Date: January 11, 1996
Contact: Julie C. Andrews-Walker

Ducks Unlimited recently presented Chaney Enterprises its Corporations for Conservation Award for their Commitment to the Environment and their Support and Promotion of Ducks Unlimited

Waldorf, Maryland— Ducks Unlimited (DU) is a non-profit organization which is the leader in wetlands conservation. Ducks Unlimited has contributed to the conservation of over seven million acres of wetlands across the North American continent. The mission of DU is to fulfill the annual life cycle needs of North American waterfowl by protecting, enhancing, restoring and managing important wetlands and associated uplands. Ducks Unlimited truly is a grassroots, volunteer based organization. Its members are conservationists and lovers of the outdoors who live throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

It all started over half a century ago during the Dust Bowl of the 1930's, when a group of sportsmen banded together to form an organization that would become known as Ducks Unlimited. North Americas draught-plagued waterfowl populations had plunged to unprecedented lows, and the founders of DU decided to do something about it. They incorporated the fledgling conservation group in 1937, and within a year, 6,720 supporters had raised $90,000.00.
Ducks Unlimited is recognized as the world’s largest private waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization. DU's membership stands at over half a million people and its conservation projects are found throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico - wherever waterfowl breed, migrate or winter. Dozens of species of ducks, geese and swans rely on this critically needed habitat year round.

Ducks Unlimited has also been instrumental in implementing the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). The NAWMP is an international agreement among the United States, Canada and Mexico that established goals for rebuilding North Americas waterfowl population to levels of the 1970's - a breeding population of 62 million and a fall flight of 100 million.

Waterfowl are not the only beneficiaries of DU's habitat conservation work. More than 600 species of wildlife live on DU's project sites including several that are endangered - the whooping crane, bald eagle, peregrine falcon, and piping plover. In fact, wetlands are one of natures most valuable and productive ecological systems. They are central to the overall health of our environment by recharging groundwater supplies, purifying polluted water, controlling floods and providing recreational opportunities for all of us.