Oklahoma’s Department of Wildlife Conservation launched a new logo last week and, predictably, the reaction on social media was mixed.
Some people loved it. Some people hated it. Some hunters and anglers liked the white-tailed deer and white bass images on the new logo, but objected to the scissor-tailed flycatcher since the agency is largely funded by the sale of hunting and fishing licenses .
Others on social media speculated that the department had spent millions on the new logo and wondered why that money was not being used for wildlife-related projects, such as buying more trout for the winter fishing grounds.
The Wildlife Department, which had operating expenses of $55.7 million last fiscal year, did not spend millions on the rebranding.
The agency contracted with Idea Ranch of Tulsa to research and create the new logo at a cost of $94,800. The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Foundation, a nonprofit that helps the agency on projects, donated $10,000 for the rebranding effort.
The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission, which oversees the agency’s budget, authorized an additional $100,000 to replace the old logo with the new one on items such as signs, uniforms and decals on the state’s vehicles. agency.
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An outdated logo
Micah Holmes, deputy chief of education and information for the Department of Wildlife, said the old logo was immediately replaced with the new one on the agency’s digital platforms, but its replacement elsewhere is pending. will do over time.
Some of these will happen through attrition, such as updating wildlife management signs only when they need to be replaced anyway, Holmes said. In other cases, the agency could simply put a sticker of the new logo over an old one on a property’s entrance sign, for example, he said.
The old logo, which is basically the image of the state flag in the form of a shield, was created in 1965. Holmes said the agency felt it was time for a change.
“We felt the logo was dated, that it probably didn’t have the recognition that we thought it had,” Holmes said.
“We at the Wildlife Department are very loyal to that logo. It’s what we wear on our hearts, literally. So we love it, but we wanted a company to help us determine if the public would recognize our logo and identifies with it in the same way.”
It turned out that the audience did not.
Idea Ranch, which has other outdoor businesses as clients, learned from its surveys that few people recognize the wildlife department logo when the agency’s name is removed from it. The old logo also did not reflect wildlife conservation other than the agency’s name.
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An outdoor feeling
Idea Ranch created four logos for review, and the one selected was the overwhelming choice among public discussion groups and a committee of Wildlife Department staff.
The new logo is shaped like an arrowhead to represent the state’s Native American tradition and heritage. The white-tailed buck, white bass (the state fish), and scissor-tailed flycatcher (the state bird) represent three of Oklahoma’s most recognized wildlife species.
These images also depict the agency’s three wildlife management areas: hunting, fishing and non-game species, wildlife that is not hunted for food or sport such as bats, butterflies and most birds.
The scissor-tailed flycatcher is one of the state’s most iconic and easily recognizable images, Holmes said. And that also represents non-game species that are also part of the agency’s mission, he said.
“We don’t just hunt and fish,” he said. “We manage all the wildlife in the state. It would have been incomplete not to have a species like that.”
The colors of the new logo also have a more outward feel than the previous logo.
“A lot of our favorite times of the year (outdoors) are in the fall,” Holmes said. “These are fall colors. And we wanted earth-toned colors that were a little understated.”
The new logo is part of a rebranding effort by the Department of Wildlife, Holmes said.
“It’s not just about the logo,” he said. “It’s just one of many elements that represent the brand… The idea is to be uniform in everything we do and that is presented to the public.”
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Bat Recommended for Endangered Species List
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service wants to reclassify the northern myotis as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.
The bat, now listed as endangered, is at risk of extinction due to the spread of white nose syndrome, a deadly disease affecting cave bats across the continent.
The northern long-eared bat is found in parts of the Ozark Highlands and Ouachita Mountains regions of eastern Oklahoma.
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