the NHTA. We encourage all members and other individuals who may have regionally significant trapping or early fur trade information of an historical nature to contact the website coordinator so that material may be preserved and shared with future generations. Partially the site is about education, is definitely an opportunity to put our best foot forward, take credit for all the environmental and socially good things NHTA does as a group, and establish or state what we stand for, our purpose and goals. Recently the NHTA established two new committees which will over time play an enduring part of defining and preserving what the NHTA has been in the past and what it is today. There is a desire within the NHTA that a permanent multipurpose facility be obtained. This facility would have land attributes which might complement some of our annual events and have a building which may be useful for monthly meetings and also adequate as a permanent display with secure storage capacity for Trapping and NHTA historical items. The NHTA has established a Building Committee to move this effort on and has begun the practice of setting funds aside for this goal. We do not expect that our goal will be achieved overnight but have taken this first step on the trail that leads to the destination we desire. Another new effort at NHTA is the establishment of an Advocacy Committee. This group will work toward establishing formal NHTA positions on any and all issues or concerns which may benefit the NHTA by so defining said positions. The committee may be assigned with a specific issue to investigate, deliberate, and report on. The committee will also work on other issues of merit which will be presented to the Board. The NHTA will discuss and vote on all positions before they become an established policy or position. This effort is intended to encourage the NHTA to better define who we are and what we stand for. We are busy right now getting prepared for the Fall Rendezvous to be held September 17-18 at the NHF&G Owl Brook facilities in Holderness NH. The details for this event are now significantly formalized and best viewed by visiting the website and clicking the moving link on the Home page to observe the Rendezvous information and updates. It is during this annual event that we have our Fall Business meeting to elect Officers, present awards, draw ten winners in our Rifle Raffle and conduct other business. Free dry camping is available, there will be trapping related demonstrations all weekend, vendors on hand to supply your equipment needs, and a Trapper Education Certification Course given on Saturday September 17th to those who had previously signed up. Sign up for the TE course by contacting Lisa Collins at NHF&G, phone 603-271-3212. In conclusion let me state that we at the NHTA wish to congratulate Briana J. Donovan of Deerfield NH who is the applicant selected to receive this years Frank J. Sinclair Memorial Scholarship. This award is available annually in the amount of $500 to a Undergraduate or Graduate student attending a New Hampshire college and majoring in Wildlife Science or a closely related curriculum. Briana has presented a fine essay on Trapping which may be viewed at the NHTA website on the News page. Information about the Scholarship and other NHTA programs may be viewed on the Service Projects page.