Mission Statement:

The BCC is a dedicated group of individuals promoting the protection and propagation of fish and game in a safe, sportsman-like and law-abiding manner. We encourage young and old alike to get involved with shooting and outdoor sports through our many safety programs and training in the proper care and use of hunting and fishing equipment. Our hope is to maintain for the use of the community our ranges and reserves for the purpose of developing characteristics of good fellowship, self discipline and self-reliance essential to good sportsmanship, true patriotism and citizenship.

History:

The grounds currently occupied by the Berlin Conservation Club were once the location of a brewery. Shaffer Brewery used the spring water located behind the clubhouse for the manufacturing and cooling of beer during the 1860’s. It is not definitively known how long the brewery operated at this site. In 1915 a local meat market owned by John (C.J.) and Martha Clink used the grounds as a slaughterhouse, and the area was known as “Clink’s pasture”. The area was next known as “Lentz’s springs” and was noted in the Berlin Atlas as being owned by Fred Lentz.

In 1928 the Berlin Rifle and Pistol Club was formed by Harry Kujawa and Lyle Harrison, and the club had 32 charter members. At that time it did not operate on the current grounds, but at several locations in the general area. The indoor range was located at Berlin Glove Company with bales of scrap leather as backstops, run by J.J. Williams, Gene Baldwin, and Harold Weiland. The Outdoor rifle range was located five miles north of Berlin on the Harold Davenport farm. The trap range was on the Otterburn farm east of the present club grounds. Vigilantes (citizen groups formed to stop the one-a-day bank robberies taking place) trained on these ranges.

The winter of 1933 and 1934 brought new activity to Clink’s pasture and Lentz’s springs, as the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and the Berlin Rotary Club prepared to build a L-shaped pool—the east/west section where trap houses #1, #2 and #3 are now located, and the north/south section where trap house #4 is now located. The pool project flounders during construction, however, and realization that the spring used to fill the pool carries uncomfortably cold water forces construction of a “warming pond”—the pond remains on the grounds today. By project’s end, a total of $40,000 was spent.

On April 15th, 1936, a meeting took place with Berlin hunters and sportsmen at the Berlin Glove Company. The Berlin Conservation Club was formed during this meeting, spearheaded by Gene Baldwin, Leslie “Windy” Peterson, Harry Kujawa, and Lyle Harrison. One of the BCC’s original tasks was to hold a crow shoot with the purpose to kill chicken hawks, owls, gophers, house rats and any animal or bird considered harmful to farmers and wildlife. Dues were 50 cents and used to fund the shoot banquet. There were 84 original members of the BCC.