DESCRIPTION: Cast of Dreams® is a Texas non-profit organization that grants extraordinary hunting and fishing excursions to children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Cast of Dreams provides everything necessary for a child and their family to enjoy the hunting or fishing trip of a lifetime, including: travel, lodging, food, hunting or fishing license, gear, taxidermy and, when necessary, on-site medical care—at no cost to the child’s family.

OBJECTIVE: To fulfill the dream of a child that is an outdoor enthusiast, hunter or fisherman; while creating a rewarding and memorable experience for the child’s family.

HISTORY: In the summer of 2008, the nationally televised reality hunting series, TnT Outdoor Adventures, created a unique program focused on taking children with life threatening illnesses on the outdoor excursions of their dreams. TnT has been privileged to provide extraordinary experiences for children that battle illnesses such as cancer, muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis as well as children that are paraplegic.

TnT’s efforts generated a remarkable response nationally among outdoor enthusiasts, hunters and fishermen. This overwhelming show of support further fueled the desire to formalize the program and ultimately help even more children realize their dreams. In the Spring of 2009, TnT formed Cast of Dreams. Cast of Dreams is a Texas nonprofit charitable organization, qualified under Section 501 (c)(3) of the IRS Code.

DEMOGRAPHICS:  The passion for outdoor activities including hunting and fishing is undeniable. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service most recent published report, “2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation,” 87.5 million U.S. residents fish, hunt, or watch wildlife. During 2006, 30.0 million people fished, 12.5 million hunted, and 71.1 million participated in at least one type of wildlife-watching activity.  In Texas alone there are a combined total of 2.6 million hunters and anglers. 

Responsive Management’s survey, “Factors Related to Hunting and Fishing Participation Among the Nation’s Youth,” reported that 15% of American youth had hunted and 58% had fished, in the last year.

DIRECTOR | FOUNDER: Todd Cast has been the director of this organization since its inception. Todd can be reached via email at Todd.Cast@CastOfDreams.com or phone at 214-207-9079.

LOCATION:  Cast of Dreams is located at 125 Redtail Court in Weatherford, Texas.

When the Wildlife Habitat Council was formed in 1988, the founders conceived a new and innovative concept of bringing together - conservation and business. 

This was the first cooperative effort between the environmental community and industry. A visionary team of companies -- Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., DuPont Company, ExxonMobil, General Electric Company, Tenneco Oil Company and United States Steel Corporation and environmental groups -- the American Farmland Trust, Izaak Walton League of America, National Wildlife Federation and World Wildlife Fund -- came together to search for innovative joint ventures in environmental stewardship. Today, with our members and partners, we continue to share a vision to conserve and restore natural ecosystems for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.

The Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) is a nonprofit, nonlobbying 501(c)(3) group of corporations, conservation organizations, and individuals dedicated to restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat. Created in 1988, WHC helps large landowners, particularly corporations, manage their unused lands in an ecologically sensitive manner for the benefit of wildlife. More than 2 million acres in 48 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other countries are managed for wildlife through WHC-assisted projects.

Since 1987, Wildlife Forever has provided funding to more than 600 projects in 50 states plus Canada through private special interest conservation groups, state game and fish departments and federal agencies. Wildlife Forever projects target research, management, land acquisition, and educational purposes. Special emphasis is placed upon grassroots programs. Species that have received direct benefit from past grants include: American bald eagle, billfish, black bear, blacktail deer, bluebirds, bluegill, Canada geese, catfish, coyote, crappie, ducks, elk, gray whale, great gray owl, grizzly bear, herons, kestrels, largemouth bass, Massasaqua rattle snake, moose, mule deer, muskie, otter, peregrine falcon, pheasant, prairie chicken, quail, ruffed grouse, salmon, sea bass, sonoran pronghorn, songbirds, striped bass, trout, trumpeter swan, walleye, white-tailed deer, wild turkey and the list goes on and on.

Established in 1961, the Ruffed Grouse Society is the one international wildlife conservation organization dedicated to promoting conditions suitable for ruffed grouse, American woodcock and related wildlife to sustain our sport hunting tradition and outdoor heritage.

