by Melanie Ellis
SWD Regional Outreach Coordinator
A pen, a piece of paper and four signatures captured years of service to environmental causes, months of planning and the beginning of a partnership a life time in the making on Aug. 7, 2012, at the Strategic Leadership Conference in Little Rock, Ark.
John Morris, owner and founder of Bass Pro Shops, joined Maj. Gen. John W. Peabody, commander, Mississippi Valley Division, Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Kula, commander, Southwestern Division, and Col. Anthony C. Funkhouser, commander, Northwestern Division, in Little Rock to sign a Memorandum of Understanding covering a large portion of the south central states including Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
“Partnerships are key to successful mission execution for the Corps of Engineers,” said Brig. Gen. Kula. “More importantly innovative partnerships, like this one with Bass Pro Shops, are key to telling the Corps story to the public.”
This partnership has been a lifetime in the making and finally joining two organizations together that have devoted millions of hours educating the public on environmental stewardship, conservation efforts, outdoor recreation activities and water safety initiatives. Morris, a native of Arkansas, grew up in the Ozarks Mountains fishing on Corps lakes and camping in Corps parks. He credits his early introduction to the great outdoors for his passion to preserve the natural environment for generations to come – something this partnership is geared toward.
Corps parks and lakes serve over 350 million visitors every year and with Bass Pro Shops serving over 75 million customers a year, many of whom recreate on Corps lakes, this partnership provides a great opportunity for a line of communication to the public.
Maj. Gen. Peabody noted that many of the Bass Pro customers fall into a target audience for the Corps and it’s important that the Corps take opportunities like this to reach out to those people, tell them about outdoor recreation opportunities, how to protect the environment and how to be safe while on the water.
The benefits of this partnership are multi-faceted and the opportunities it provides excite many Corps team members.
“This partnership will help us build broad based support to improve fisheries habitat, develop new outdoor opportunities for veterans and people with disabilities, raise public awareness about invasive species, and save lives through expanded water and boating safety outreach efforts,” said Heather Burke, National Partnership Program Manager, Corps of Engineers.
Before the ink on the MOU had time to dry the District’s covered under the agreement were off and running.
“We’re working with our natural resource managers at the lake projects and the Districts within the MOU area, along with Bass Pro to develop a list of potential projects that can be accomplished in the near term and in the future as part of this partnership,” said Burke. “High priority projects will include those that improve fish habitat and focus on water and boater safety education.”
In the future, the Corps hopes to expand this agreement to other District’s and Divisions so that an even greater audience can be reached and provide even more benefits when it comes to the promotion of recreation activities, environmental stewardship and water safety. “But, until then, as they say in the movies, this is the start of a wonderful friendship,” said Brig. Gen. Kula.