Major Gifts & Planning
Bill Clairmont and His Family Ensure Natural Area Surrounding DU's Bismarck Office
Bill Clairmont and his family recently transferred 16 acres of natural area adjacent to the Great Plains Regional Office in Bismarck , North Dakota , to Ducks Unlimited. Through an innovative series of gifts designed with DU's Office of Gift Planning, the Clairmont Family Trust has ensured that the Great Plains Regional Office will be surrounded by natural land that creates a buffer between it and on-going real estate development and protects the property's conservation values. Both DU and the Bismarck community benefit from Clairmont's vision for keeping the land natural and his willingness to work with DU to make that vision a reality. The property is adjacent to Pioneer Park , which anchors on the north a string of parks that runs south through the city.
Clairmont, a real estate developer, businessman, and philanthropist, helped DU obtain the original four acres for the office building in 1997. DU is grateful to Clairmont for continuing to show his appreciation of DU's commitment to conservation.
DU's Great Plains Regional Office delivers a variety of conservation programs in Colorado , Iowa , Minnesota , Montana , Nebraska , North Dakota , South Dakota , and Wyoming . This year, the office is celebrating its 20th anniversary after having conserved 855,577 acres in these eight states since 1984.
Successful Sound CARE Initiative Kickoff In North Carolina Raises over $600,000
A gala event on September 19, 2004, at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh celebrated the launch of DU's Sound CARE (Conservation of Agriculture, Resources, and the Environment) initiative. Sound CARE will preserve 64,000 acres of wetland habitat in North Carolina and in areas of North America that provide critical nesting and migration habitat for waterfowl, song birds, and other wildlife that migrate to and through North Carolina. The total cost of this ambitious initiative is $22 million.
At the event, which was co-chaired by Alan Hughes and Dianne Davidian, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper announced a $413,000 grant to DU. This grant was made possible by the Office of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper through Murphy Brown LLC and its parent company, Smithfield Foods. This grant will enable DU to restore 741 acres of critical wildlife habitat and improve water quality in North Carolina .
A $25,000 grant from Progress Energy Foundation was also announced.
Ducks Unlimited would like to extend a special thanks to the nine individual pledges made that evening in support of the initiative. Donors include Benefactor Sponsor Nat Harris, Diamond Heritage Sponsor Luke Laborde, DU's regional vice president for North and South Carolina; Heritage Sponsor Kurt Adams; and new Life Sponsors Karl and Linda Blackley; Mickey and Wanda Denning; Bill Hamlin; Jack Lamb; Foxy and Bunny Matthews; Schooner and Julie Nowell; and Robin and Kim Rose.
Bakale Tract in Michigan Dedicated to Former Regional Director Bob Koch
The Bakale Tract in Ottawa County , Michigan , was dedicated last summer in memory of former Ducks Unlimited Regional Director Bob Koch. Bob's professional career exemplified a life dedicated to conserving our natural resources. After several years with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Bob served DU for more than 15 years as a regional director, first in northern Indiana , then in southwest Michigan .
The 550-acre Bakale Tract is an important part of the Grand River watershed because it supports some of the highest breeding densities of mallards in Michigan . Rapid population growth and development in Ottawa County posed a significant threat to this property prior to its purchase in 2002, through the efforts of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Duck Hunters Association, and Ducks Unlimited.
Several members of the Koch family generously funded the project through major gifts to Ducks Unlimited. Those family members include Mike and Suzanne Beckstrom, Doug Koch and Marcia Murphey, Jeffrey and Angela Koch, and Dick and Judy Wilcox.
Additional Michigan Major Sponsors supported the project through Michigan PRIDE (Putting Resources Into Ducks Everywhere), a campaign to secure DU Life Sponsors and upgrade pledges in support of DU's conservation mission, with special emphasis on Michigan 's Great Lakes Ecosystem Initiative. DU would like to extend its thanks to the Michigan PRIDE Major Sponsors recognized at the Bakale Tract dedication: Doug and Ann Biechele, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bieker, William P. Bonbright, David and Barbara Buzzelli, Rodger and Joyce Crum, Edward B. Davison and Cathy O. Blight, William E. Dean, James M. Denison, James L. Dykes, Chris and Katrina Eder, B.J. and Judy Foster, Bob and Norine Foster, Russ and Amy Grasman, Robert D. and Constance Hoffman, Verne R. Jacobson, Richard G. Johnson, Wayne D. Jones, Daryl L. Kesler, Cynthia E. and John D. Kneibel Jr., Bob Koch, David Kurtz, Joe “Magic” Maggini, Gary W. Malecke, Eugene H. McKay III, J.B. McKay, Douglas E. Moore, Kenneth J. Mulder, Frank Newmyer, Larry and Barbara Parker, Theresa Politowicz, Elizabeth Prugh, Patrick and Linda Rademacher, Michael Soignet, Max and Terry Sonnevil, Frederick J. and Donna R. Stenton, Ken Top, Wesley and Ginger Van Conet, and Steve and Dawn Wyckoff.
Tribute Dinner in Memory of Dr. Ray Minges Raises Over $100,000
Friends of the late Dr. Ray Minges of Greenville , North Carolina , held a tribute dinner last summer to celebrate his election into the North Carolina Ducks Unlimited Hall of Fame. Dr. Minges, a Greenville surgeon who died in 1987, was an avid sportsman, conservationist, and long-term DU supporter. He will be inducted into the hall of fame later this year. This hall of fame, which will be located in the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum at Harkers Island , is the only one of its kind in the country.
More than $100,000 was contributed during the tribute to purchase a 75-acre waterfowl management impoundment in Dr. Minges' memory to give to the state of North Carolina as a part of DU's new Sound CARE program. The impoundment, which is in the Roanoke River Wetlands Gamelands near Williamston in Martin County , will be managed for permit hunting.
Ducks Unlimited would like to thank the individuals and corporations who honored Dr. Minges's memory with a major gift commitment at the Life-Sponsor level. They are: Kurt and Margaret Adams; Ed and Vickie Clement; Bob and Yvonne Deyton; John and Laura Farley; Patricia Page Minges; Don and Donna Manley; Virginia M. Minges; Hoyt Minges, Jr.; Tom and Kay Minges; In Memory of Maxel Minges and In Honor of Mabel Minges; Virginia W. Minges; Minges Bottling Group, Inc.; Jim and Teresa Morris; Greg and Cindy Rhue; Bob and Jenny Rippy; Eddie and Jo Smith; Dal and Carol Snipes; Odell Welborn; Jack and Jeane Welch; Dave and Judy Whichard; and Jack and Jane Whichard.
Harold C. and Frances Langford Stuart Receive Their Diamond Legacy Award
In October 2004, Ducks Unlimited was honored to present Harold C. and Frances Langford Stuart, of Tulsa , Oklahoma , and Jensen Beach , Florida , with their Diamond Legacy Sponsor award. Their generous gift was used to complete a 700-acre wetland enhancement project located in Oklahoma 's McIntosh and Okmulgee counties. In their honor, the project was named The Harold C. and Frances Langford Stuart Wetlands. Ducks Unlimited is grateful to the Stuarts for their sustained support of our conservation mission.