More of this Feature • Part 1: Georgia Outdoor Writers Association Excellence in Craft Awards  • Part 2: The Everything Fishing Book  • Ducks, Unlimited     Join the Discussion "What is  your favorite fishing book?" Ronnie
Related Resources • Hunter's Bream • To Fish or Not to Fish • Holiday Wishes • Ducks, Unlimited in Ga • The Everything Fishing Book Review
Past Articles One Year Ago - 5/20/02 - Fishing Center Hill Lake Two Years Ago -5/21/01 - Flint River Shoal Bass Fishing Three Years Ago - 5/22/00 - A New Sight Fishing Technique For Bass Four Years Ago -05/24/99 - Why Fish For Bass Five Years Ago - 05/18/98 - Safe Boating Week Six Years Ago - 05/19/97 - Catfish and Bullheads - How Big is Big?

Ducks, Unlimited spends money right here in Georgia!

Founded in the 1930s to help protect ducks and their habitat, the first goal of the organization was to conserve duck nesting habitat in Canada. Since 83 per cent of the ducks in the US nest in Canada, that had to be a priority. Today anywhere you drive there you will see projects that allow ducks to breed and provide more of them to fly south to the US.

These efforts have been extremely successful and DU has been able to expand its work to other areas. Recently the organization pass the mark of 10,000,000 acres of waterfowl habitat conserved in North America. That is ten million acres - a tremendous amount of land and water that will produce ducks and protect future populations.

Here in Georgia Ducks, Unlimited spends a lot of money on habitat, too. The Matching Aid to Restore State Habitat (MARSH) project was started about 17 years ago and over 15,470 acres of habitat has been conserved in our state. That effort took more than $3,000,000 that was spent on local projects and Ducks, Unlimited provided almost half that total.

Rum Creek Wildlife Management Area near us was the first MARSH project in Georgia. Of the 33 projects in Georgia 14 of them including 14,690 acres are open to hunting. Projects include everything from water control structures that provide lakes for the ducks to building and setting up nesting boxes. Almost 1500 wood duck nest boxes have been placed here through the MARSH project.

Ducks, Unlimited is a huge organization with almost 700,000 members nationwide and more than 19,000 members here in Georgia. They work to raise money for these projects and support conservation efforts. The organization returns 7.5 per cent of funds raised here to projects in the state.

Since its start Ducks, Unlimited has raised $1.725 billion dollars of which 83 per cent is returned wetlands and waterfowl conservation. That is a high percentage of funds raised for an organization to use for projects. The rest goes toward fundraising efforts and administration of the organization.

Ducks, Unlimited offers many programs that compliment their habitat conservation. One that parents, teachers and students should find useful is their on-line education site at http://www.ducks.org. It includes teaching materials for parents and educators as well as activities for kids.

Ducks, Unlimited is in the water business. Ducks need water and the group works to insure they have the kind of habitat they need. This also benefits many other kinds of wildlife. Everything from muskrats to moose use wetlands created and maintained by Ducks, Unlimited.

Two events are scheduled for Griffin during the next month. On Tuesday, October 15 there is a sponsor banquet scheduled for Griffin Country Club. This is an event for couples and tickets are $325.00. For that amount you receive admission to the general banquet on November 6th, also.

At the Sponsor Banquet you will have cocktails at 6:30 PM and dinner at 7:30 PM at the Country Club. Everyone purchasing a ticket in advance will be entered into a drawing for a gun. This should be a great evening for your and your companion.

At the General Banquet on November 6th those purchasing tickets in advance will also be entered into a drawing for a gun. There will be lots of other items auctioned off as well as other fund raising events. "No Host" Cocktails are at 6:30 PM and the Dinner is at 7:30 PM.

At the end of last year the Griffin Chapter of Ducks, Unlimited celebrated its 30th year and exceeded $1,000,000 in donations. That is a fantastic record for our area. Plan on joining in this year to help this group and their cause.

Part 1 >Georgia Outdoor Writers Association Awards> Page 1, 2, 3