minnesota du at the northwest sportshow success … content...cattails official newsletter of...

Cattails Official Newsletter of Minnesota Ducks Unlimited

Thousands of waterfowl loaf on Wolf Lake on March 13, 2012, during the spring migration (photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

BRINGING BACK THE BIRDS -WOLF LAKE

SUCCESS STORY

Teal, pintails, gadwalls, and

mallards working the mudflats this spring after the

Wolf Lake drawdown (photo

courtesy of the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service).

More on Wolf Lake, a DU Living Lakes project, on Page 6

Official Newsletter of Minnesota Ducks Unlimited Spring 2012

Special points of interest:

• Stevie Grussendorf wins the Jimmy Robinson Award

• Minnesota DU at the Northwest Sportshow

• World’s Largest DU Event

• 2012 State Convention Photographs

• Swan Lake Update

Inside this issue:

Chairman’s Chatter

2

Jimmy Robinson Award Winner

3

MN DU at North-west Sportshow

4

Minnesota Artist’s Corner

5

Wolf Lake Success Story

6

State Convention Photos

10

Minnesota DU News

11

Project Hall of Fame—Swan Lake

8

World’s Largest DU Event

13


Hi all, I’ve just returned from a week of travel and did a quick check of the woods and lakes around my home. I found a hen hoody (Hooded Merganser) sitting on a clutch of eggs, Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Phlox blooming (morels should be popping shortly) - all wonderful signs of spring. As I’m writing this note, we are well into the spring banquet season and Ducks Unlimited’s 75th anniversary celebration. 2012 is off to a wonderful start - thanks to the hard work of our volunteers and staff. As an organization, the efforts of our volun-teers, big or small, are always appreciated. So in this edition of Cattails, I wanted to high-light the truly outstanding contributions of our most dedicated volunteers and chapters from around the state.

2011 – MNDU Award Winners Every year at the State Convention we recognize the outstanding service of our volunteers. Here are the award winners for 2011: The Landowski Award is named after Al and Rosie Landowski, who as a team made wonderful contributions to MNDU. This year’s Landowski award winner is Paul (Teresa) and Greg (Michele) Erickson of Garrison for their outstanding leadership with the Mille Lacs fishing contest and the Garrison Chapter of DU (see photograph of Greg and Paul on Page 12 and article on the fishing contest on Page 13). Tommy Nelson was a volunteer leader who worked tirelessly with chapters to help pro-mote recruitment and net/net performance while attending over 50 events each year. This year’s Tommy Nelson Award winner is a volunteer I worked with as a Regional Vice Chair in SW Minnesota a few years ago. He’s 30 years old and has been an Area Chair, State Convention Chair, and now holds the SW Regional Vice Chair position. Congratula-tions to Joey Schlagel and his wife, Pam! Our last State Award is named after Minnesota’s outdoor legend Jimmy Robinson. This award commemorates a volunteer or staff member who has sustained a lifelong commit-ment to MNDU. The Jimmy Robinson Award is the highest award a MNDU contribu-tor can achieve. This year’s award was given to a most deserving individual, Stevie Grus-sendorf. Stevie runs our state office and is MNDU’s greatest ambassador (see photos and article on Page 3).

Outgoing State Convention Chairs deserve a round of applause I also wanted to note the achievements of this year’s outgoing State Convention Chairs, Bob and Karen Sorenson. “B&K”, as I refer to them, are truly MNDU’s super duo. The two have been MNDU’s State Greenwing Chairs, Bob has been a RVC, and they just wrapped up their two-year term as MNDU’s State Convention Chairs, doing an out-standing job. But don’t think these two volunteers are close to retiring. Bob and Karen were heavily involved with the Freeborn County 40th Anniversary event this past April. At the event, B&K helped secure five Life Sponsors or Major Donor upgrades…but there’s more! B&K have also graciously accepted the position of State Sponsor Chair. I’m excited to be able to walk in the shadow of such dedicated volunteers. Thank you, B&K, for all you have done and will continue to do!!!!! State Chairman’s Chatter is continued on Page 14.

