Ducks Unlimited recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on McNary National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Burbank, Washington, last spring to mark the completion of a new observation deck built with help from dedicated DU volunteers.

Nichole Banegas of the Tri-Cities DU chapter coordinated the decks construction in conjunction with generous donations of time, labor, and materials from several individuals and companies, including Hayden Homes, which oversaw the building process. In addition to the viewing deck, several cairns were placed in the area featuring plaques that recognize local Legacy Greenwing members of Ducks Unlimited.

The 15,000 acres of diverse riparian and wetland habitat within McNary NWR provide a crucial resting area for thousands of migrating waterfowl in the Columbia River Basin and support many other species of birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. Few areas in North America support such dense concentrations of waterfowl, and more than half the mallards in the Pacific Flyway overwinter at some point in this portion of the basin.