Ducks Unlimited dinner set for Saturday
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 01:45 p.m., March 25, 2008
Updated 01:45 p.m., March 25, 2008
Conservationists will join hunters Saturday evening for an event intended to raise money to support habitats for waterfowl.
Ducks Unlimited will sponsor a dinner and auction beginning with registration at 5:30 p.m. at the American Legion. The dinner will start at 7 p.m., with the auction following at 8. Between 15 and 18 raffle drawings are planned, with suggested donations for tickets and ticket packages priced at a variety of levels. A Benelli Nova shotgun will be among the items offered in the drawings. Viewing and bidding on silent auction items will be held throughout the evening until winners are announced.
The auction will feature several lithographs by noted wildlife artist Terry Redlin, and numerous hunting packages that include items such as duck, goose and turkey calls, a power hunter blind, shells, camouflage gear, and other items.
“We are auctioning off a Beretta white onyx over-under shotgun,” said Jeff Norling, treasurer and member of the event’s planning committee. “That’s going to be the big feature item in the auction.”
Money raised will be given to the Wildlife Conservation and Wetlands Conservation projects, Norling said.
Adequate wetlands are essential for the ducks and geese as they migrate south from Canada each year.
“They need to have the habitat that can carry on through the central flyway, all the way down to Central and South America,” Norling said. “Without the wetlands, they don’t have the habitat they can survive in, and these ducks are not able to mate and rear their young without having good solid wetland and cropland for food.”
Norling said that maintaining and expanding wetlands is compatible with farming, and the group is encouraging more landowners to take part.
“That means taking a plot of land, blocking off to allow water to build up at certain times of the year when the migration occurs,” Norling said.
“During the summer months, we can drain those lands, raise crops, harvest. About the same time the migration occurs, we can fill those wetlands back up,” he said. “… Not only can they swim and land on the water, but they can also feed on the chaff from the harvest.”
Norling said the rotation from cropland to wetland has an adjunct benefit for farmers.
“(The water) will also help decay the materials and decrease the amount of tilling you will have to do because it decays the vegetation,” he said.
He cited the Flint Hills Wildlife Refuge at Hartford as a good example of wetlands existing annually in harmony with cropland needs.
“They flood it in the fall and drain it in the spring,” Norling said. “There will be some opportunities to go plant crops in there. They’ll develop the crops and they’ll go through the cycle up there in the fall.”
Norling emphasized that Ducks Unlimited, which also protects geese and other waterfowl, also is unlimited in its membership. Conservationists, birdwatchers, photographers and others interested in participating in nature also are members of the group.
“I enjoy observing and photographing waterfowl while they’re on the ponds and in the fields,” said Norling, who also hunts. “Many of the Ducks Unlimited members are conservationists who want to see a good balance of nature.”
Norling and the committee expect the dinner and auction to help contribute to that balance.
Chairman Roland Trahoon hopes the event will raise about $15,000, in addition to raising awareness of waterfowls’ need for wetlands.
Tickets for the event include the meal and Ducks Unlimited membership, with the remainder of money raised going to conservation. Ticket prices are: $35 for singles, $50 for couples and $15 for “greenwings” under 16 years of age.
“We encourage the kids to come,” Norling said.
Sponsorships also remain available. Individuals or businesses that sponsor the dinner and auction at a cost of $250 will receive a Ducks Unlimited limited edition print and the chance to win a 17-caliber rifle in a drawing.
Paul Hancock has donated his services as auctioneer for the event.
Tickets are available from Norling, Trahoon, other committee members Jose Aranda, Brandon Mendoza, Rick Clark, James Godfrey, and Homer Garza, or from any member of Ducks Unlimited.