July, 2025 President's Report

Greetings all. Hope everyone had an enjoyable season. I will start with our ITA Legislative Breakfast which was held April 1st at the Statehouse. This was our 14th year were we displayed pelts, coats, fur teddy bears and other fur accessories. Miss Iowa, Abigaille Batu-Tiako, was present and we had multiple Senators and Representatives stop by, chat and look over our display. Later in the event I was able to escort Miss Iowa up into House Chambers with assistance from Representative Bob Kressig. She had never been in the Statehouse prior, so this was all new and an exciting experience. While Abigaille was getting photos with the many Representatives in chambers, I saw Representative Helena Hayes at her desk. Being she had not stopped in to visit with us, I went over to speak with her. She was surprised to see me and indicated she had been busy that morning. We talked for a few minutes, then I let her get back to her busy schedule. This event has become effective in getting to know many of our legislators in a more personal setting. Legislatively, as I write this, bills for creating a lifetime furharvester license for disabled vets, breaching beaver dams, being able to use either address or DNR ID number on trap tags & reducing fur buyer license fee are waiting further actions. All these are still active, but awaiting action from their appropriate committee.

The ITA held our 23rd annual NTF/ITA banquet April 5th at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel. We ended with about 330 people attending including Miss Iowa and Miss Teen. The banquet overall went well as to funds received due to attendees and businesses generous support during the evening. Thank you to our 16 corporate sponsors, 31 sponsors and many people and businesses who donated items. Also, Thanks to Cody and Tracy Hutton, Bret Smith for being MC/auctioneer, Nat Hill for clerking, Black Flag Arsenal for our firearms as well as all the committee members and everyone who attended. Being April 4th next year is Easter weekend and the rest of April is booked. We booked March 14, 2026 for our 24th annual banquet at the same location.

April 6th was the ITA’s Spring Board meeting. Guests were Judy Sells, Sandy Eckhardt, Kristie Lambert, Allyson Oser, Joe Dudley, Ben Deters, Dale Rowson, Ray Eserhaut and Carrick Johnson. Shane Burmeister stepped down from his Director at Large position and was elected to take over as District 8 Director. Nominations received to fill remainder of Shane’s Director at Large term was Ben Deters, Ray Eserhaut & Allyson Oser. Ben Deters was elected to fill the remaining term as Director at Large. Carrick Johnson approached the Board willing to accept the District 20 Director position. After speaking about himself, Carrick was voted in by the Board as District 20 Director – Thank you Carrick!!

Kristan reported our current membership at 1,483 with 562 lifetime members. With the new members that have joined since last month our membership now is close to 1495 and also added 2 new lifetimes. New lifetimes since my last report are Grace Rowson, Walter D Codney, Carrick Johnson, Kevin (Grizz) Jones & Jason Jenkins. Thank you to all our new lifetime, new and renewing members.

The association has acquired our sheared beaver coat and vest for Miss Iowa and Teen for 2025. Grace and Dale Rowson will be presenting these on June 13th & 14th this year and will be taking over for Tom Walters from here. Thank you to Grace & Dale for taking over these duties. Thank you to Bill in Mt Morris, MI for acquiring our coat & vest for the association.

Important notice -- The association is looking at a proposed change to our current bylaws. That proposed change would be to Article IX (Affiliate Directors and Directors-At-Large) by adding a Section 7 to our current bylaws. The proposed change would allow for the social media director to have a voting position on the ITA Board. This proposed change will be voted on by the membership during the General Membership meeting to be held at 1:30 P.M. September 6, 2025 at Cherokee. The bylaws currently read as follows:

ARTICLE IX    AFFILIATE DIRECTORS AND DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE

Sec. 1   The I.T.A. may affiliate with other organizations, state and federal, who operate under goals and objectives consistent with that of the I.T.A. The Board of Directors by majority vote of those present and voting, shall decide when and with whom to affiliate.

Sec. 2   The Board of Directors shall appoint the affiliate director who shall be the I.T.A’s representative to the affiliated organization. Affiliated directors shall be an I.T.A member in good standing.

Sec. 3   The affiliate director shall be a non-voting position on the board of directors.

Sec. 4   Affiliate Director shall report to the I.T.A. Board of Directors and membership the results of meetings and action of the affiliated organization.

Sec. 5    Affiliated Director shall serve at the pleasure of the I.T.A. Board of Directors and can be terminated as deemed necessary by majority vote of Directors present and voting.

Sec. 6   The board shall consist of Seven (7) Director- At- Large positions.  Six (6) Director-At-Large positions shall serve three (3) year terms with staggered expiration years.  These Director-At-Large positions will be designated as “Director-At-Large/year of appointment”.  The yearly appointment will be at the I.T.A. Fall Convention, in the I.T.A. Directors meeting.  In the event there are more than two candidates for the expiring Directors positions, an election by the General Membership of the I.T.A. at the General Membership meeting during the I.T.A. Fall Convention shall be held.  The three (3) year term begins at the conclusion of the fall convention.  In the event a three (3) year term is NOT completed, the expiration date of said Director-At-Large position shall not change.  A Replacement may be appointed to finish the Director-At-Large/year term.  If a Director-At-Large Position is vacant and with NO viable candidates names available at the I.T.A. Fall Directors Meeting, the I.T.A. Board of Directors may appoint a Director-At-Large/year replacement at any I.T.A. Director meeting.

The First Director-At-Large position shall be designated Director-At-Large/Past President.  Term Limit will be until the current I.T.A. President would become the I.T.A. Past President. The Director-At-Large/Past President may also hold another position on the I.T.A. Board of Directors or Officers, but will only have ONE (1) vote. All Director-At-Large would be a voting position on the I.T.A. Board of Directors.  I.T.A. Director-At-Large/year position would also be held to the same standards as I.T.A. District Directors with direct responsibilities and duties, as needed.

