Ten Rivers History

The Ten Rivers chapter of Pheasants Forever was started in 2002 by a group of Lewis County residents concerned about the continued decline of bobwhite quail and other wildlife in the area. According to Tim Coy, chapter youth education coordinator, choosing to start a Pheasants Forever chapter was the logical choice for what the group wanted to accomplish.

"We wanted to make a difference right here in our own area. We didn't want to raise a bunch of money here only to have it used for habitat in places we'd never visit. Pheasants Forever was the only organization that would allow us to keep all the money we raised. That made the decision pretty easy."

The chapter held its first banquet at the Queen of Peace Hall in Ewing, Missouri in February of 2003 and saw an attendance of roughly 130. It didn't take long for the community to realize the benefits of local control of locally raised funds. Attendance at the next two banquets climbed so much that in 2007, the chapter moved its banquet to the newly-available Caldwell Building west of Canton, Missouri.

"We grew so much so fast that we just had to move to a bigger facility," said Rob Carmichael, chapter president. "We didn't want to have to turn people away so our only option was to go somewhere larger. The Caldwell building allowed us to do that."

With the steady increase in banquet attendance the chapter ramped up its community efforts to give back as much as possible to the community that supports it so well. Last year the chapter spent over $17,000 on conservation efforts in and around Lewis County. Each year it helps send numerous youth to 4-H and Envirothon events across the country and is in its second year hosting a youth pheasant hunt. The chapter sponsors numerous local conservation events and has a cost-share program set up with the Missouri Department of Conservation to help landowners create habitat on private land. The chapter also helps fund the publishing of The Bobwhite Chronicle - A monthly newsletter designed to promote quail habitat throughout Lewis County which circulates once a month as an insert in the Canton Press News Journal. Online versions of the newsletter are available at the Chapter News page.

For more information about the chapter, check out the tabs to the left.

History of the National Pheasants Forever Organization

Pheasants Forever was co-founded in 1982 by co-workers at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch, outdoor editor Dennis Anderson and national advertising director Jeff Finden. Both recognized a need for habitat restoration and preservation to ensure the future of pheasants and other wildlife.

PF's first publication entitled "Rooster Tales," published in February 1983. This became the forerunner of today's Pheasants Forever Journal of Upland Conservation. The fledgling PF held its first banquet on April 15, 1983, drawing 800 people at the inaugural banquet. In January 2007, PF's third-ever National Pheasant Fest in Des Moines, Iowa, became the largest event in PF history, drawing over 24,500 attendees over a three-day span.

Twenty-five years after its inception, Pheasants Forever has become a grassroots, nationwide upland conservation movement - a national conservation powerhouse. The organization has grown to 110,000 members with over 600 chapters across the U.S. and Canada. Nationwide, Pheasants Forever has spent $260 million on program expenditures, which have helped fund 347,000 habitat projects affecting 4.4 million acres across North America. Along the way, PF has continued to employ the same unique organizational model of empowering local chapters to determine how 100 percent of their locally-raised conservation funds are spent. This local control allows chapters to see the fruits of their chapter efforts in their own communities.

Pheasants Forever will celebrate its 25th anniversary in January 18,19 & 20, 2008 at National Pheasant Fest at the RiverCentre in St. Paul.