Families Participate in Hands-on Activities at Onondaga County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs Annual Family Festival at Carpenter’s Brook
More than 4,500 people learned about habitat and wildlife conservation while participating in numerous outdoor sports including fishing, archery, turkey calling, and skeet shooting during the 2011 Honeywell Sportsmen’s Days. The Onondaga County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs holds the annual event at Carpenter’s Brook in Elbridge, N.Y., in celebration of National Hunting and Fishing Day.
“The Federation members are grateful to Honeywell for its continuing support and partnership,” said Onondaga County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs President Stephen Wowelko. “Our members have had the opportunity to provide input and share their knowledge of conservation practices throughout Honeywell’s lake restoration planning process.”
“Habitat enhancement is a critical part of the cleanup of Onondaga Lake,” said Honeywell Syracuse Program Director John McAuliffe. “Honeywell Sportsmen’s Days provides tremendous opportunities to share this important element of the continuing improvement in the lake as well as the Federation’s passion for outdoor recreation and dedication to habitat conservation.”
Local wildlife artists, woodsmen, authors, sportsmen and Boy Scouts demonstrated a number of outdoor activities including: skeet shooting, turkey and predator calling, archery, crossbow, fly fishing, axe and knife throwing, gun cleaning, fly tying, canoeing, muzzle loading and trout fishing.
New activities and exhibits in 2011 included: chainsaw artists carving wildlife figures, predator (coyote) calling demonstrations, tanning animal skins using natural materials, taxidermy displays, fire starting and survival skills, and birds of prey demonstrations.
Participants also learned about Honeywell’s Onondaga Lake Habitat Restoration Plan during their time at Carpenter’s Brook. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is overseeing Honeywell’s projects to restore wetlands in and around Onondaga Lake, improve the lake’s shoreline, and create a new lake bottom.
Other weekend events included a volunteer dinner and guest appearances by conservation officers, forest rangers, and Eddie Eagle.
“The Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs and Honeywell continue to work well together because we both share an interest in Onondaga Lake and an interest in outdoor preservation,” said Member of the Onondaga County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs Board of Directors and Onondaga Lake Community Participation Working Group Member Les Monostory. “It’s great to see so much interest in Sportsmen’s Days and the participation in hands-on activities that many of our local clubs offer each year.”
For more information on the Onondaga Lake cleanup, please visit www.onondaga-lake-initiatives.com.