The Oklahoma Division of Wildlife Conservation We rolled out a brand new emblem final week, and as anticipated, the response on social media has been combined.
Some individuals like it. Some individuals hate it. Some hunters and fishermen favored the pictures of white-tailed deer and white bass on the brand new emblem, however objected to the clipper flycatcher as a result of the company is funded largely by means of gross sales of searching and fishing licenses.
Others on social media assumed the administration had spent thousands and thousands on the brand new emblem and questioned why the cash wasn’t used for wildlife tasks like shopping for extra trout for winter fishing grounds.
The Wildlife Division, which had working bills of $55.7 million final fiscal yr, hasn’t spent thousands and thousands on rebranding.
The company contracted Concept Ranch of Tulsa to analysis and create the brand new emblem at a value of $94,800. The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Basis, a nonprofit group that assists the company with tasks, has donated $10,000 to the rebranding effort.
The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Fee, which oversees the company’s finances, has approved one other $100,000 to interchange the previous emblem with the brand new one in issues like indicators, uniforms, and decals on company autos.
extra:‘About Like Sticking to a Automobile’: Why anglers world wide come to Oklahoma to catch paddlefish
previous emblem
Micah Holmes, assistant chief of schooling and knowledge for the Wildlife Division, stated the previous emblem was instantly changed by the brand new emblem on the company’s digital platforms, however that will probably be changed elsewhere over time.
A few of that may occur by means of attrition, Holmes stated, similar to updating the Wildlife Administration Space indicators solely after they have to be changed anyway. In different instances, the company would possibly place a label of the brand new emblem on an previous label on a property entry signal, for instance, he stated.
The previous emblem, primarily an image of the state flag within the form of a defend, was created in 1965. Holmes stated the company felt it was time for a change.
“We felt that the brand was dated, and it’s potential that it didn’t have the popularity we thought,” Holmes stated.
“We on the Wildlife Division are very loyal to this emblem. It is what we put on on our hearts, actually. So, we like it, however we wished to have an organization that helps us determine if the general public acknowledges and identifies with our emblem in the identical method.”
It seems that the general public didn’t.
Concept Ranch, which has different offshore firms for purchasers, realized by means of its surveys that few individuals acknowledged the Wildlife Division emblem when the company’s identify was faraway from it. The previous emblem additionally didn’t replicate wildlife conservation apart from the company’s identify.
feeling outdoors
Concept Ranch created 4 logos for consideration, and the chosen emblem was the dominant selection amongst public focus teams and a panel of wildlife administration employees.
The brand new emblem is an arrowhead form to characterize the state’s Native American traditions and heritage. The white-tailed buck, the white bass (the state fish) and the clipper-tailed flycatcher (the state fowl) characterize three of Oklahoma’s most well-known wildlife species.
These photographs additionally characterize the company’s three areas of wildlife administration: searching, fishing and non-game species, and wildlife that’s not hunted for meals or sports activities similar to bats, butterflies, and most birds.
Probably the most well-known and simply identifiable photographs within the state, Holmes stated, is the scissor flycatcher. He stated he additionally represents non-game genres that are additionally a part of the company’s mission.
“We aren’t simply searching and fishing,” he stated. “We handle all of the wildlife within the state. It was incomplete that there was no such type.”
The colours of the brand new emblem even have a extra exterior really feel than the earlier emblem.
“Numerous my favourite (open air) instances of the yr are within the fall,” Holmes stated. “These are fall colours. And we wished colours that had been earthy, and a bit muted.”
Holmes stated the brand new emblem is a part of a rebranding effort by the Division of Wildlife.
“It is not simply in regards to the emblem,” he stated. “It is only one piece of the various various things that characterize the model… The thought is to be unified in all the things we do and showcase to the general public.”
It is strongly recommended that bats be listed as an endangered species
The US Fish and Wildlife Service needs the northern long-eared bat reclassified as critically endangered below the Endangered Species Act.
The bat, now listed as threatened, is going through extinction because of the unfold of white-nose syndrome, a virulent disease that impacts bats that dwell in caves throughout the continent.
Northern long-eared bats will be present in elements of the Ozark Highlands and Ouachita Mountain areas of jap Oklahoma.
Reporter Ed Godfrey researches the tales that have an effect on your life. Whether or not it is within the information, open air, sports activities – you identify it, he needs to report it. Do you will have a narrative concept? Attain out to him at egodfrey@oklahoman.com or on Twitter @EdGodfrey. Assist his work and that of different Oklahoma journalists by buying a digital subscription at this time.