Ethics, Character and WSF

Kyle MeintzerFor Kyle Meintzer, the highest level of personal ethics drives every decision, and the Wild Sheep Foundation’s sterling standards are what draw his support and loyalty. As a member, board member, donor and founding chapter president, Kyle knows WSF inside and out. This knowledge inspired his confidence in creating a generous bequest that will brighten the future of wild sheep for generations.

“If your interest is wild sheep and if you’re devoted to conservation, the Wild Sheep Foundation is the organization for you,” Kyle says. “Look around the lower 48 states, and you’ll soon realize that most of the wild sheep, and most of the sheep tags, wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the work of WSF and its chapters and affiliates. Ask the fish and game departments in most every sheep state, and they will point to WSF and our chapters and affiliates as the number one conservation organizations they want to work with.”

He has put his firm belief into action by making a planned gift to WSF through a $1.2 million bequest of his IRA. He has other substantial gifts to WSF in mind, but he is keeping those secret as a surprise boon for wild sheep in his estate plan.

A lifetime hunter, Kyle caught sheep fever after attending the WSF’s Sheep Show and booking his first Dall bow hunt in 2000. After his success in bagging the first ram in his FNAWS, the Certified Financial Planner® and ethics lecturer decided to get more involved. Not knowing any other sheep hunters in the Golden State, Kyle contacted WSF’s headquarters in hopes of starting the nonprofit’s first California chapter. He sent out around 500 letters to prospective members, and ultimately 15 of them got together, chipped in $500 apiece and elected Kyle the group’s first president. He served for four years, and when his term-limited presidential tenure was up, he moved into the role of vice president of operations.

At the national level, he served on WSF’s board of trustees, and since 2007 has been a member of WSF’s board of directors. Kyle created WSF’s Summit Life Members club, of which he is a charter member. He has also joined the Chadwick Ram Society at the platinum level. With numerous sheep hunts in the most remote territory imaginable to his credit, Kyle achieved his FNAWS in September 2015.

Meanwhile, the California chapter he launched has now grown to 250 strong.

Beyond conservation work that has brought wild sheep populations back from the brink, the WSF has demonstrated time and again commitment to enduring values. After a young Yukon hunting guide was killed, WSF outfitter members at the 2015 Sheep Show donated not one but two 30-day Stone sheep hunts, both worth $50,000. In all, these donations raised over $100,000, with all proceeds going to the guide’s widow and children. At another Sheep Show, a WSF member donated a hunt to fulfill a wounded veteran’s sheep-hunting dreams.

“The people of this organization are head and shoulders more passionate about their mission than the members of any other group I know,” Kyle says. “If you’re a conservationist who believes ethics are everything and character matters, the Wild Sheep Foundation is the organization for you.”