Ducks Unlimited honors longtime supporter at annual state convention

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 18, 2008 – As a longtime supporter of Ducks Unlimited and a fixture in Ohio’s wetlands conservation scene, Harold Roe is the portrait of a wildlife enthusiast and conservationist. Harold has twice received the national title of DU’s Artist of the Year and is a four-time winner of the Ohio Duck Stamp competition. For these reasons and many more, Ducks Unlimited honored Roe on Feb. 29 at the annual state convention in Columbus, naming him the Ohio Volunteer Conservationist of the Year.

Roe has donated much of his award-winning artwork to Ducks Unlimited (DU) to support fund-raising activities. It is estimated that Roe’s paintings have generated $17 million for DU. In 2007 he generously donated 8,500 signed prints for use at DU fund-raising events. Conservative estimates show these prints will raise in excess of $850,000 for DU’s conservation programs in Ohio and across the country.

The high quality of Roe’s paintings has earned national recognition. In 2007, Roe placed second in the 2008 Federal Duck Stamp Competition with his painting of green-winged teal. He lost by just one point following an unprecedented three-way tie for first place. Roe now has placed second through ninth in the national competition. While his green-winged teal painting is on a national tour, Roe is working on several other pieces, including commissioned paintings of waterfowl, pheasants, dogs and fish—and perhaps the next winner of the federal competition.

Roe’s longtime support of DU was recognized at the 2003 dedication of the Harold Roe Wetlands project in the Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area, near Marion, Ohio. This project was initiated in 2001 to restore 180 acres of wetlands and 270 acres of grasslands.

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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Kristin Schrader       734-623-2000       kschrader@ducks.org

DU Regional Biologist Heather Braun (left) presents Harold Roe with the Ohio Volunteer Conservationist of the Year award at the Feb. 29 state convention.