The NHWF has had a wonderful person serving as our Executive Director, and Janice Boynton had informed the NHWF that she would be retiring May 1, 2017. We will all miss her, as she is a calming voice and has been the backbone of the Federation. Her knowledge of the everyday work, her history with our organization and her ties with so many of the like-minded organizations and people is something that just doesn’t happen overnight.
With Janice leaving we have been hard at work trying to find a replacement that will be able to serve you with the passion and dedication Janice had. After many discussions we found an Executive Director from the ranks of our Board. Board Secretary, Ron Sowa asked to be considered for the role and after an interview process our Executive Committee and Board voted to hire Ron as the Federation’s new Executive Director. Ron’s dedication to conservation, passion for the outdoors and his Two Year Strategic Plan will serve you and the Federation well. He hits the ground running and has already made a difference. Ron has plans to strengthen the Federation through fund raising, membership drives, communications, conservation, education, and legislation. He has been a board member for a few years and has grown our membership as Chair of the Membership Committee. He will be an asset and we welcome him to his new role.
I wanted to thank everyone who helped make our 35th Conservation Banquet a success. We had a great crowd and we generated some much needed funding to carry us into this year’s budget.
To say our legislative season has been interesting is an understatement. SB48 is being retained at this time in the house and we will probably see that come back to us next year. SB48 is a study bill in which they want to study F&G and the F&G Commission. We know for a fact that the people behind the bill wish to radically alter the way the Department does business and the composition of the Commission. We keep hearing how money is the issue and if the F&G Commission takes on other members more money will come in from other sources. Our question continues to be “why haven’t those other sources helped in the past?” if in fact the F&G Department is something they are so passionate about. And who is pushing this you may ask, Human Society of the U.S. and the NH Wildlife Coalition.
If we are to remain strong, and we definitely need to be, we need more individual membership and club affiliation. This will allow the Federation to continue to lobby for sportsmen’s and sportswomen’s issues, giving us the clout necessary to be recognized by our State’s legislative body. When we testify in person and in writing membership size, i.e. “constituents” is a key part of the testimony.
Please sign up a friend and help us be a very strong voice when we speak for the sportsmen and women.
Thank you,
James Morse