Conservation By Donation: Ducks Unlimited

 Dinner Auction

By Shannon Hicks

WATERBURY — Next week, the Waterbury chapter of Ducks Unlimited will be holding its annual banquet, to which the public is invited.

The organization was formed in 1937 by a small group of conservationists who were concerned at what they saw as the plight of North America’s waterfowl breed. The same winds that created the country’s devastating Dust Bowl of the 1930s also took with them the promise of future generations of waterfowl.

Because the majority of North America’s waterfowl breed in the Canadian prairies, these conservationists organized to raise money in the United States for waterfowl conservation in Canada.

The mission of Ducks Unlimited (DU) is to fulfill the annual life cycle needs of North American waterfowl by protecting, enhancing, restoring and managing important wetlands and associated wetlands. To date, DU’s habitat work has provided more than 8 million acres of valuable nesting, brood-rearing, staging, migration and wintering habitat.

Thanks to the efforts of DU members, most species of prairie-nesting ducks have made strong recoveries during the last decade. Most populations of geese have also increased during the same period.

DU is a registered non-profit organization. It was chartered as a conservation organization, not a “hunting organization.” DU supports the concept of regulated sport hunting, it says, “as an integral part of sound wildlife management, and as a wide and prudent use of renewable natural resources.”

Today the organization has branches across the country, and is concerned with waterfowl conservation across the continent.

To continue these ongoing efforts, chapters in each state hold fundraising events such as the one being planned for Friday, October 29 in Waterbury. A dinner auction will be held at Pontelandolfo Club on Fernwood Drive. The evening will begin with an open bar cocktail hour at 6 pm, followed by dinner and then the raffle and auction of various artwork and waterfowl related items. The raffle will include wildlife prints, decoy carvings and women’s jewelry, among other attractions.

Tickets for the evening are $55 for an individual, or $80 per couple. Either ticket price includes a one-year membership in Ducks Unlimited.

“Our chapter is one of quite a few within the state,” said Terry Thomas. Mr Thomas is the chairman of the Waterbury chapter of Ducks Unlimited, one of the newest chapters in the state. The October 29 fundraiser will be the second annual dinner for the chapter, and members are hoping to top the $10,000 the same event raised last year.

“We’re a young chapter, but our first dinner was quite a success,” Mr Thomas said. “We’re hoping to double that amount this year.”

Craig Ferris, the regional director of Ducks Unlimited, explained this week where the money would go from the auction.

“Ducks Unlimited is an international resource,” Mr Ferris, a Newtown resident, pointed out. “We put our money wherever in North America it will do its best. But 7-1/2 percent of all the money a Connecticut chapter raises comes right back into Connecticut.

“We have contributed just under $500,000 to 14 different projects within this state since 1987,” Mr Ferris said. As regional director, Mr Ferris handles support and facilitation of all volunteer efforts, including education, for Connecticut, Rhode Island and western Massachusetts. He works with over 200 volunteers.

“Ducks Unlimited has been in Connecticut since right after the organization was started in the late 30s,” Mr Ferris said. “Our first chapter was in Hartford, and we’ve just expanded from there.”

Mr Ferris was attracted to the organization for a number of reasons, he said. Their mission was a huge draw, along with the fact that the group continues to remain so focused on its conservation efforts. Eighty cents of every dollar raised goes right into habitat conservation efforts, he pointed out.

For tickets to the dinner auction, Terry Thomas can be reached at 264-2891. Regional director Craig Ferris is also available to answer questions about the organization, and to help with ticket purchases for the October 29 dinner auction. He can be reached at 426-2466.