State Chairman’s Chatter

Your Minnesota DU State Committee State Chair Dave Flink Hutchinson, MN 320-587-4246 [email protected]

State Council Chair Less Ness Chisago City, MN 651-257-6413 [email protected]

State Chair Elect Tim Roble Frazee, MN 218-334-4701 [email protected]

State Treasurer Dan Scheffler Northfield, MN 507-291-0311 [email protected]

State Volunteer Recruitment Coord. Dale Lusti Buffalo, MN 763-682-3468 [email protected]

State Convention Chairs Bob and Karen Sorenson Albert Lea, MN 507-373-4931 [email protected]

State Major Gift Chair Russ Klint Benson, MN 320-239-4322 [email protected]

Spring 2012

Dave Flink, State Chair


Stevie has worked

for Minnesota

DU for over 29 years.

Former RD

Bill Allen

gives Stevie a

hug right af-

ter the award

announce-

ment at the

Minnesota

DU State

Convention.

Spring 2012

How Do You Make Thirteen Grown Men Cry?

How do you make thirteen grown men cry—the answer is: you award Stevie Grussendorf the Jimmy Robinson Award. Stevie has worked for Minnesota DU for 29 years as Volunteer Services Assistant and State Office Coordinator. The Jimmy Robinson Award is named for the famous shooter, conservationist, author, and hunter, who was raised in Minnesota and hunted with notable figures such as Ernest Hemingway, Clark Gable, and Bing Crosby. The award is the highest honor bestowed upon an individual by Minnesota DU. The Jimmy Robin-son Award was given to Stevie at the Minnesota DU State Convention in February. The operation of giving the award to Stevie had to be TOP SECRET, because Stevie knows everything that goes on with Minnesota DU. This required that only a few people know the recipient until the award was presented. The ruse was so complete that they even had to pick Bob and Karen Sorenson to be the fake award recipients, so Stevie wouldn’t know she was going to get the award. Even after she won, she kept saying that Bob and Karen were supposed to be getting it. Stevie has been the tireless assistant to State Chairs, Regional Directors, and just about eve-ryone within the state organization. She is instrumental in putting together the State Con-vention and coordinates all the state office activities. Stevie is best known for the kind word she has for eve-ryone and for knowing a little about everyone’s family. Congratulations Stevie! The award couldn’t have gone to a harder-working, more knowledgeable, and caring person than you!

Former State Chairs and former and current Regional Directors

were in attendance for the award presentation.

Former Regional Director Bill Allen poses

with Stevie and her Jimmy Robinson Award

plaque.


Minnesota DU at the Northwest Sportshow

By Scott Schmidt, Special Events Chair

Spring 2012

The 2012 Northwest Sportshow was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center on March 28th – April 1st. This year’s show attendance was 28,329. The attendance was down 23% from last year, due to the extremely nice weather. Minnesota DU had a huge presence at the show, with displays, games, and volunteers occupying a large room. I don’t know how many people came through our room, but I would say that a large percentage of the total attendance does check us out (50 - 75% would be my guess), so I think a fair number would be 15,000 to 20,000 over the 5-day show. Our main focus areas for the show were DU in Minnesota (our conservation efforts), volunteer re-cruitment, increased membership, Greenwing activities, silent auction/SBA, and, of course, having fun! This year we did really well on our auction and SBA; for the whole show, we had a net of over $13,000. We had conservation displays showing a number of local Minnesota projects. We also had informa-tion about DU’s Living Lakes Initiative and Grasslands For Tomorrow programs on display, along with other conservation information. Over the course of the show, we had 500 Greenwings participate in our painting activity. This year they could paint a piggy bank in the form of a wood duck house. It was a huge hit with the kids. We also gave waterfowl ID posters, DU pins and Greenwing stickers to all of the kids that visited the DU room. We had three beanbag toss games set up for anyone to come and play. The Northwest Sportshow also has a kids scavenger hunt, and we were one of the stops for that activity.

We also teamed up with North Country Woodshop out of Burnsville, MN. Their staff set up and gave a duck-call-making demonstration., showing how to make a duck call from start to finish. To make an event like this work, you need some dedi-cated volunteers. The room that we had at the show was much larger than your standard 10x10 booth. We had a room consisting of over 4,400 sq. feet of floor space and requiring over 50 volunteers to help cover the five‐day show. The components of the DU room included: 1) Main counter area (silent auction and sales), 2) Greenwing ac-tivities area, and 3) Conservation info/volunteer recruit-ment area (at least one volunteer staffed this area to in-teract with the public). Photos courtesy of DU Volunteer Justin Morrissey.

