Pheasants Forever’s National Pheasant Fest Draws Over 20,000 to Madison, Wis.
Over 1,000 attend Bird Dog Parade; Fest moving to Des Moines, Iowa, in 2010.
Madison, Wis. – -(AmmoLand.com)- Pheasants Forever’s (PF) National Pheasant Fest 2009 presented by Cabela’s, concluded today, drawing 20,255 people to Exhibition Hall at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, for the three-day event. National Pheasant Fest 2009 was PF’s fifth such event, and the first ever in Wisconsin. It was also the first Fest to be held with above freezing temperatures.
The show opened on Friday afternoon with nearly 1,000 in attendance for the show’s grand kick-off, a Bird Dog Parade of over 34 different sporting dog breeds at Exhibition Hall. The excitement carried into the weekend, as 20,255 turned out to see over 600 exhibit booths, hundreds of bird dogs and dozens of educational seminars. The attendance total includes over 1,100 new PF members who joined over the three-day weekend.
National Pheasant Fest 2009 will also leave a conservation legacy across Wisconsin and the upper Midwest. Over 500 landowners took advantage of the Fest’s Landowner Habitat Help Room, and an estimated 20,000 habitat acres were evaluated for management recommendations.
National Pheasant Fest was home to the first-ever Renewable Energy & Wildlife Habitat Forum presented by Alliant Energy, which examined the future of renewable energy and the opportunities for wildlife habitat. Wisconsin DNR Secretary Matt Frank took part in a roundtable discussion Saturday at the Forum which was moderated by Dave Nomsen, PF’s Vice President of Government Affairs. Dave White, Acting Chief, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) was also in attendance to deliver the keynote address at the National Pheasant Fest banquet on Saturday night.
Additionally, Pheasants Forever announced over the weekend that next year the event will be held in neighboring Iowa. National Pheasant Fest 2010 will be held at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines on February 26, 27 & 28, 2010.
“We want to thank Cabela’s for presenting our National Pheasant Fest 2009. They’ve helped make this a tremendous event for everyone that passed through the gates,” said Howard Vincent, PF President and CEO, “We also have to thank Pheasants Forever’s 30 chapters and over 7,300 members in Wisconsin who helped host a fantastic weekend.”
National Pheasant Fest combines a national consumer show, habitat seminar series, and family event complete with puppies, tractors, shotguns, and art. In fact, the Fest is the country’s largest event for upland hunters, sport dog owners, and wildlife habitat conservationists. For more information, log onto www.PheasantFest.org.
About:
Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasant, quail, and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education. PF/QF has more than 130,000 members in 700 local chapters across the continent.
For additional information about Pheasants Forever, please visit www.PheasantsForever.org