TFF/THF 2011 Scholarship

We are awarding a scholarship of $1200 this year. Anyone from a senior in high school through graduate level student is eligible. You must be pursuing or interested in a career related to fishing/hunting, such as an outdoor communicator, fisheries biologist, wildlife biologist, game warden, forestry service or the like.

Please email your resume and a cover letter to jpg@outdoorsites.net.

We are accepting applications through December 15th, 2011. The 2011 scholarship winner will be announced December 20th, 2011.

We are still reviewing scholarship applicants. They recipient will be announced as soon as we are finished. Will update if we are not done in the next 7 days.

A few more days people. It's been tough narrowing it down to 4 this year. I think we are done with that process and will now turn it over to our moderators for a blind vote.

We're narrowed it down to three and now will be passing the final three along to a blind moderator's vote.

Man was it tough this year. If our scholarship applicants are any indication of who will be leading the next generation, I believe we are in good hands.

The winning applicant will be announced this Thursday. Thank you to all the applicants for sharing some of your very interesting lives with us and thank you for your patience!

I'm sure you applicants are about ready to shoot us, but we had to deal with forum problems. I promise we will have the winner announced Wednesday. Our first order of business has to be keeping the TFF and THF running, as I am sure you can understand. No more delays, the winner will be posted Wednesday.

Penny Whisenant is the 2011 Scholarship winner! Congratulations Penny!

see above ^^^

Penny's cover letter...


I would like to apply for the scholarship being offered by the Texas Hunting Forum and Texas Fishing Forum. I have been an active member (screen name Spooniesgirl) of the forum since 2009 when I began duck hunting, and have learned many things from the forum that have helped me become a better duck hunter. The forum has also gotten me interested in bow hunting and I hope to harvest my first deer with a bow next fall.

I will be receiving a Bachelor’s of Science in Forestry with an Emphasis in Fire Management from Stephen F. Austin State University in May 2012. I currently carry a 3.1 GPA in major Forestry courses offered at SFA, with a 2.8 overall GPA. After graduation I hope to move up in my job with the Texas Forest Service, or work for another government/state agency in forestry or wildlife.

I am currently employed through The Texas Forest Service as a wildfire prevention technician. My duties include educating the public about the hazards of wildfires and communicating the effects of fire safety. I also administer post fire assessments in areas that have been hit with wildfires. These post-fire assessments show fire damage to forests and wildlife habitat, and create ways to help the forest and wildlife recover. Along with my job as a wildfire prevention technician, I also help the US Forest Service and Texas Forest Service with prescribed burning and wildfires through the wildland firefighting program at SFA.

During the summer of 2010, I worked for the Texas Forest Service as a forestry technician in the Pest Management office. One of my main duties was to collect samples of Nantucket pine tip-moth and pine weevils which were causing mortality in young pine plantations. I also maintained study sites for forest health by hazard rating older trees that had been attacked by the insects mentioned above.

From the May 2009-July 2011, I worked for Stephen F. Austin State University as a fire fuel technician. My main duties were to hazard-rate communities for wildland urban interface problems, assess fire fuel loads, and administer post fire assessments.

In the summer of 2008, I volunteered at Balcones National Wildlife Refuge as a wildlife technician. I trapped and collected data on brown headed cow birds. I also researched cactus moth, a pest that kills prickly pear cactus, and performed maintenance on refuge nature trails and ponds.

I have been RED card certified through the National Wildfire Coordination Group for 3 years which allows me to aid in prescribed burns and work fire suppression on wildland fires. I am president of both the National and local chapters of the Student Association for Fire Ecology (SAFE), and a member of the Dean’s Council at the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at SFA. Through the SAFE program, I have three publications related to fire prevention.

Thank You,

Penny Whisenant