Senior DU volunteers go to Capitol Hill to promote waterfowl habitat priorities

WASHINGTON – February 29, 2008 - Oshkosh, NE resident and senior Ducks Unlimited volunteer Steve Farris traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with representatives, senators and other policymakers to discuss the organization’s conservation priorities. Farris met individually with Sen. Chuck Hagel and Rep. Adrian Smith and with staff members from the office of Sen. Ben Nelson.

DU CPC member Steve Farris (L) and NE Sen. Chuck Hagel

Farris, a well-known guitarist, is an active volunteer with the Ducks Unlimited Conservation Program Committee, a volunteer group that helps to guide the conservation organization’s direction in achieving its mission of skies full of waterfowl.

He encouraged Congress to support strong conservation measures in the Farm Bill and appropriations for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

CPC members were also joined by members of the house and senate at a Capitol Hill reception to celebrate the beginning of the waterfowl nesting season. The reception also gave members of Congress from around the country a chance to interact with the volunteers.

“I made this trip to Capitol Hill so our members of Congress could hear firsthand about the importance of not only wetlands conservation, but grasslands conservation, and how the two of them on a federal and continental level have direct and significant effects in my area and all of Nebraska,” Farris said. “There is a reason that I am passionate about waterfowl and the conservation that promotes and protects it, and I want to share that passion with my members of Congress.”

“Letting our representatives in Washington know that their constituents are informed and concerned about the future of the Farm Bill is one of the best ways to ensure its reauthorization,” said Joseph Satrom, director of public policy for Ducks Unlimited’s Great Plains Regional Office.

The Farm Bill, which is being debated in conference, has several conservation provisions that are farmer-friendly and needed for waterfowl and wetlands habitat. CPC members reminded their senators and representatives that Farm Bill programs are critical to protecting millions of acres of breeding and wintering habitat for waterfowl.

CPC members also talked to their members of Congress about appropriations for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), a popular matching grants program that has conserved more than 23 million acres of habitat across North America. One of the most cost-effective conservation programs in history, NAWCA projects usually leverage $2-3 in partner contributions for every $1 from the federal government.

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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Contact:

For more information, please www.ducks.org/farmbill and www.ducks.org/nawca