Campaign Status: Checking in on NFC's First State Heritage Fish Sign...
While camping and fishing in the Maine woods recently, NFC Executive Director Bob Mallard, National Chair Emily Bastian, and Maine Chair Larry Bastian checked in on the first State Heritage Fish sign ever posted. The sign was posted by Bob and MA/NH NFC board member Jeff Moore in May 2018.
Seven years, 364 ponds, and 510 State Heritage Fish signs later, while the sign had a couple of bullet holes in it and the tree it was posted on had lost its bark, the sign was in amazingly good shape. Especially when you consider where it is, well off the grid in Maine’s working forest.
Unlike many organizations and agencies that use cardboard signs, NFC decided early on to take informational signage to the next level. We use 12x18” pre-drilled .040” aluminum stock with rounded corners. All signs feature a border, banner, fish art by Joseph Tomelleri, and text.
As an interesting side note, while the pictures below were taken just 3 days apart over a period of seven years, Bob was wearing just a single lightweight vented shirt in 2018, he was wearing long johns, insulated pants, a heavy fleece shirt, and a wool shirt in 2025. That’s the Maine woods…