RGS is about hunting ruffed grouse and woodcock and enjoying the other wildlife that share the place where they live. It is about the environment or habitat that provides them with food, cover from predators, shelter, and a place to breed and rear their young. It is about actively managing those young forests or “habitats” by using tools, like controlled fire and forest cutting, recognized as effective by Aldo Leopold, the father of the wildlife management profession. It is about educating the public about the habitat requirements of these birds, both game and non-game. It is about explaining that these birds live in a place that, unless actively managed, will give way to trees which shade out the plants that are home to ruffed grouse, woodcock, many songbirds, rabbits and deer. It is about gaining broad public support to actively manage using controlled fire and timber harvest, and that clear-cutting as a forest management tool, when properly applied, is ecologically sound. It is about walking in the woods and pausing at the sound of what seems to be an old John Deere tractor and realizing it is a grouse drumming in spring. It is about going afield with the expectation of bagging a grouse or “patridge” or a “timberdoodle”. It is about being overtaken with pride as your dog carries its head high as it moves into the wind, locks on point and waits for you to flush the bird. It is about being completely surprised and uttering an “aw shucks” when the bird flushes across an opening and evades what you thought were well-placed number 8s. It is about inviting friends to share a fine meal of grouse and all the trimmings and listening to how your spouse backed you up on the shot after yours felled a young aspen. It is about gatherings called banquets where friends with a common interest in these birds and their conservation come together to have fun and provide the funding needed to make it all happen. It is really not about us at all, it is about our kids, grandkids and their kids for, without our help, these places will not be there for them or the birds to enjoy.

In August 1999, thirteen concerned wildlife professionals formed The North American Grouse Partnership (NAGP), a new national and international advocacy group for grouse, in response to the clear conservation needs of several species. NAGP is a 501(C)3, not-for-profit organization created to address the various challenges facing grouse species.

North American grouse species, especially those occupying prairie and sage communities, have experienced serious population declines during the last 50 years. Most recently, petitions have been filed with the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service requesting that sage grouse and Columbian sharp-tailed grouse be placed on the threatened and endangered species list. Some data suggest that within 10 years most prairie grouse could be endangered.

Grouse habitat encompasses millions of acres of private and public land. These magnificent birds function as primary indicator species for the health of their particular habitats, and they are held in especially high esteem by sportspersons, birders, biologists and land managers.

NAGP works to bring the plight of declining grouse species and their habitats to the attention of the public, provides oversight for the health of grouse populations, implements solutions to the problems causing grouse declines and encourages public policies and management decisions that will enhance important habitats and grouse populations.

The NABF was incorporated November 11, 1998 in Fort Ripley, Minnesota. The NABF is a national non-profit conservation organization that is concerned with healthy wildlife populations and their habitats across North America. The NABF is a 501(c) 3 corporation, making contributions and donations tax deductible. Funding for programs is acquired through memberships, corporate sponsorships, donations and fundraising events at the local, state and national levels.
           
Wildlife education is a priority with NABF. Our goal is to promote public awareness about the natural history of North American wildlife, our wild bear populations, and our environment through widespread educational programs.
           
The NABF will also be involved in wildlife research and management. We will work with local, state, and federal agencies to conserve, restore and enhance wildlife habitat. We also cooperate with other conservation organizations to maximize our efforts for the benefit of all wildlife. NABF will work with local wildlife managers to determine what projects will be most beneficial and cost effective. We will also organize volunteer members of the NABF to complete recommended projects across the country.

MISSION STATEMENT:

The NABF is dedicated to the native bears and other wildlife populations of North America by promoting public awareness, education, and sound management of our natural resources and through habitat conservation, restoration, and enhancement.

Dismayed by the lack of marksmanship shown by their troops, Union veterans Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate formed the National Rifle Association in 1871. The primary goal of the association would be to "promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis," according to a magazine editorial written by Church.

After being granted a charter by the state of New York on November 17, 1871, the NRA was founded. Civil War Gen. Ambrose Burnside, who was also the former governor of Rhode Island and a U.S. Senator, became the fledgling NRA's first president.

An important facet of the NRA's creation was the development of a practice ground. In 1872, with financial help from New York state, a site on Long Island, the Creed Farm, was purchased for the purpose of building a rifle range. Named Creedmoor, the range opened a year later, and it was there that the first annual matches were held.

The NRA's interest in promoting the shooting sports among America's youth began in 1903 when NRA Secretary Albert S. Jones urged the establishment of rifle clubs at all major colleges, universities and military academies. By 1906, NRA's youth program was in full swing with more than 200 boys competing in matches at Sea Girt that summer. Today, youth programs are still a cornerstone of the NRA, with more than one million youth participating in NRA shooting sports events and affiliated programs with groups such as 4-H, the Boy Scouts of America, the American Legion, U.S. Jaycees and others.

While widely recognized today as a major political force and as America's foremost defender of Second Amendment rights, the NRA has, since its inception, been the premier firearms education organization in the world. But our successes would not be possible without the tireless efforts and countless hours of service our nearly three million members have given to champion Second Amendment rights and support NRA programs. As former Clinton spokesman George Stephanopoulos said, "Let me make one small vote for the NRA. They're good citizens. They call their Congressmen. They write. They vote. They contribute. And they get what they want over time."

Read the fully history at:
http://www.nra.org/aboutus.aspx

Our mission is to enhance wild sheep populations, promote professional wildlife management, educate the public about wild sheep and the conservation benefits of hunting, encourage fair chase hunting, and protect sportsmen's rights.