Ducks Unlimited to hold meeting here Sept 17

   Ducks Unlimited will be holding a volunteer information meeting in Greensburg.  Come join fellow waterfowlers in learning more about Ducks Unlimited, the conservation work they do and how you can be a leader in waterfowl conservation by bringing the excitement of a DU event to your area.  No waterfowl organization benefits hunters like Ducks Unlimited.  Come find out why and how you can help make a difference for waterfowl hunting today and tomorrow.  There is no cost to attend this educational evening that is being brought to you by Kansas Ducks Unlimited. Snacks and drinks will be provided at the meeting, so please RSVP to either Mark Schlegel at 316-641-5093 or Barry Allen at 316-253-3055.  The meeting will be held at the Green Bean Coffee Company, 105 E. Kansas Ave, Greensburg KS at 7 PM on Friday, September 17.

Ducks Unlimited got its start in 1937 during the Dust Bowl when North America’s drought-plagued waterfowl populations had plunged to unprecedented lows. Determined not to sit idly by as the continent’s waterfowl dwindled beyond recovery, a small group of sportsmen joined together to form an organization that became known as Ducks Unlimited. Its mission: habitat conservation.  Thanks to decades of abiding by that single mission, Ducks Unlimited is now the world’s largest and most effective private waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization. DU is able to multilaterally deliver its work through a series of partnerships with private individuals, landowners, agencies, scientific communities and other entities.  Waterfowl are not the only beneficiaries of DU’s habitat work. Wetlands improve the overall health of our environment by recharging and purifying groundwater, moderating floods and reducing soil erosion. Wetlands are Nature’s most productive ecosystems, providing critical habitat to more than 900 wildlife species and invaluable recreation opportunities for people to enjoy. The

United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands and continues to lose more than 80,000 acres of the wetlands most important to wildlife each year.

Ducks Unlimited is a grassroots, volunteer-based organization. Its members are conservationists and outdoor enthusiasts who live primarily throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.  For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, DU volunteers hosted more than 4,600 grassroots fund-raising events such as member and sponsor banquets, shooting and fishing tournaments and golf outings. Event dollars represent some of DU’s most important sources of revenue. Since event dollars are typically unrestricted, DU is able to spend these funds in our highest priority areas and use them to leverage additional funds from other sources.

Since founding in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has raised over $3 billion for wetlands conservation.  This funding has conserved over 12 million acres across North Americ, more than any other conservation organization.  There are currently over 600,000 members in the Unites States, plus another 100,000 in Canada and 4,000 in Mexico.  During the past fiscal year, 86 percent of DU’s expenditures were converted directly to conservation work. This habitat is needed desperately by ducks, geese and other wetland-dependent wildlife to survive.

Kansas Ducks Unlimited facts:

• DU’s #1 conservation focus area – the Prairie Pothole Region provides Kansas with the vast majority of our waterfowl migration.

• DU and our conservation partners have conserved more than 6 million acres of critical waterfowl habitat in the states and provinces that make up the Prairie Pothole Region.

• DU and our partners have performed more than $9 million worth of conservation work in Kansas that has impacted over 15,000 acres.

• More than 90% of the public projects DU has performed work on in Kansas are open to hunting, including Jamestown Wildlife Area, Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, McPherson Valley Wildlife Area, Marais Des Cygnes Wildlife Area, Neosho Wildlife Area, Flint Hills NWR, Texas Lake Wildlife Area and Quivira NWR.

• The dollars raised at local DU events are the primary funds that drive our waterfowl habitat conservation programs.

• The best way Kansas waterfowl hunters can help protect critical waterfowl habitat is by volunteering for their local Ducks Unlimited committee.

• Waterfowl hunters founded DU in 1937 and hunters make up more than 90% of our current membership.

• DU is the only waterfowl conservation organization with a Washington DC staff whose purpose is to work with lawmakers to see that waterfowl needs are represented when congressional issues will have an impact on waterfowl habitat.

• DU ranks 120 out of almost 1,000,000 non-profit organizations in the United States in terms of organizational efficiency.

Come to this educational meeting to find out how you can participate with Ducks Unlimited in restoring and maintaining these critical wetland habitats