Related Resources • Two Friends and One Huge Fish • Sweet Summer Dreams • Nothing Like a Visit  • Local DU Chapter Tops in the State

Past Articles One Year Ago -   6/19/00- Catfish on Top Two Years Ago -  06/21/99 - Catching Catfish Three Years Ago - 06/22/98 - Pond Fishing Four Years Ago - 06/23/97 - Seasonal Patterns - Late June in Georgia Past GOWA Award Winners • GOWA - 1999 • GOWA - 1996

Griffin Daily News
12/18/00

Want to help protect wildlife this Christmas? Trying to think of a way to help preserve our environment, save wetlands and insure the future of game animals, birds and other species? Thinking about the future of hunting and where we are headed in our relationship with nature? Then you should join Ducks, Unlimited!

Most folks think of Ducks, Unlimited as a group of men getting together at a banquet once a year to have fun and then hunting ducks the rest of the time. Many members are duck hunters, and the group does have an important banquet to raise money to preserve wetlands and the environment, but it is much more.

The reorganization of Griffin Ladies Ducks Unlimited chapter this year emphasizes the diverse membership of the organization and helps focus on its overall goal. Although some of the women hunt ducks and a few of them have attended the big banquet, the needs to protect the environment was one of the driving forces behind the chapter formation.

Katrina Feltman is the area chairperson for the ladies chapters. She got interested in Ducks, Unlimited because her husband was involved in it, and she wanted to do more than just help with the big banquet. That banquet is the main event, but the ladies have their own fundraising event now.

The event for the ladies is aimed toward them with items that are more interesting to them. And their first banquet this past fall must have been very interesting - they raised $14,800 with 151 in attendance! Katrina says the local sponsors of the event is what makes it a success. The Griffin Chapter had more doners than any other chapter in the state, and this was their first year!

The money raised will be used to protect duck habitat and insure the future of duck populations. You can imagine the huge amounts of money when all the money raised in Griffin is added to the money from other areas of Georgia, then added to other states. Combine that with any that is raised in other countries and significant work can be done.

When I visited Canada a few years ago it was not unusual to see a small sign by a marsh or wetland area. I stopped to see what those signs were, and they said protection of that area was funded by Ducks, Unlimited. Those wetlands and signs were everywhere!

Protecting those areas give ducks that come to the US for the winter a place to nest and raise their young in the summer. And a lot more than just ducks use them. All kinds of birds were everywhere anytime I stopped. Many of our winter song birds use these wetlands in the summer just like ducks. Endangered and high priority species that benefit from their projects range from bald eagles to black bears!

Other animals were also present, from muskrats to moose. Preserving natural areas like those marshes and swamps is important to animals as well as man. They filter the water that passes through them and every day we seem to learn more about how important that job is. It affects us since all water is cycled through them eventually!

Ducks, Unlimited also funds projects in Mexico and Canada, so species all over North America benefit. Without this group wildlife populations of all kinds would not be anywhere near the level we have today, and the future would not be nearly as bright for them.

If you are interested in helping ducks and the environment, join the organization. You can join now for $25 and get the DU magazine, car decals and other items. If you wait until the next banquet you will pay $50 but this includes membership fees as well as banquet fees. And once you join you can attend other events for just $25.

A membership in Ducks, Unlimited would be a great Christmas gift for a hunter or anyone else interested in helping protect the environment. Joining through either the Griffin Ladies chapter or the men’s chapter gets you into the national organization. Call Katrina at 770-467-8862 for more information. Either she or her husband can help you get into this great organization.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Till next time, Gone Fishin'!

Check out Coming Next Week - Next week's column topic, contest prize and new additions to the resources lists.

Previous Features