Fisheries fellowship has been created
A donation by Walleyes For Tomorrow has created an endowment for fisheries research at UW-Stevens Point.
The conservation organization on Monday presented a $200,000 check to university officials.
Earnings generated by the funds will be used to support research by students at UW-Steven Point’s College of Natural Resources.
The program, called the Walleyes for Tomorrow Fisheries Research Fellowship, is the first endowed student fellowship in the history of the school’s fisheries program, according to the university.
“We are grateful for this incredibly generous gift from Walleyes for Tomorrow,” said Christine Thomas, dean of the College of Natural Resources. “Their members are dedicated conservationists who, by establishing this endowment, are benefiting students and faculty while helping preserve and protect our precious fisheries resources in perpetuity.”
Walleyes for Tomorrow was founded in 1991 and is based in Fond du Lac. It has 12 chapters and more than 2,000 members in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The organization’s mission is “to improve the quality of Wisconsin’s walleye and sauger fishing through habitat improvement, rearing and stocking, water quality improvements, and research studies.”
The funds provided to UW-Stevens Point were collected over the last 27 years, mostly from donations from corporations and individuals.
The money was kept in its own account since it was received separate from normal fundraising activities, said Walleyes For Tomorrow chairman Mike Arrowood.
The largest single source was Mercury Marine, which donated $80,000. But a myriad of contributors have sent checks of various amounts over the years, Arrowood said, including bequeaths from wills.
“We call it our legacy fund,” Arrowood said. “We’ve always been thinking about the best way to use it and decided earlier this year to work with UWSP on this.”
Arrowood said he first discussed the fellowship idea in January with Dan Isermann, UWStevens Point assistant professor and unit leader at the Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, as both attended the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Milwaukee.
Arrowood later made a trip to Stevens Point to lay more concrete plans which were subsequently approved by the Walleyes For Tomorrow board.
On Monday, Arrowood and Walleyes For Tomorrow vice president Gary Henschel made the formal donation in Stevens Point.
At its current level, the fund will generate an estimated $8,000 a year and support at least one fellowship project each year, according to the university.
The fellowships will be administered by the school through a competitive proposal process that favors projects with existing funding, preferably involve a graduate student, and have direct implications for walleye management in Wisconsin.
As the fund’s principal grows, additional projects will be supported each year.
Contributions may be made online at https://give.uwsp.edu/give-now and designating “Other Specific Fund – Walleyes for Tomorrow Endowment.”
Duck stamp on sale: The 2018-’19 Federal Duck Stamp was made available for sale on Friday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The stamp, featuring mallard ducks dropping into a marsh, was designed by wildlife artist Robert Hautman of Delano, Minn.
Hautman’s winning entry was selected in September during a judging hosted at UW-Stevens Point. It was the first time the contest was held in Wisconsin.
The Federal Duck Stamp sells for $25; possession of a stamp is required by all waterfowl hunters age 16 and over in the U.S.