Insights: Welcome to a New Season
By Don Young, Executive Vice President
As you sit down to read the flagship edition of Ducks Unlimited magazine, summer is winding down, and with that comes the change of seasons that most of us prefer above all others. For even now, waterfowl are winging their way from breeding grounds to staging areas and wintering areas beyond. Exclusive of Alaska, our Canadian friends and those fortunate enough to visit there will have the first opportunity to experience migrating waterfowl from a duck blind.
Growing up on the Canadian prairies provided me a wealth of waterfowling experiences with family and friends. I still get the occasional opportunity to visit and hunt there even though I now live on the opposite end of the flyway. And each time, I savor it, perhaps even more so now than ever. For it is the wide open spaces, the abundance and diversity of birds, and seeing the habitat where the birds are hatched and raised that combine to make these hunts so extraordinary.
This edition of Ducks Unlimited includes a feature article on just that— “Hunting Across Canada.” We hope the stories and images will raise your pulse rate. But they should also give us all pause to remember that wings overhead aren’t possible without habitat work on the ground. DU has recognized this in a visionary way since our inception in 1937. And that commitment to conserving and restoring habitat on the breeding grounds remains a fundamental strategic underpinning.
Our work continues to include direct conservation program delivery with private landowners and public agencies as well as a growing focus on shaping public policy. For it is in this arena where we can achieve complementary, large-scale habitat gains, particularly through cooperative efforts with the agricultural sector. This includes the Canadian federal government’s Agricultural Policy Framework, which DU helped shape and heartily endorses. We are confident that this program will translate into landscape-wide benefits for waterfowl, much as CRP and WRP have in the United States.
As always, our conservation work will be guided by good science that includes a fundamental commitment to research and development. We have an obligation to constantly improve, and our willingness to change and adapt is a hallmark of DU’s storied conservation history.
Reports from the Canadian breeding grounds suggest that there’s reason for quiet optimism about this fall’s waterfowl migration. Hopefully some of you will have the opportunity to experience this firsthand in September and October. For others, be patient. These northern birds should arrive in your part of the world before too long.
While you wait for birds to move south or are celebrating early-season success, don’t forget to reinvest some time and money in assuring the future of waterfowl habitat and waterfowl hunting. Attending a DU event and perhaps becoming a DU volunteer are very effective ways to accomplish this. We’re always on the lookout for talent and for those with a passion for the outdoors. About a month ago, I had the opportunity to experience this firsthand in two states where people from all walks of life were united by DU’s mission.
The Louisiana state convention was one of these venues where DU supporters from the Sportsman’s Paradise wore their passion for waterfowl and commitment to conservation on their sleeves. The following week, I joined members of DU’s Chattanooga chapter, their chairman Cameron Mitchell, and District Chair Tony Smith for a discussion about DU and their plans for growth. I was impressed by their enthusiasm, their strategic approach to adding volunteers, and their interest in raising the awareness of DU in their community. I’m confident that we’ll hear of great accomplishments from both locations later this fall.
We look forward to great success at all your DU events and in the duck blind this fall.
Good luck to all of you!