ADVENTURES IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT: SERVICE AGREEMENTS

By Kameron Bain, Business Development

Wow, another year at Plateau has flown by full of new adventures and many lessons learned. I am so amazed how year after year my knowledge of not only the wildlife management valuation but of land and wildlife in general keeps growing. I always thought I had to leave the Plateau office to find adventure, but over the past few months I went on adventures with many members of my team without leaving the cool, and just recently warm, comfort of the office.

As over 200 of Plateau landowners know when the air starts to cool and pumpkins start being replaced by wreathes and bright lights, Service Agreement proposals start hitting the email boxes. While it may seem to just suddenly appear like an unexpected surprise, there is a lot of planning and research that goes on behind the scenes. Plateau Service Agreements are annual contracts that assist landowners in fulfilling the goals of their wildlife management plan as well as other property goals or interest of individual landowners. Agreements can include everything from Annual Reports to feeder re-fills to bird surveys to consulting time with your biologist to learn more about your piece of land. I personally love service agreements. It is in my nature to make lists and spreadsheets and to plan and organize. I love seeing all the activities lined out so the landowner can view what will be done over the coming year. I was excited to uses some of my strengths to assist our landowners.

The adventure all started back in September when the Plateau biology team reviewed the 2011 agreements and offered recommendations on changes, additions or input they received from the landowner. Meanwhile our products and services team was busy creating a more efficient site visit structure based on the number of nest boxes and new options to re-charge rainwater collections systems, and re-fill and re-charge our newest product, the Quail and Small Wildlife Station. All was going very smooth. That was until the October bump in the road, a few weeks of technology issues stalled the process. Oh well, best laid plans.

By November, life in the office returned back to normal and it was time to build the agreements. I could not have done this part without my service agreement partner in crime, Steve Parker. Steve is Plateau's Products and Services Manager who is committed to giving each landowner exceptional client service. Hours upon hours were spent pouring over client history to make sure all bases had been covered to ensure that each individual client was in compliance with the wildlife management guidelines. 2011 log sheets were reviewed to check on missing nest boxes, and products and services suggestions made by our awesome wildlife services technicians. Slowly, we put all the pieces together to build each agreement, sometimes with multiple reviews by the biologist or account manager.

With the change of seasons this December, almost all of our 2012 Wildlife Management Services Agreement are in the clients hands. Now the fun can begin when I can interact with the clients, discuss their property and look forward to a new year. I have to give a very special Thank You to Steve. From Steve I learned a lot about wildlife management guidelines for many activities, how to view agreement in terms of compliance and more importantly that exceptional client service means to doing your due diligence and leaving no stone unturned. I am so proud to work with someone who takes care of our clients as well as Steve does.

Until, next Seasons and next service agreement season, have a Happy Holiday.