DU: Kids today have intense competition for their time and attention. What are the key messages you tell your Greenwing members to help shape them into the conservation supporters and leaders of tomorrow?
Jeff: We have our program on a beautiful camp. All you have to do is look around at the gorgeous camp you’re at. I say, “Without you guys – you young men and women carrying on the tradition of hunting – this could all be gone some day.”
When I look out at these kids [at
Greenwing events] and I see them shooting clays, I know we’ve got them hooked and the majority of these kids will be forever in the outdoors.
I know of a couple of girls who have come to our program, whose parents and families don’t hunt. I was in that [situation] as a kid, also. A friend of theirs who does hunt brought all three of these girls to our program and they were looking forward to hunting this fall.
We have this great tradition and sporting heritage in
Wisconsin. The men and women who work [with me] are instilling that in these kids.
DU: Have any Greenwing members really stood out to you over the years? Why?
Jeff: We have three young men – 19, 20 and 21 are their ages – who went through the Greenwing program and are now on the committee. We have 15 or 16 core members who work on the [Greenwing] program throughout the year. What has really put a big smile on my face is that we had eight past Greenwing members helping this year. I have these 18-to-21-year-old men and women coming to help with the program. That tells me that in 15 years, when these guys have time to get more involved, I’ll be able to pass the reins to the next generation. And I say 15 years because I want to be here for our 50th anniversary.
DU: Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has said one of her priorities is to get more kids outside. In addition to the Greenwing program, how can we create opportunities to get kids outside?
Jeff: We need to get to the parents. When I was a kid, when school got out, you’d just spent months in a building and the first thing you wanted to do is go outside. Getting the parents to take their kids outdoors is the tough part. Parents say they would like their kids to get involved in shooting sports and the outdoors. Then you have to make the sacrifice to take time out of your busy day to take them out.
Families that spend time outdoors, their children are better students and less apt to get in trouble. That’s the word that we as a sporting community need to get out. We have to get past this mindset that guns are bad, hunting is bad, fishing is bad. Kids who spend time outdoors are less apt to get in trouble and more apt to be great citizens of this country. They’re our future leaders, in my opinion.
DU: What would you tell lawmakers in Washington, D.C., about conservation and Ducks Unlimited?
Jeff: Senators, congressmen and members of federal agencies should take Ducks Unlimited and use the work they’ve done over the years on conservation projects as a standard. Go out to our other national lands where wetlands have been destroyed and allow Ducks Unlimited to come in and restore these wetlands. You will in turn stop floods because the wetlands were made to hold back flood waters. You will clear up your waters in rivers and lakes because wetlands are natural filters.
The other thing I would like them to know is that it’s the volunteers who spend their time, their money, the knowledge they give to the young men and women who go through the DU Greenwing program – they are the ones who are preparing the future generation. By getting them in the outdoors and away from the computer, [kids] will have a greater love of this country as a whole. They are going to be more apt to try to protect these wildlife areas.
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