The proposed changes would add Sections 7, 7a & 7b to the above current bylaws which would read as follows:

Sec. 7    A Director of Social Media may be appointed by the board of directors by majority vote by those present and voting

Sec. 7a.  Social director shall be held to same standards as district directors as written in Article VIII and with direct responsibilities and duties as needed.

Sec. 7b. Social director shall hold a voting position on the ITA Board of Directors.

There were 7 scholarship applications received this year. The association awards up to 4 - $750 scholarships each year. Winner of those scholarships in 2025 are Olivia Winter of Sergeant Bluff, Madison Burmeister of Bennett, Corinne Griebel of Sergeant Bluff and Madilyn Rowson of Knoxville. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who sent in their applications.

Mike Fletchall and Justin Stiens will be hosting their 4th Annual SW Iowa Trappers Get Together Saturday June 7th from 12:00 to 3-4ish. at Lake Icaria North of Corning. The address is 1756 Juniper Ave, I will have Iowa Trappers Assn. signs to guide you in as well. They have a shelter reserved near the marina which is located on the south side of the lake. There will be both youth and adult demos during the day. Text or call Mike Fletchall at 641-202-1115 or Justin Stiens at 641-745-7815 if you need any further information

On June 14th the ITA will be set up at 3 events, Iowa County Outdoor Adventure at Lake Iowa north of Millersburg, Ted Nugent’s Kamp for Kids at Arrowhead Park by Neola, then a Special Needs Day at the Izaak Walton League in Des Moines. If you attend one of these events, stop by and say hello.

Justin Deaver has two fur handling classes scheduled for June 22nd at Sleepy Creek Tannery in Wellsburg. Students will be skinning a raccoon, skunk, and muskrat as well as fleshing and drying all animals. Students will have a chance to finish their own raccoon with instructors present. First class will be from 8 A.M to noon, second class from 1P.M. to 5 P.M . Class is limited to 10 students during each time slot. This will be a great opportunity for people to learn how to finish their own fur. Please register at the links below—The first link is the morning class https://license.gooutdoorsiowa.com/Event/ViewEvent.aspx?id=3467 or this link the afternoon class

https://license.gooutdoorsiowa.com/Event/ViewEvent.aspx?id=3468 

There is possibly another finishing class to be held in central Iowa at a later date to be worked out. For beginner trapper classes Justin is looking at June to August time frame which is earlier than last year. Beginner classes are still in the process of being scheduled as to times and locations. As soon as those are known I will pass them along.

In July I will be heading to Harrisonburg, VA for the NTA National July 17-19th. Last year in Sioux Falls, I was voted onto the NTA Hall of Fame Selection Committee, so Tuesday evening that committee meets. I will leave Virginia on Sunday, get home for a few hours then leave Tuesday for the FTA Rendezvous July 25-27th in Spencer to assist with setup. After being home for 5 weeks, it’s off to the ITA convention in Cherokee, then two weeks later off to Chadron, NE for their convention.

The ITA convention & Sport show will be held at the Cherokee County Fairgrounds in Cherokee Sept 5-6th. The fairgrounds are located on the south-side of town. The address is 114 -116 Hickory St. or just East of Hwy 59.  There will be plenty of primitive or electrical camping spots available on grounds. The 3 motels in town are the Cherokee Inn, Best Western LaGrande and Bunk House which is a Ma & PA motel (was Skyline motel). All motels are located at the north end of town on Hwy 59, just south of Hwy 3, about 2 - 3 miles from the fairgrounds. There are 10 rooms blocked at the Cherokee Inn – mention the Iowa Trappers Association when you call to reserve a room. There are no special rates for these rooms. The direct phone numbers for the motels are – Cherokee Inn (712) 225-4278, Best Western LaGrande (712) 225-5701, Bunk House (712) 225-2544. Dealers attending as I write are Funke Trap Tags, Cumberland’s, No BS Lures, Top Lot Stretchers, R&M Lures, Roberts Trading, Keg Creek Bait & Lures, Diggers Custom Woodworks, Mike (Red) O’Hearn, A&J Skinners, Fiber Tuff, Billingsley Brand Lures, Last Step Trap Supply & Tanning, MJ Enterprises, Fletchall Predator Control, Sleepy Creek Tannery, Papio Creek Trap Supply, Bret Smith – Lennon Lures, Backwater Baits, Cook Fur, Delta Waterfowl, IA DNR, FTA, NTA & ITA.

Officer positions up for election this year are Vice-President and Secretary. At this point I am planning a Summer Board meeting on June 29th and nominations from the Board will occur at that time. Nominations will remain open until the General Membership meeting on Sept 6th for those positions. To be placed into nomination for either position you must be a current member of the Iowa Trappers Association, without felony, and consent of the nominee is obtained prior to being placed into nomination.

Sustaining patch sales are doing well. As I write this we have sold 58 of the 100 available. Since my last report those who have purchased patches are Scott Nibe, Idaho Trappers Assn., Carson Tolman, Tony Crow, Tim Anderson, Joe Dudley, Rusty Kramer & Jim McNeill. I will have them on hand at Harrisonburg, VA, Spencer, Cherokee, Chadron, NE while attending those conventions as well. Thank you to everyone who has purchased patches in support of the ITA.

The Summer ITA Board of Directors meeting will be held June 29th, 10 A.M. at Pizza Ranch 4954 86th St in Urbandale. Pizza Ranch is located just south of I-80/I-35 at NW 86th St or Exit 129. All current ITA members are always welcome to attend any of these meetings. Hope everyone has a good Spring and Summer.

Til next time - Craig