Ridgeland, MS, August 3, 2004 - Mississippi's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks received a Silver State Grant Award from Ducks Unlimited at their July Commission meeting.

Ducks Unlimited presents State Grant Awards to state fish and wildlife agencies that have reached significant milestones in their contributions to conserve waterfowl breeding habitat in priority areas of Canada. The Commission received the award in recognition of the Department's contributions of more than $500,000 to Ducks Unlimited since 1977 in support of habitat conservation activities on the Canadian breeding grounds.

Eddie Rogers, State Chairman for Ducks Unlimited in Mississippi and Jack Moss, at-large member of DU's Board of Directors, presented the award. "The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks has made a significant, positive difference in conserving North America's waterfowl habitats," said Rogers. "It is both a privilege and a pleasure to recognize such outstanding partners in conservation."

Noble Lee, newly elected Chairman of MDWFP Commission and Dr. Sam Polles, Executive Director of MDWFP, accepted the award on behalf of the Department. "Since 1977, the Ducks Unlimited partnership with our state agency has conserved hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands and other vital waterfowl habitat in the primary waterfowl nesting areas of Saskatchewan, Canada," Lee said. "We are proud to accept this award from an organization that achieves, real on-the-ground conservation. The net result is better hunting, better birding, and healthier prairie ecosystems."

At the same meeting, the Commission voted unanimously to increase the Department's funding in support of Ducks Unlimited Canada's Eastern Saskatchewan Parklands Program to $75,000 annually. This is a 25% increase from last year and a 250% increase since 2001. The Commission's action is significant and solidifies their longtime support of Ducks Unlimited's waterfowl and wetland conservation activities in Prairie Canada.

Ducks Unlimited matches the Department's contribution dollar-for-dollar, and uses the combined amount to leverage an equivalent U.S. federal grant under the provisions of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, resulting in a minimum four-fold match on the Department's contribution by the time those funds hit the ground in Saskatchewan.

This past year, the Commission's $60,000 contribution translated into more than $240,000 of habitat conservation activities in Saskatchewan's Eastern Parklands, enabling Ducks Unlimited and their partners to conserve over 37,000 acres of waterfowl nesting habitat in prairie Canada.

Contact: Chad Manlove, Manager of Conservation Planning, cmanlove@ducks.org

With more than a million a supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest wetland and waterfowl conservation group. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands - nature's most productive ecosystems - and continues to lose more than 100,000 wetland acres every year.