The Oklahoma Division of Wildlife Conservation We rolled out a brand new brand 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 appreciated the pictures of white-tailed deer and white bass on the brand new brand, however objected to the clipper flycatcher as a result of the company is funded largely by way of looking and fishing licensing gross sales.
Others on social media assumed the administration had spent thousands and thousands on the brand new brand 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 12 months, hasn’t spent thousands and thousands on rebranding.
The company contracted Concept Ranch of Tulsa to analysis and create the brand new brand at a price 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Wildlife Conservation Fee, which oversees the company’s finances, has licensed one other $100,000 to switch the outdated brand with the brand new one in issues like indicators, uniforms, and decals on company automobiles.
outdated brand
Micah Holmes, assistant chief of schooling and data for the Wildlife Division, mentioned the outdated brand was instantly changed by the brand new brand on the company’s digital platforms, however that it is going to be changed elsewhere over time.
A few of that may occur by way of attrition, Holmes mentioned, equivalent to updating the Wildlife Administration Space indicators solely after they have to be changed anyway. In different circumstances, the company may place a label of the brand new brand on an outdated label on a property entry signal, for instance, he mentioned.
The outdated emblem, basically an image of the state flag within the form of a protect, was created in 1965. Holmes mentioned the company felt it was time for a change.
“We felt that the emblem was dated, and it’s doable that it didn’t have the popularity we thought,” Holmes mentioned.
“We on the Wildlife Division have numerous devotion to this brand. It is what we put on on our hearts, actually. So, we like it, however we wished an organization to assist us work out if the general public acknowledges and identifies with our brand in the identical method.”
It seems that the general public didn’t.
Concept Ranch, which has different offshore corporations for purchasers, discovered by way of its surveys that few individuals acknowledged the Wildlife Division brand when the company’s identify was faraway from it. The outdated brand additionally didn’t mirror wildlife conservation aside from the company’s identify.
feeling outdoors
Concept Ranch created 4 logos for consideration, and the emblem chosen was the overwhelming selection between public focus teams and a panel of wildlife administration employees.
The brand new brand is an arrowhead form to symbolize the state’s Native American traditions and heritage. The white-tailed buck, the white bass (the state fish) and the clipper flycatcher (the state chicken) symbolize three of Oklahoma’s most well-known wildlife species.
These photographs additionally symbolize the company’s three areas of wildlife administration: looking, fishing, and non-game species, and wildlife that’s not hunted for meals or sports activities equivalent to bats, butterflies, and most birds.
Holmes mentioned the scissor flycatcher is among the most well-known and simply identifiable photographs within the state. He mentioned he additionally represents non-game genres that are additionally a part of the company’s mission.
“We do not simply hunt and fish,” he mentioned. “We handle all of the wildlife within the state. It was incomplete that there was no such form.”
The colours of the brand new brand even have a extra exterior really feel than the earlier brand.
“Lots of my favourite (outdoor) occasions of the 12 months are within the fall,” Holmes mentioned. “These are fall colours. And we wished colours that had been earthy, a bit muted.”
Holmes mentioned the brand new brand is a part of a rebranding effort by the Division of Wildlife.
“It isn’t simply concerning the brand,” he mentioned. “It is only one piece of the numerous various things that symbolize the model… The concept is to be unified in all the pieces we do and present as much as the general public.”
extra:‘It is in Our Blood’: Why an Oklahoma man continues looking rattlesnakes after his cousin’s demise
It is suggested that bats be listed as an endangered species
The US Fish and Wildlife Service needs the northern long-eared bat reclassified as endangered underneath the Endangered Species Act.
The bat, now listed as threatened, is dealing with extinction as a result of unfold of white-nose syndrome, an endemic that impacts bats that dwell in caves throughout the continent.
Northern long-eared bats may 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, outdoor or sports activities – you identify it, he needs to report it. Do you’ve a narrative thought? Join with him at egodfrey@oklahoman.com or on Twitter @EdGodfrey. Assist his work and that of different Oklahoma journalists by buying a digital subscription as we speak.