54 - CAPE GAZETTE - Friday, January 12 - Monday, January 15, 2007
Bill Welters named businessman of the year
Sussex native loves
environment, hunting
By Demlis Forae¥
C. gazette staff
From the time he was a young
man, Bill Welter has driven him-
self to excellence.
When he learned recently that
the National Republican
Congressional Committee named
him 2006 Delaware Businessman
of the Year, Welter felt a confir-
mation for his life's direction.
"Whether it has been training
dogs, shooting trap or growing
plants for conservation, I've
strived to be the best. Awards like
this make me feel like I'm on the
right track," he said.
Welter owns and operates the
Owens Station Hunting Preserve,
Sporting Clays Range and Dog
Training Center located in a rural
area of western Sussex County
between Ellendale and
Greenwood.
There, thousands of men,
women and children sharpen their
shooting skills each year on trap
ranges and five different sporting
clay ranges that simulate live
hunting experiences. In fields and
woods reaching over more than
300 acres, Welter also offers man-
aged hunting for native white-
tailed deer and wild turkeys and
released upland game birds
including pheasant, quail,
chukars, partridges and French red
legs. In many cases, hunters work
over pointers and retrievers
trained by Welter who also raises
a variety of breeds. Many owners
board their dogs with Wolterwhen
they're not being used.
Welter feels so strongly about
the importance of people having
shooting and conservation skills
that he turns his preserve over to
the Delaware Ducks Unlimited
organization in the spring for a
tWo-day event focused on conser-
vation, education and public safe-
ty. "I believe it's the largest such
event in this country, possibly the
world," said Welter. "It's for chil-
Dennis Fomey photo
Bill Wolters enjoys every one of the puppies - llke this
young Labrador - that he raises and trains for waterfowl and
upland game hunting.
dren under 16 and we introduce
them to wildlife, appreciation for
the outdoors and nature, the
importance of good management
and conservation, and shooting
skills."
Welter finances the majority of
the event which last year hosted
more than 2,000 young people
from the Delmarva region. "I'm
very fortunate to be able to do this
financially and to offer our facili-
ty for the Ducks Unlimited Green
Wing event. I feel it's an invest-
ment in our youth. If we don't
educate our youth of today in con-
servation practices,' there will be
no tomorrow."
A former Delaware trap shoot-
ing champion, Wolter also feels
strongly about the fight in this
country for people to own guns
and know how to use them. "I
think it's part of the strength of
our nation. I'll never forget the
quotation from the Japanese gen-
eral who said .he would never
advise attacking the United States.
He said: 'That would be cry.
Everyone in that country has a gun
in their house.'"
Little is left to chance on
Wolter's hunting preserve. Not
only does he preachproper con-
servation and resource manage-
ment, he also grows t. Outside
-the hunting preserve clubhouse,
where people gather to play cards,
trade hunting stories, arrange
shooting lessons and sign up for
sporting clay competitions, Welter
points to a thick, brushy
hedgerow. "That's a plant known
as lespedeza. It makes great cover
for wildlife like songbirds
quail and rabbits. I am the fitt-
commercial grower and dealer for-
that plant." In another area of his
preserve, where he trains dogs, he
points to rows of wild grasses. '`1
was also the first commercial
grower of Atlantic Coastal Panic
Grass in Delaware. Now it's used
up and down our beaches to stabi-
lize the dunes and I ship it all over
the country.'"
Despite his own efforts at the
private level, Welter is discour-
aged about the state's efforts at
managing public lands.
"They're just letting them go
instead of managing them for
proper wildlife balance. Much
more has to be done if we want to
sustain and improve nauve stocks
of birds like the bobwhite quail,
which at one time was a very
healthy species in Delaware.
More has to be done."
Welter is happiest when he's
around the puppies he raises and
trains and the young people who
learn about the outdoors at his pre-
serve. "It becomes your life," he
said. '`1 remember when I was
campaigning with retrievers
toward the national championship.
I was in it for 25 years.
Members of the Chrysler family
asked me to train a dog for them.
I did and we took that dog on to
become national champion in the
1996 competition in Santa Nelly
Valley in California. But I was
always on the road. Now I'm
home. This is where 1 was born
and raised and I love it."
In presenting the most recent of
Wolter's honors, New York
Congressman Tom Reynolds said
Welters has successfully integrat-
ed business and financial success
with the support of Republican
ideals.
"Mr. Wrlter has served as an
honorary chairman of the National
Republican Congressional
Committee's Business Advisory
Council and has provided much
needed support. This award could
not have gone to a more deserving
candidate."
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r Long and Foster Real Estate Inc.
t} 720 Rehoboth Ave.
r.ADIG "' Rehoboth Beach, DE. 19971
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J
