ROCANVILLE — It was another huge night for the Rocanville & District Wildlife Federation, which held its annual awards night fundraiser on April 12. The sold-out event brought 200 people to the Rocanville Nutrien Hall, with organizers seeing more than $20,000 being raised for wildlife and conservation.
“That money also goes back,” explained Cody Hunter of the Rocanville Wildlife Federation. “We donate to various causes throughout the province. That’s what this weekend’s all about, fundraising money for various causes.”
The Fleming Archery Club, Hannin Creek Youth Camp and Pheasant Raising Program are a couple of examples Hunter gave of projects within the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation that the Rocanville branch supports.
“We donate $1,000 to that every year,” he said of the pheasant program. “Then we donated around $50,000 the last couple of years to Habitat Trust, which is just the main collection for the province, to use that money to buy land wherever they see fit.”
The Rocanville branch has been around since 1981 and currently boasts 683 members from around the area. Total donations to Habitat Trust since the group was assembled have reached over $340,000, and the local branch has also donated more than $80,000 to Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation programs. The Rocanville branch has nearly 6,500 acres in the RM of Rocanville set aside for wildlife, and well over 10,000 acres in Moosomin, Whitewood, and surrounding areas.
“That’s a lot of land, and it’s preserved for future generations,” Hunter said.
The Rocanville branch is also involved with other forms of conservation, like stocking a healthy fish supply in Moosomin Lake.
“We release walleye fry into that lake, I think it was about 50,000 last year we released,” Hunter said. “We have done that for the last number of years.”
Another related project is tanks at school containing fry as an education component for children to watch to their life cycle.
“They can watch the fish grow into fry, and then once they’re big enough, they’re released into the lakes, and the survivability of that, too, is drastically increased,” Hunter explained. “It gives the students a huge education into what that cycle is like and the land stewardship portion of it, too, and why it’s important.”
The Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation is often synonymous with hunting activities, but membership is open to all who enjoy the great outdoors—and the animals that dwell therein.
“That’s what we’re about is showing stewardship of the land,” Hunter said. “Obviously, a big number of us are hunters, but a lot are just people who like the wildlife and the outdoors too. This land, you can hunt on it when it’s hunting season, but it’s also available for people to camp on. You can’t have fires, but you’re allowed to set up an overnight tent, do stargazing, bird watching, hiking, and shed hunting. It just opens up a lot of doors for people to still be able to access a lot of land.”
Awards
A highlight of the night was handing out the hardware, with award recipients as follows:
Membership Sales: Helen Sheppard, 235; Irene McLean, 96; Dwayne Paskell and Ron Hilgers, 93; and Cody Hunter, 28.
Boys Walleye: Tavin Easton, 2.79 lbs
Junior Perch: Jadyn Wahoski, 15.7 oz
Boy’s Jackfish: Dyson Torry, 9.51 lbs
Adult Jackfish: Erik Kuzek, 18lbs 10 oz
Men’s Walleye: Mark Kruppi, 7 lbs 4 oz
Girl’s Pike: Blayne Easton, 9.75 lbs
Pheasant: Jordon Hunter, 3.6 lbs
Mule Deer: Kendry Lewis, 176 7/8
Elk: Drew Parks, 263 4/8
Junior Whitetail Typical: Halaina Johnson, 144 5/8
Typical White-tailed Deer: Callie Haryung, 152 3/8
Muzzle Loader White-tailed Deer: Orin Williamson, 157 4/8
Non-Typical White-tailed Deer: Orin Williamson, 157 4/8
