WICKLIFFE, Ky., March 1, 2007 – Ducks Unlimited (DU) supporters in Kentucky celebrated the completion of the Goose Pond Ridge wetland restoration project on Ballard Wildlife Management Area (WMA). This project is the result of the dedication and sponsorship of several DU “Life Sponsor” members and their commitment to providing habitat for waterfowl in Kentucky.

"It creates an ideal place for ducks to loaf and feed," said Ballard WMA manager Charlie Wilkins. "By most standards this is a small project, but it will pay big dividends."

DU and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) began the Goose Pond Ridge project in 2004 with the goal to improve water management capabilities and water delivery systems. The KDFWR will manage the 39 acres of restored wetlands for emergent wetland vegetation. Natural wetland vegetation produces foods like seeds, tubers and aquatic snails and insects, all of which waterfowl need to support winter and migration energy demands. Managers will also plant agriculture grains in the area to supplement foods produced by natural vegetation.

DU officials credit several supporters for shouldering the Goose Pond Ridge project financing, among them Dr. Charles and Linda Shields, Drs. Eric and Daniela Shields, Dr. Steven and Deborah McCullough of Paducah; David and Sudie Curtis of Barlow; and the late Dr. Frank Kolb III formerly of Paducah.

Wetlands are among the richest and most valuable ecosystems in the world, providing a home to more than 900 wildlife species and a place for people to enjoy the outdoors. Annually, hundreds of thousands of wetland acres are still lost continentally. Wetland restoration projects like Goose Pond Ridge are an example of DUs efforts to reverse this trend. To answer the challenge to save North America's wetlands, grasslands and waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited has embarked upon the Wetlands for Tomorrow campaign, an ambitious continental effort to raise $1.7 billion for wetland habitat conservation.

With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization with almost 12 million acres conserved. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands - nature’s most productive ecosystem - and continues to lose more than 80,000 wetland acres each year.

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