PF's Leathers Selected for National Conservation Leadership Institute

Institute is natural resource conservation's "war college"

Saint Paul, Minn. - September 26 -

Ron Leathers, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever Government Grants Coordinator, is among the 36 selected for the 2008-2009 cohort of the National Conservation Leadership Institute, a world-class leadership development experience designed to prepare extraordinary leadership for the future of natural resource conservation.

The Institute experience incorporates instruction by experts from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agency's Management Assistance Team with in-the-trenches, nationally recognized luminaries in conservation and resource management. Focusing on Adaptive Leadership™, the program builds the capacity to lead in an environment of broad, increasingly complex conservation issues.

As Government Grants Coordinator, Leathers oversees public financing efforts by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. He begins intensive training on October 5th at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Fellows also undertake a leadership challenge as part of that training. From October through April of 2009, participants work on projects and peer consulting. The seven-month program concludes in April of 2009 with final residency at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri.

"In becoming a National Conservation Leadership Institute Fellow, Ron is taking a major step in contributing to the future of conservation," said Howard Vincent, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever President and CEO, "I nominated Ron for Fellowship because he has already exhibited exceptional leadership, and going through the Institute will only enhance his ability to mold conservation success."

One of the most far-reaching development initiatives ever undertaken within the natural resource conservation community, the Institute is an intensive, world-class leadership development experience. Offered each year to a select group of individuals identified by their nominating organizations as "high potentials," the Institute is referred to by many as natural resource conservation's "war college," filling the empty seats left by retiring baby boomers. The Institute is by no measure only a training program; it is a unique comprehensive learning experience designed to challenge assumptions, teach skills, facilitate networking, and strengthen confidence, preparing extraordinary leadership for the future. For more information National Conservation Leadership Institute, visit www.conservationleadership.org.

A native of Laramie, Wyoming, Leathers received his master's in wildlife science from South Dakota Sate University. He has been with Pheasants Forever since 2003, when he began in Parker, South Dakota, as Pheasants Forever's first-ever Farm Bill Biologist. Since 2003, Farm Bill biologists have provided conservation technical assistance to 18,000 landowners. Those relationships have translated into over 1 million acres of habitat improvements.

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 129,000 members in 700 local chapters across the continent.

Anthony Hauck (651)209-4972

Pheasants Forever is a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasants, quail and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness and education. Such efforts benefit landowners and wildlife alike.