The following update was mailed to project donors in late December of 2010. (The cost of printing and mailing the update was donated by the Tony Dean's Acres Steering Committee).
To: Tony Dean’s Acres Contributors Re: Project Update Date: December, 2010
It has been a little over two years since the death of Tony Dean, outdoor communicator, conservationist and sportsman.
Since his death, a group of his family, friends and colleagues have been working to continue his legacy by partnering with the South Dakota Parks and Wildlife Foundation to raise funds to purchase land in South Dakota in Tony’s memory. The land parcels - to be called Tony Dean’s Acres - will provide public outdoor recreation, and carry on Tony’s commitment to environmental education.
We want to take this opportunity to provide an update on how the project is progressing.
Fundraising Efforts Shortly after Tony’s death, a restricted account was established through the South Dakota Parks and Wildlife Foundation, for the purposes of accepting donations. A variety of fundraising projects have been held, including two auctions, pheasant hunts, and a Tony Dean Festival. In addition, several conservation organizations have made donations to the Fund. Through these efforts, as of December 1, 2010, over $128,000 has been deposited in the Tony Dean’s Acres Fund. Of this amount, $106,500 will be utilized for land acquisition and/or permanent easements. The remainder of the funds, and any additional money raised in the future, will be dedicated to youth conservation education programs.
Partners Several conservation organizations and agencies have agreed to partner with us on this effort, including: • Ducks Unlimited: $100,000 is committed • National Wild Turkey Federation: $6,500 (already in the Fund) • Pheasants Forever: $50,000 is committed (of this amount, $25,000 is already in the Fund) • The Nature Conservancy: $200,000 is pledged • Lake County Pro Pheasants: $50,000 is committed (with the caveat that this money be spent on land purchases in Lake County, SD) • South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks: Will provide a three-to-one match using Pittman Robertson dollars.
Other major partners include: • South Dakota Parks & Wildlife Foundation • U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS)
Land Acquisition As a result of planning meetings with Tony’s family, it has been decided that rather than purchasing one large tract of land, smaller tracts of land will be purchased adjacent to existing Federal Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) and State Game Production Areas (GPAs) in several South Dakota counties. Specific parcels of “round out” acres and willing sellers have been identified, and the landowners have been contacted. The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks will handle the realty work required to secure these properties and then, subject to GFP Commission approval, these acres will be placed on the permanent state management rolls of the Department, and will be managed for multi-species habitats and wetland/water conservation. Currently we anticipate purchasing as many acres of wetlands and associated habitat as our collective partner money will allow.
Future Plans > On the “federal” side of the project, we are applying for a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Grant in March, 2011, with the hope of obtaining a $1,000,000 grant for the purchase of roundout parcels to at least seven federal Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) in central and eastern South Dakota. > We will continue accepting contributions to the Tony Dean’s Acres Fund, to be allocated to environmental and conservation education to youth programs. Since Tony Dean’s wife Darlene is an avid supporter of youth programs, our committee asked for and received permission from the Tony Dean family to call this the Tony and Dar Dean Youth Education Program. We will be working with the South Dakota Outdoor Campus to establish specific criteria for funding youth education programs.
Our Thanks We wish to thank you again for your past support of the Tony Dean’s Acres Project. This is a worthwhile endeavor which has involved countless volunteer hours by dozens of people who are committed to fulfilling the vision of Tony Dean: to enhance outdoor opportunities for everyone, and to make sure that young people have a place where they can learn about the outdoors.
Tony Dean’s Acres Memorial Project
Land Acquisition Initiative
Update for July 1, 2010
Background:Tony Dean passed away in October, 2008 after a long and dedicated professional career as an outdoor communicator, conservationist and sportsman.Following his death, as a fitting tribute to Tony, his family and friends worked hard to establish a memorial to continue his life’s work by providing “Acres” that will support wildlife habitat, provide public access for hunting and outdoor recreation and carry on his commitment to environmental education for youth.
Fundraising:In early 2009, the Tony Dean Memorial Committee and his family partnered with the South Dakota Parks and Wildlife Foundation (www.parkswildlifefoundation.org) to establish a restricted account for the purpose of accepting donations for Tony Dean’s Acres Memorial.
Throughout 2009 and into 2010, the Committee has been engaged in a variety of fundraising activities across South Dakota and in the upper Midwest, where Tony was well known.As of April, 2010, over $125,000 has been deposited in this Fund Account.$100,000 of this total is dedicated to working with conservation agencies and non-governmental organizations to purchase wetlands and grassland complexes in South Dakota.Ducks Unlimited provided $5,000 of this in February, 2009 to help kick start the Fundraising campaign.In addition to this amount, the Committee has also received a $5,000 Super Fund grant from the National Wild Turkey Federation and an additional $1,500 from the NWTF’s “A Place to Hunt” Program which will be applied to the land purchase project.
Consequently, there is a total of $106,500 from the Memorial Fund available for partner match programs for land acquisition and/or permanent easements.The remainder of the money in the Fund and any additional monies raised in the future will be dedicated to youth education programs in concert with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks Outdoor Campus environmental programs.
Projects Land Acquisition Features:As noted, Tony’s family and the Committee felt that it was important for this Project to raise as much money as possible so as to be a solid player in using partnership matches to implement as much wildlife land acquisition as possible from willing sellers in South Dakota.Conservation partners who have expressed an interest in being involved with this Project include:
These “Acres” will be purchased in fee title or by use of permanent conservation easements, where applicable, to support long term wildlife habitat and provide for hunting access and a variety of outdoor recreation.
