To Help Rescue the Duck Factory 

The Lord blesses our world with some very special individuals.  These folks are admired and recognized for their hard work, determination, selflessness and sense of community.  The Blue Hen State is home to just such a wonderful couple, Jack and Weezie Dukes, a couple whose roots run deep in the history of Delaware.   

Jack and Weezie have successfully and gracefully fulfilled the expectations of family history evidenced by many abundant years on their farm at Taylor’s Bridge.  As the eighth generation to till the soil of this beautiful farm, they have worn this rare mantel of history with humility.  A visit to their farm is a sojourn that takes one back in time to when life allowed you to enjoy the sunrises and sunsets, a simpler time if you will, of cordiality and consideration rare in the world that we live in today. 

Jack and Weezie have been wonderful supporters of Ducks Unlimited for many, many years. They also have many years of perfect attendance at DU National Conventions. Everyone knows who the ‘Pin Lady’ is. Weezie would trade into the wee hours of the morning to collect pins from every state and then she would help her friends collect theirs. One of the great ways Jack enjoys and supports conservation is by sponsoring the annual Delaware DU meeting, followed by a fantastic dove hunt. He also donates many duck hunts on his beautiful impoundment which nets many needed dollars for DU’s conservation programs in Delaware and across the continent. Jack has been the recipient of several conservation awards and has logged in many hours on DU committees. 

It is all these things that this committee, and we hope you, would like to recognize.  Following is what we would like for you to consider as soon as possible. 

The Dukes’ farm at Taylor’s Bridge is a child of the Delaware Bay; it is the winter, and summer home to a myriad of migratory birds that travel from all over the continent to arrive here.  One place in particular, the Prairie Pothole Region, sends many a winged migrant to the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay areas every year and research shows that 3 out of every 4 ducks harvested are from this region.  This region is a part of the Missouri Coteau, a paradise of wetlands that hosts more birds for the breeding season than you can imagine.  They are under a new and devastating threat, and the land is being destroyed at an alarming rate.  This is America’s breadbasket of waterfowl and wetland birds.  There are many land-loving farmers and ranchers who, like Jack and Weezie, want to see the balance between man and land continue for the next generation.  Unfortunately, they don’t have the financial means to continue and are forced to sell out or plow under more and more fragile habitat.  There is an option for them, one that allows them to stay on the land and reap some of the land value by allowing a conservation easement to be placed on the property.  They do not sell the land but sell the development rights and agree to maintain the land as it is with a blend of production along with protection for the wildlife acres.  Even if the lands change hands, they are still protected in perpetuity. 

Rescue the Duck Factory is an emergency national campaign that DU is undertaking over the next 16 months to raise $40 million to buy conservation easements on key ranches and farms.  Our work to recognize Jack and Weezie is part of this effort.  Attached is a list of critical properties we hope to secure as soon as possible, with your support.  Our federal and state governments recognize this critical area as well and for each dollar you help us bring to the table it will be matched 3:1 to significantly protect not just wetlands but a way of life, a way of life that Jack and Weezie know and appreciate.  The Delaware State Campaign Committee of Ducks Unlimited has a goal of raising $500,000 by this Spring and will commemorate a property or a series of properties in Jack and Weezie’s honor.

Friends, the opportunity for us to make a difference in perpetuity, is before us.  We have an opportunity to recognize all that we admire in folks like Jack and Weezie.  It’s an opportunity to make a difference on the landscape that we know must occur.  An anonymous donor has already given us $100,000 to help save these ranches and farms and recognize Jack and Weezie.   We are asking you to step up as well to help make this happen.  Time is of the essence so please act quickly. 

We encourage you to contact Jim Dodd at 302.521.1600, or any of us on this committee about what we want to accomplish. Please review the other materials enclosed and consider a gift to secure yet another piece of the puzzle of waterfowl conservation.  Now is the time and time is short, if we want to see the skies filled with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. 

“We need your help now.”  

Thank you for your consideration,

James F. Dodd III   

Clif Bakhsh   
Bill D’Alonzo
Ed Brown    
Peter MacGaffin  
Urie Boulden
Howard Wilkins II.   
Lou Caputo   
Richard Corkran
Scott Crawford