I agree with nearly everything being said on both sides. Landman, you make some great points and I appreciate your input a great deal.
Is there a way to see how our money is being spent?
The best way is to attend the local meeting or to contact one of the officers. The Treasurer would be a good person to ask.
The local PF chapter is required to get a membership from everyone attending their banquet so it might appear that the membership fee is going to the local chapter. However the local chapter must send the membership fees collected to the national office after the banquet.
Any other funds raised by the chapter through its raffles, banquet or donations may be spent anyway they choose. It is my experience that the chapter will receive financial requests from a number of sources. Some examples might be from a gun club trying to start out, or someone wanting to help a handicap youngster hunt pheasants, or a donation to pay for food for a youth hunt, or to help pay for a boat ramp on a local lake. When these requests come in the folks at the meeting vote on a motion to help or not help.
I personally wish that the local chapter would focus solely on habitat development but I realize that it is difficult to turn down requests like those above. In the end though, it is up to those who attend the meetings to decide how the money will be spent. It should be noted that the success of a local chapter to raise funds is dependent on the support from its community who are watching how their donations are being spent.
It's the National Office that does most of the heavy lifting for habitat development so if one isn't satisfied with how the local chapter is spending its money then it might be best to send your donations directly to them.
I will add that the majority of local chapters do a tremendous service to the community and to habitat development and they deserve our support. Keep in mind that many chapters don't have a lot of money to work with. I'm guessing that most annual budgets for habitat related support at the local level fall between $1,000 to $25,000 per year. It may not seem like much but collectively the local chapters do a great service for us pheasant hunters. We should also recognize the local members who do all the work to run a successful banquet, or to visit businesses for donations, or to organize a youth hunt or attend the monthly meetings. They are the members who do more than just pay the $30 bucks per year and they should be recognized for their service in making our pheasant hunting experience better.