As a result of planning meetings with Tony’s family, the Memorial Steering Committee and both SDFG&P and USFWS, it has been decided that the lands portion of the Tony Dean’s Acres project should be centered around the acquisition of “round-outs” to both existing Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA’s) owned and managed by USFWS and to existing Game Production Areas (GPA’s), owned and managed by SDGF&P.This would be accomplished by implementing the following:
1)South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks:The Department will use the following Sources and their Project dedicated funding amounts to match with Pittman Robertson (PR) dollars SDGFP has available on a three to one match:
A)Ducks Unlimited:$100,000 (plus DU’s original donation of $5000 to the Memorial Fund)
B)Tony Dean Memorial Fund: $106,500 (which includes NWTF’s total donations of $6500)
C)Pheasants Forever: $25,000 as of 5/26/10 and another $25,000 in 2011
D)Lake County Pro Pheasants: $50,000 with the caveat that LCPP money be spent for round-outs/purchases located in Lake County, SD.
E)Wild Turkey Federation: $6,500 total donations to Memorial Fund
The private funds noted above, matched three to one with PR Dollars, equals $844,500 for this portion of the Tony Dean Memorial Project in 2010.
SDGF&P has identified 6 or 7 GPA round-out opportunities from willing sellers in several counties inSouth Dakota.Depending on land values, there is an opportunity to add approximately 2200 acres to the GPA land base operated by GFP.GFP would do the site identification and the realty work required to secure these properties and they then, subject to GFP Commission approval, would be placed on the permanent management roles of the Department and managed for multi-species habitats and wetland/water conservation.
2)U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service:USFWS Wetland Management District at Madison, South Dakota would be the USFWS lead in determining the acquisition for WPA round-outs, primarily in the northeast counties and generally along the I-29 corridor counties.USFWS would assist in writing a North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grant (NAWCA) using the following qualifying partner match dollars:$200,000 pledged from TNC with the possibility of more;SDGF&P may also be able to provide NAWCA matching dollars from qualified land purchases. The overall goal is $1 million combined.USFWS federal budgeted funding and Duck Stamp dollars can’t be used for NAWCA match.NAWCA Grant dollars can be used to acquire either GPA or WPA round-outs, so we have some built in flexibility if we are successful in securing the NAWCA Grant monies.
Madison WMD has identified 6 or 7 opportunities for WPA round outs that, if successful, could addapproximately 3400 more acres to the total WPA acre base in South Dakota, depending upon land values/costs.USFWS would do the realty work, site identification and long term management in accordance with their directives for habitat and wetlands conservation. The USFWS will use Duck Stamp dollars to purchase these round-outs and this effort will be the USFWS commitment to the Tony Dean’s Acres Project.
Grant Administrator:Joe Duggan, Conservation Director for Pheasants Forever (PF) has requested that Pheasants Forever be the Grant Administrator.PF will serve as the Grant Administrator and Tom Tornow will assist with the Grant proposal.This will help meet grant deadlines for submission and establish a point of contact for coordination with the NAWCA Staff.
What do Partners Get:As these round-outs are acquired, both the lands currently under GPA/WPA management and the added round-out acreage will be placed under the “Tony Dean Acres Memorial Project Lands Inventory” by both SDGFP and USFWS.They will be signed accordingly with all project partners and their logo noted on each sign.They will be noted as Tony Dean’s Acres in SDGFP walk-in atlas and related land access and management material with sponsoring logos and partner names in as many places as can be accommodated.At some point, there will be a selection of one of the properties where a dedication ceremony involving the family, volunteers and sponsoring partners can celebrate and invite the outdoor media.A suitable cairn with all partners’ names and logos will be dedicated and invitations to attend sent to all partners.We are looking to do a photo essay on this Project in an edition of the South Dakota Conservation Digest as the Project moves forward.
The main objective is to add these acres of public access and habitat management for South Dakota sportsmen and women in Tony’s memory.Designing this Project in this manner provides for several locations across the State where Tony Dean’s Acres can be accessed by the public and managed for wildlife values in addition to allowing flexibility in future acquisitions if and when more funding can be raised in the future on the land conservation side of the Project’s vision and goals.
TonyDean.com Website Updates:As the property acquisitions proceed we will plan on updating this report approximately every 3 to 4 months until the purchases are completed.At some point, we will attach a file of maps and photos of the individual properties and note their locations so that people can follow the development of the Project.When the new Outdoor Campus facility is completed in Rapid City, we expect to coordinate with both the Outdoor Campus facilities in Rapid City and in Sioux Falls to establish the environmental education support programs that are the second part of the overall Project.We will provide updated summaries of that effort as it progresses on the website also.
Contact Persons:Our sincere Thanks to the folks and Organizations listed below for their interest and help in making this Tony Dean’s Memorial Acres Project a reality.Without their assistance not much of this would have been possible.
1) Tom Tornow – Madison Wetland District – U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Thomas_Tornow@fws.gov; Office Phone: (605) 256-2974
2) Paul Coughlin – SD Department of Game, Fish & Parks; Wildlife Program Administrator/Habitat Management; Office Phone: (605) 773-4194
