MEMPHIS, Tenn. - March 13, 2015 - Ducks Unlimited announced today the winners of the 2015 Wetland Conservation Achievement Awards during the 80th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference held in Omaha, Neb. This year's recipient in the Communications category is Hal Herring of Montana.

"In his own words, Hal says he's written a lot about wetlands because he is "a 100-percent-believer that they are where everything begins - aquifers, flood control, filtration, nurseries, year-long stream flows rather than flood and drought, all of it'," said DU Chief of Conservation Paul Schmidt. "Ducks Unlimited is pleased to recognize him for a lengthy and extraordinary job of covering sportsman's issues, water quality and quantity issues, habitat loss from the prairies to the Gulf Coast and other conservation-focused topics."

Herring once planned to be a war correspondent until he slowly realized that without the environment, no human endeavor, not war or peace, could long go forward. He followed that path and is now an award-winning outdoor journalist and one of the most well-known and enjoyed contributing editors for Field Stream. He has written for publications that range from The Atlantic and The Economist to High Country News and Conservation, to Creative Nonfiction and Orion.

Herring specializes in deeply reported, long-form journalism stories and essays with a primary focus on conservation. Through the years, he has been a leading advocate for Gulf Coast restoration, and has authored numerous articles and stories on Mississippi River Delta restoration and coastal Louisiana land loss. Hal is now working on conveying the idea that saving Gulf Coast wetlands is vital to the nation all the way upstream to Montana. His work has helped to ensure that these issues, and the efforts of dedicated conservation professionals, citizen volunteers, and scientists to address them, are understood by the millions of people who are directly affected.

Ducks Unlimited's Wetland Conservation Achievement Awards are presented annually in six categories to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the conservation and restoration of North America's wetlands and waterfowl. To view a complete list of the 2015 Wetland Conservation Achievement Award winners, please visit www.ducks.org/wetlandawards.

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 13 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org. Connect with us on our Facebook page at facebook.com/DucksUnlimited, follow our tweets at twitter.com/DucksUnlimited and watch DU videos at youtube.com/DucksUnlimitedInc


Media Contact:
Andi Cooper
601-206-5463
acooper@ducks.org