Former Regional Director Bill Allen shows one of the raffle guns to a

couple of attendees. Bill was one of 50 MNDU volunteers at the

One of the Greenwing activities was piggy bank duck house painting.

15,000 to 20,000

attendees came

through the

Minnesota DU

room at the five-

day show.

Beanbag toss participants

Children

enjoying

the

beanbag

toss for

fun and

prizes


Spring 2012

Minnesota Artists’ Corner—Ron Van Glider

Ron Van Gilder earned his bachelor’s degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, focusing on graphic design and printmaking. A keen interest in life drawing resulted in his winning the school’s figure-drawing competition his senior year. Ron feels the knowledge gained through the study of human anatomy increased his ability to accurately represent the structure of animals. Ron contin-ues to develop his skills in figure drawing by working with live models on a regu-lar basis. After graduating from college, Ron was drafted and served three years in the Army during the Vietnam War. He trained at the military photography school and, because of his college degree in design, he was assigned to the United States Military Academy at West Point as a photographer. Photography would become invaluable as a reference-gathering tool for his future work. Ron believes the popularity of his art is the result of painting from his own per-sonal experiences. He thoroughly enjoys the outdoors and is an avid sportsman. Most of his hunts are photographic rather than traditional, but his name does appear in the Boone and Crockett Club’s of the North American Big Game. “My paintings reflect these encounters and are my way of sharing the experience. I hope that others will appreciate the places and subjects I find so enjoyable to paint.” With nearly 150 limited editions in print, Van Gilder’s suc-cess is indisputable. The public and critics alike have praised his works and bestowed upon him numerous awards and honors. He has been named the Artist of the Year by the Boy Scouts of America, the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, Minnesota Ducks Unlimited, and the Wildlife Heritage Foun-dation. Ducks Unlimited has twice named him Flyway Artist of the Year and in 1990, he was given DU’s highest artistic honor as the International Artist of the Year. He has also designed state duck stamps for Minnesota and Maine. In 2008, a book, “Brushes with Nature – The Art of Ron Van Gilder”, was released covering his amazing artistic career. As a dedicated sportsman, Van Gilder is involved in efforts to assist in the preservation and reclamation of natural habitats. This dedication inspired the restora-tion of a marsh on his own property in central Minne-sota where he lives with his wife, Holly, and their son, Forrest.

Photos and biography courtesy of Wild Wings, LLC, Lake City, Minnesota http://www.wildwings.com/ One of Ron’s newest paintings is titled

“Boundary Waters – Bluebills”. It shows a flock of lesser scaup swimming on a lake in a

classic Minnesota Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) scene with granite outcrops in

the background.

Van Glider’s classic style of large waves rolling through bul-rushes shows through in his “At His Best” image.


Ducks and geese found Wolf Lake Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) in Cottonwood County a great place to stop and refuel this past spring. The once-degraded shallow lake and nearby wetlands were enhanced by Ducks Unlimited and its partners to reveal a healthy wetland system with abundant vegetation, clear water and improved habitat for

waterfowl and other birds. "At the height of the migration, we had several thousand ducks and geese come through Wolf Lake. The bird use is greater than any other year that our staff remembers," said Scott Ral-ston, wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Partners for Fish and Wildlife program. "With new improvements, we also hope to hold more birds as local breeders and see many more broods using the restored wetlands this summer." The key to shallow lake enhancement is the periodic, temporary removal of water from the lake. This simulates natural droughts and causes beneficial fish winterkill events. Active water-level management also simulates natu-ral wetland hydrology that rejuvenates

the aquatic ecology. This is exactly what DU and the USFWS Windom Wetland Manage-ment District set out to do when they collaborated in 2009. DU designed three water con-trol structures, a pump station and a fish barrier for the three-wetland system on the WPA. Crews completed construction in July 2011 and water was removed from the wet-lands to initiate the rejuvenation process.

Bringing Back the Birds—Wolf Lake Enhancement Success Story

Spring 2012

June 2011 drawdown to remove invasive fish, consolidate sedi-ment, allow plants to germinate, and rejuvenate the overall aquatic ecology of the lake

“The bird use is

greater than

any other year

our staff

remembers.”

