Kelly Bostian: More to life than just BASS

BY KELLY BOSTIAN Outdoors
Thursday, February 28, 2013
2/28/13 at 5:39 AM

This weekend I'll miss out on the habitat improvement seminar and the outdoors sports expo, but I'll be busy with the NatureWorks Wildlife Art Show and Sale and, yes, you bet I will be watching at least some of the Bassmaster Classic on television.

Sure, I reported on and watched the tournament from inside and out the past few weeks but I simply can't miss watching it on television. As much as I was involved, I only saw tiny bits and pieces of the tournament on the water. I know how it ends, but I'm excited to see how ESPN puts it all together into five hours of video.

Now let's move on to other important local events that languished in the shadows of the Classic, and the 106,850 people that came with it, last week.

The NatureWorks Art Show and Sale is set for 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m-5 p.m. Sunday at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel & Convention Center, 6808 S. 107th East Ave., (71st Street and U.S. 169). Admission is $5, and the one ticket covers both days.

The showstopper this year will be a 12-foot tall bronze caribou lighted and standing above all in the center of the art show. This is the sculpture that is set, tentatively, to hold a place along Riverside Park at around 46th Street come this summer, one of many erected annually by NatureWorks over the years.

NatureWorks president Treak Tasker said that in past years the statues have been at the art show, but usually each year's piece was outside the building. The new location, smack in the middle of 51 artists' displays, is designed to raise community awareness of NatureWorks' dual roles in the monument program and in using wildlife art show funds for conservation projects.

The art show, one of the largest of its kind in the country, is the key event each year for the all-volunteer organization. Proceeds from the show are used to support conservation efforts that have ranged from transplanting wild turkeys to supporting the Trout Pond for Tulsa.

Recent projects supported by NatureWorks include $16,000 for habitat improvement - including controlled burns and dozer work - at the Spavinaw Wildlife Management Area, and $8,600 to perform an ultrasonic telemetry project on Grand Lake O' the Cherokees to monitor the impact of catch-and-release snagging on the spawning success of paddlefish.

NatureWorks also is the primary scholarship partner with the Sutton Avian Research Center, giving $10,000 annually to the Sutton Award Scholarship Fund for high school students. Works created by the students will be on display at the art show.

This is a show made for everyone. Even if you don't think you're in the market to buy wildlife art this year the admission is affordable and goes to a good cause, and the browsing is every bit as fun as the buying.

Next on the list is the National Wild Turkey Federation Land Management Seminar: 10 a.m.-noon Saturday at the Tulsa Technology Center, Memorial Drive near Broken Arrow Expressway. The educational seminar is free and open to the public.

Three main topics to be covered - aimed at managers of even the smallest parcels - include food plots, control of hogs and other predators on desired species, and habitat improvement. Sessions will be led by biologists from the Noble Foundation and Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Lastly, the Claremore Chamber of Commerce could use our support in launching its first Outdoor Sporting Expo. We've had an expo-heavy month to be sure with the Classic here, but the good folks at Claremore had this in the works before that date was set.

The show is from noon to 9 p.m. Friday and continues at 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Claremore Expo Center. Admission is $10 for adults, and $5 for youth and seniors 65 and older. Children younger than 10 get in for free. Sunday is Family Day with half-price admission.

Original Print Headline: More to life than just BASS

BASS Classic TV

The 2013 Bassmaster Classic, presented by Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa will be aired on ESPN2-26 the first two weekends of March.

Classic Day One: 9-10 a.m., Saturday

Classic Day One: 6-7 a.m., Sunday

Classic Day Two: 7-9 a.m., Sunday

Classic Championship: 10-12 p.m., Sunday

Classic Day Two: 5-7 a.m., March 10

Classic Championship: 7-9 a.m., March 10

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