In March, Conservation Force began accepting sponsorships from select for-profit service entities. This is a natural progression. Partnerships between the commercial and non-profit conservation communities are renowned in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. The best example is the 12 percent excise tax imposed on all firearms, ammunition, archery and fishing tackle manufacturers at the time of manufacture. These self-imposed taxes constitute as much as one-third of conservation infrastructure in the United States. The taxes are self-imposed because the industry was behind the underlying legislation and vehemently defends its continuance and dedicated, exclusive utilization.
Now Conservation Force will develop that category of sponsorship to marshal greater support from the industry that itself is a beneficiary of all that we do. By being selective, the partnerships will complement the image of Conservation Force and those for-profit entities that serve the hunting community the best. We expect that these sponsorships will bloom into conservation project partnerships, but at this stage the crucial funds are directed to maintaining and expanding our basic operations.
The first two sponsors are indeed examples of service leaders. They are Global Rescue and Fauna & Flora International. Global Rescue truly offers unsurpassed medical evacuation and rescue services. They uniquely provide evacuation and rescue from the field, which is singularly important if one is to have the service at all. It is what Chrissie and I have, particularly for political/security-type evacuations that we may need in our conservation and hunting travels. Global Rescue can be accessed through a link on Conservation Force’s web site or directly at www.globalrescue.com.
Fauna & Flora International is John Meehan’s import service company in New York. We have long worked with them as trophy import problems have waxed and waned. His understanding and advice has been invaluable. His sponsorship will further help us and permit us to better give Fauna & Flora the credit it deserves for its exceptional services to the hunting community. You would not believe how important their counsel has been all these years. Their web site is www.fauna-flora.org, and it can be reached through Conservation Force’s web site as well.
These two sponsors are super-qualified. We are now inviting other for-profit entities to join forces with Conservation Force.