July 2011, drawdown complete; 100% of basin is covered with newly germinated bulrush, cattail, arrowhead, and other emergent plant species


Throughout the winter, water levels remained low to help remove invasive fish, such as common carp, from Wolf Lake. However, the mild winter this year posed some man-agement challenges. "This winter was abnormally mild and, by February, which should have been our coldest month, we bored some test holes and found only 4-6 inches of ice over about 18 inches of open water in South Marsh. We knew we still had surviving fish with that much water left under the ice, and we knew we had to act fast to remove them before spring melt when remaining fish could then move back upstream into Wolf Lake," Ralston said. To solve the problem, USFWS and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) applied rotenone under ice to ensure a complete fish kill. With the system fish free, managers can focus on using the new water control structures to raise or lower water lev-els on any of the three wetlands to maximize conditions for waterfowl. "Our partners and the public users of Wolf Lake WPA are excited to see the habitat and bird response to our enhancement efforts," said Josh Kavanagh, DU biologist. "When we get the right infrastructure in place and develop a sound management plan, we often see immediate results." "It is amazing how these systems can bounce back after years of stagnant water and unpro-ductive habitat; the vegetation response from the drawdown on Wolf Lake last summer was phenomenal, and migrating waterfowl are finding abundant food resources in the newly flooded basin this spring," said Rob Baden, assistant area wildlife manager with the Minne-sota DNR. Managers are now letting water fill the basins on the WPA through snowmelt and runoff. As predicted, spring migrating waterfowl are using the basins to rest and feed as they travel to the breeding grounds. Arrowhead tubers and invertebrates are providing the fuel these birds need to arrive on the breeding grounds in good health and ready to nest. The down-stream fish barrier will prevent carp and other rough fish from recolonizing the basins and

negatively impacting the system. Funding for construction of the Wolf Lake project was provided by a state grant from the Outdoor Heritage Fund as recom-mended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, as well as a federal grant through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. Additional support was provided by Ducks Unlimited, USFWS, Minnesota DNR, Cottonwood County Game and Fish League, Fox Lake Conserva-tion League and Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Min-nesota Resources.

Bringing back the Birds—Wolf Lake Success Story (continued)

Spring 2012

“It is

amazing how

these systems

can bounce

back.”

Diving ducks, including canvasbacks, lesser scaup, redheads, and ring-necked ducks, using a deeper por-

tion of Wolf Lake this spring.

White-fronted geese (specklebellies) and gadwalls rise from Wolf Lake (photographs courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).


A photograph from the shore shows some of the stands of cattails sur-rounding the lake. (Photo courtesy of MnDNR Shallow Lakes Program)

This recent aerial photograph shows the extensive amount of emergent vegetation in the lake. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota DNR)

Spring 2012

Ducks Unlimited has been doing projects in Minnesota since 1985. There are liter-

ally hundreds of DU projects scattered across the state. In fact, many of the water con-trol structures on waterfowl production areas (WPAs) and state wildlife manage-ment areas (WMAs) were

designed and built as Ducks Unlimited projects. This

column is a regular feature devoted to describing some

of these older projects.

The Swan Lake project was one of Ducks Unlimited’s

earliest projects in Minne-sota. It was completed in 1988 with the help of the

Minnesota DNR. The pro-ject consisted of construc-

tioning one large water con-trol structure and improving

the outlet channel.

The steel weir structure includes 1,835 square feet of

sheet piling and includes eight stop-log bays (see pho-

tograph below). The inlet channel (from lake to struc-

ture) is 42 feet wide and 1,075 feet long. It also in-cluded four 138” by 88”

arch concrete pipes in down-stream road crossings. The

project cost for DU was $330,630, which is a large amount even by today’s

standards.

Swan Lake is located in the prairie pothole area of

Nicollet County, 15 miles northwest of Mankato. It is

one of Minnesota’s most storied waterfowl lakes and is surrounded by duck clubs. Part of its allure is its large

size: it is 9,346 acres in size, with an average depth of

only 4 feet and a maximum depth of 8 feet.

