1 week Ago By Brad Dokken
It’s still a work in progress, but there’s a new kid – sort of – in town, in the effort to help more youth in northwest Minnesota and across North Dakota get involved in the outdoors. Based in East Grand Forks, MinnDak Youth Outdoors was officially formed in March and is in the process of applying for 501c3 status as a federally recognized nonprofit. The whole process takes lawyers, accountants and money, but if all goes according to plan, “we should be 100% with 501c3 status in our hands, I’m hoping by July 1,” said Brian Nelson of East Grand Forks, treasurer and operations manager of Minn Dak Youth Outdoors.
The new organization’s mission statement: “Through outdoor education, fundraising and community engagement, Minn-Dak Youth Outdoors strives to create a world where all young people have access to transformative outdoor experiences. Fostering a lifelong appreciation for nature, conservation and the great outdoors.” The focus for now is on “dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s,” Nelson says, a process he compares to starting a new business.
If Nelson’s name sounds familiar, it’s no coincidence. As longtime volunteers with the Red River Valley Chapter of Pheasants Forever, Nelson and his wife, Michelle, were key players in the chapter’s fundraising efforts on behalf of youth outdoors initiatives. The chapter received at least three national awards from Pheasants Forever for its youth fundraising efforts.
The chapter raised most of its funds by holding raffles for prizes such as guns and coolers. In exchange for helping to sell raffle tickets, the chapter provided participating high school trapshooting teams across northwest Minnesota and North Dakota with funds that were matched 1 to 1 by the Midway USA Foundation and deposited into a Foundation endowment. Participating teams then could draw up to 5% from their respective Midway endowment accounts annually to help cover their various trapshooting expenses.
Ultimately, the focus on fundraising for youth activities conflicted with Pheasants Forever’s habitat mission, and the Nelsons and other chapter officers parted ways with the conservation group in February 2024, when Pheasants Forever issued a formal notice that “chapter officers and committee board members must relinquish all chapter-related activities and responsibilities immediately.” There was no wrongdoing, just a difference of opinion over philosophies. The Red River Valley Chapter of Pheasants Forever has been in limbo ever since, although the trapshooting teams that helped sell raffle tickets continue to draw funds through their Midway endowments.
At one time, Nelson says, the Red River Valley Pheasants Forever chapter helped fund as many as 33 high school trapshooting squads from Warroad to Williston. The goal, he says, is to resume those fundraising efforts with Minn Dak Youth Outdoors. “It’s not like we’re trying to do this to get back at Pheasants Forever,” Nelson said.
“It’s just that we’re going to do our own thing, and if we take some funds away from Pheasants Forever or Ducks Unlimited or (the National Wild Turkey Federation) or whatever, people can choose what they want to do. “We’re going to be transparent, we’re going to show you where all our money went, how the money came in and we’re not going to hide anything.” This first year will be more about getting established than raising funds for youth activities, Nelson says.
The organization already is approved to do business in North Dakota, he says, and plans are in the works to have a fall event and a raffle in December. The process will take a bit longer in Minnesota, but they’ll get there eventually, Nelson says. Nelson is texting a letter to everyone in his phone book seeking donations to help the organization get up and running.
Response to date has been favorable, he says. “I’m not halfway through my phone with sending people this, and we’ve already got a good chunk of money,” Nelson said. “So, (we’re) just very happy with the support.
” There’s not much on it yet, but Minn-Dak Youth Outdoors recently set up a Facebook page and Nelson made the first deposit in the organization’s new checking account. Board members are from a wide area between Bismarck and Bemidji. Other officers besides Nelson are Todd Woods, Thief River Falls, president; Vance Thorsen, Fisher, Minnesota, vice president; and Michelle Nelson, secretary.
It’s not a membership-based organization, Brian Nelson says. “We’re going to run this just like we did before,” Nelson said. “If a shooting team wants money, we expect them to take tickets and sell them.
We want them to be involved, we want them to do some work. All of these head coaches of all these teams know that, and hunter safety instructors in both states and archery programs, they know that. “It’s going to be a merit thing on how hard you work and how hard you want to participate, and we’ll reward you and give you money so your program is stronger, you get more kids involved and it’s less expensive for the parents.
” For more information, check out the MinnDak Youth Outdoors Facebook page or contact Nelson at (218) 230-4364 or by email at [email protected].
.
