Ducks Unlimited facts for kids
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| Founded | 1937 |
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| Founder | Joseph Knapp |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Focus | Waterfowl habitat conservation |
| Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee, US |
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Area served
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North America |
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Members
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700,000 |
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Key people
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Chuck Smith, President Adam Putnam, CEO |
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Volunteers
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40,000 |
| Website | ducks.org |
Ducks Unlimited (DU) is a group in America that works to protect nature. It's a nonprofit organization, which means it doesn't try to make money. Instead, it focuses on saving wetlands (like swamps and marshes) and the lands around them. These places are important homes for ducks, other birds, and many animals. DU also helps people understand why these habitats are important. Since 2013, about 700,000 people have been members of Ducks Unlimited.
Contents
How Ducks Unlimited Started
Ducks Unlimited started from earlier groups that cared about wildlife. In 1930, a publishing leader named Joseph P. Knapp created a group called "More Game Birds in America." This group wanted to help increase the number of game birds.
By 1937, Knapp and a few other people noticed that the number of ducks was going down. They decided to focus on protecting the places where ducks live, especially in Canada. So, on January 29, 1937, they officially started Ducks Unlimited. An artist from Winnipeg named Ernie Wilson designed the first Ducks Unlimited logo.
Ducks Unlimited Around the World
Ducks Unlimited quickly grew. Just a month later, on March 10, 1937, Ducks Unlimited Canada was formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As of 2020, over 111,000 people are part of the conservation efforts in Canada.
Ducks Unlimited also works in Mexico through a partner group called Ducks Unlimited de Mexico. There are also chapters in other parts of Latin America, New Zealand, and Australia.
Protecting Habitats
Ducks Unlimited has helped protect at least 15 million acres of land for ducks and other wildlife in North America. They work with many different groups, like businesses, governments, other non-governmental organizations, landowners, and regular people. Their goal is to fix areas that have been damaged and to stop more damage from happening to wetlands.
DU also works with others to suggest government rules that will help wetlands and the environment. In 2019, Ducks Unlimited made over $201 million. At least 80 percent of this money goes directly to saving habitats. They get money from many sources, including government payments for habitat work, donations, and members.
Most of the people who give money to DU, and 90 percent of its members, are hunters. DU publishes a magazine called DU Magazine. It has articles about duck hunting and history. The magazine also gets money from ads for hunting gear. DU also raises money by having artists create duck artwork. A part of the money from selling the art goes to the artist, and most of it goes to Ducks Unlimited.
In 2019, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the University of Saskatchewan started a special program. It's called the "Ducks Unlimited Canada Endowed Chair in Wetland and Waterfowl Conservation." This program helps university students and teachers with environmental education, research, and reaching out to the public.
In March 2019, Adam Putnam, who used to be Florida's Agriculture Commissioner, became the new Chief Executive Officer of Ducks Unlimited.
What Ducks Unlimited Does
Ducks Unlimited focuses on protecting wetlands. These projects often happen in places where ducks breed, like the Canadian prairies. Ducks Unlimited Canada now works in every Canadian province and territory. Ducks Unlimited in the U.S. also works in every state and in Mexico.
Their main goal is to protect the most important places for ducks. This includes fixing duck breeding areas in Canada and the northern U.S. states. They also work on areas where ducks spend the winter, mostly in the coastal and southern U.S. states and in Mexico.
Helping After Oil Spills
After the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Ducks Unlimited helped with many clean-up efforts. They worked with other groups to protect about 79,000 acres of land for ducks and other waterbirds. In 2015, Ducks Unlimited helped create an online tool to track conservation and clean-up work after the oil spill. In 2018, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gave Ducks Unlimited $1.8 million to help clean up oil spills and dangerous waste in Texas.
Special Places Ducks Unlimited Helps
Ducks Unlimited focuses on several important regions:
- Prairie Pothole Region: This area has many small wetlands, like potholes, that are great for ducks.
- Western Boreal Forest of Canada: A huge forest area with many wetlands.
- Mississippi Alluvial Valley: A large, flat area along the Mississippi River.
- Central Valley and Coastal California: Important areas in California for migrating birds.
- Gulf Coastal Prairie: Coastal grasslands along the Gulf of Mexico.
Ducks Unlimited on TV
Ducks Unlimited has its own television show called Ducks Unlimited TV (DUTV). The show is hosted by Field Hudnall, Wade Bourne, and Ainsley Beeman. It highlights conservation efforts and waterfowl hunting across the United States.
See also
- Al Agnew
- Mississippi Flyway
- Weed Lake