PROJECT HALL OF FAME—SWAN LAKE

The project sign at the pub-lic access and water control structure location on the south end of the lake.

The Swan Lake water control structure is one of the largest

built by Ducks Unlimited in the state of Minnesota. The grate

and railing on the top allow access to the other side of the

channel.


Spring 2012

PROJECT HALL OF FAME—SWAN LAKE (CONTINUED)

Swan Lake is considered the largest glaciated depressional freshwater prairie wetland in the United States. The lake, however, has a relatively small watershed, so it does not have some of the problems of other prairie wetlands, namely excessive agricul-tural pollution and severe water level bounces for too much inflow from farmland drainage. This characteristic results in relatively clear water as seen in the photo be-low. The shallow depth and clear water create perfect conditions for a great diver-sity and abundance of vegetation throughout the basin. The 2010 Wildlife Lake Habi-tat Survey Report by the DNR found vegetation at over 97 percent of the sampled points and many locations where they could not sample because of the thick emer-

gent vegetation. Wild celery and sago pond-weed, two favorites of canvasbacks, were found at almost 60 percent of the sample points. DNR used the DU-built outlet and water con-trol structure to lower the water levels in the lake to fight carp in 2005 and 2006. The fight to rid the lake of carp has apparently been success-ful. To prevent carp from reentering the lake, DU is engineering a fish barrier adaptation for the weir structure to prevent carp from getting past the structure from downstream. DU is again partnering with the DNR to install the fish barrier.

This photograph shows one of the ex-tensive beds of bulrush in the lake.

Also note the submerged vegetation in the bottom foreground. (Photo cour-

tesy of MnDNR Shallow Lakes Program)

A waterfowl survey flight shows the abundance of submerged vegetation on the lake. The white dots are waterfowl. (Photo courtesy of MnDNR Shallow Lakes Program)

Swan Lake is

one of the

most famous

of

Minnesota’s

shallow lakes.


Spring 2012

The Deputy Commissioner for the Minnesota DNR, Dave Schad, addressed the convention attendees on Saturday morning.

Attendees visit and view the numerous silent auction items in the main room of the 2012 State Convention.

2012 State Convention Photos

The Minnesota

DU State

Convention was

held on

February 10, 11

and 12, 2012, at

Craguns Resort

in Brainerd.

The costume contest winners: Jacob Roble with his Red Solo Cup and Scott Kokoeshke as Larry the Cable Guy The University of Minnesota Duluth committee

Photos courtesy of DU Volunteer, Barb Sizer


Bill Aldinger recently stepped up to help Minnesota Ducks Unlimited in the Metro area by taking on the position of Metro Regional Vice Chair. In this position, he will work with Mike Dvorak, the “new” Regional Director for the Metro area. Together, they are trying to in-vigorate the DU volunteer network in the Minneapolis/St. Paul and suburban areas. Bill has a long history and extensive experience with Minnesota Ducks Unlimited. He started with the organization in 1989 with the Woodbury Chapter. He has since held many posi-tions with MNDU, culminating in the State Chair position for 2005 and 2006, then on to the Board of Directors as an At-Large Member. He is cur-rently also an Emeritus Board Member and State Feather Society Chair. His day job is with Slumberland Furni-ture, as a Franchise Business Consultant. He has been with Slumberland for 38 years. With Bill stepping up to help in the Metro area, Minne-sota DU is taking an “all hands on deck” approach to fundraising in the Metro area. If you want to help, Bill’s contact info is: Bill Aldinger 755 Parkside Drive Vadnais Heights, MN 55127 651-482-1181 [email protected]

Aldinger Steps Up to be Metro Regional Vice Chair

Spring 2012

Volunteer Spotlight—Tim Oie

Tim Oie has 25 years of volunteer experience with DU. He has been the Area Chairman for the Elk River Chapter and, as a Zone Chairman, he was instrumental in starting the Zimmerman DU chapter. The reason for Tim’s commitment is best described in his own words: “I am very proud of being a part of DU because of what they do to help pre-serve our wetlands and habitat in general. There are other organizations that do similar work to what we do with DU, but I have been and still am very proud to be a part of this organization because of their efforts and perseverance. I started going to DU events with my dad when I was 6 or 7. We would go to the Anoka banquet. I remember when I was 10, my dad bought me a ticket on a duck boat and, sure enough, I won it. We had driven a small car to the event, so we had to run home and get our truck to bring it home. “I started out volunteering about 25 years ago. Some years later I went to the Elk River banquet and talked to some of the guys, and the next year, I was asked to be the ticket chairman. This was just after I got married, and I would be at meetings once or twice a week, so finally my wife, Linda, joined in and started helping at the events, and has been doing do ever since. My family has been very supportive of my commitment to DU. Now my son, Justin, is following in my footsteps as a DU vol-unteer and that makes me very proud. “The one thing that drives me as a DU volunteer more than anything is my love of all wildlife and the desire to pass this on to future generations.”

New Regional Vice Chair (RVC) for the Metro area, Bill Aldinger, seen here accepting an award at the State Convention.

Minnesota DU is

“taking an

all hands on deck”

approach to

the Metro area.

“One of the greatest things

about DU is the

dedication of its

volunteers.”

Tim and son, Justin, planning their next DU event.


Spring 2012

Tommy Nelson Award winner Joey Schlagle (holding plaque) accepting his award from DU President John New-man (left), Dave Flink (right), and Brad Jensen (far right).

Landowski Leadership Award winners—Greg and Paul

Erickson with Northern Regional Director, Scott Anderson.

2012 State Convention Photos

The Minnesota

DU State

Convention

awards and

truck winner

photogrphs

The winner of the Chevy Truck at the 2012 State Con-vention was Robyn Abner from Benson, Minnesota.

Dave Flink (left) and Terry Kostinec (right) present the 2012 Waterfowl Conservation Officer of the Year Award to CO Richard Reller.

The Central Region Award winners with RD Terry Kostinec (front right).


Spring 2012

World’s Largest Ducks Unlimited Event The world’s largest DU event took place on February 18, 2012, when 3,087 people attended the Fishing For Ducks ice fishing tournament on Mille Lacs Lake near Garrison, MN. The event netted almost $100,000 for the ducks. Nearly 200 volunteers helped put the event together, from drilling holes in the ice to taking down the tents. A highlight for the volunteers was a volunteer appreciation dinner that evening after the fishing tournament was complete. The dinner also raised money for Ducks Unlimited. Below is an aerial photo of the event, showing the over 3,000 attendees filling the area around the

center event tent and trailers. The teardrop shape of the contestant area was due to a pressure ridge running along the east side of the event area. One great thing about this event is the ability to park on the ice near the fishing area. Con-testants are not, however, al-lowed to return to the event area if they go to their vehicles during fishing time.

Don’t miss

the 2013

event on

February 16,

2013

Mistakes Can Happen By Ron Stromstad, Sr. Director of Development

Ducks Unlimited is very good at virtually everything we do. We take great pride in excel-lence and accuracy. We don’t always get it right, though. At this year’s State Convention, I stood in for fellow Development Director Adam DeHaan, who couldn’t be present. It was great fun to be among my Minnesota friends again; however, when emceeing the Major Sponsor Awards and announcing upgrades for major sponsors, I inadvertently called the wrong name to receive the Heritage Award for the Fox Lake Conservation League. I should have introduced President Tim Eisenmenger to accept the award. On top of their Heritage Award, they also pledged an upgrade to Diamond Heritage Status! The Fox Lake Conservation League has been, and continues to be, a wonderful supporter of the conservation mission of Ducks Unlimited. I’d simply like to publicly apologize to Tim Eisenmenger for not recog-nizing him as President of a great organization supporting Ducks Unlimited.


For articles and inserts please send to Cattails Editor:

Brian Ross

14380 Memorywood Drive Baxter, MN 56425

Phone: 218-825-0996 E-mail:

[email protected]

6101 Kaymar Drive Edina, MN 55436

Phone: 952-820-8174

Email: [email protected]

DU President John Newman (aka The Alligator Hunter) with Greenwings at the Minne-sota State Convention. President Newman had just told them a story about hunting alli-gators on his duck club property in southern Louisiana. As anyone who has met him can attest, the President tells a great story and maybe even stretches the truth a bit.

Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Es-tablished in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres, thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the conti-nent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works to-ward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever.

MINNESOTA DUCKS UNLIMITED

You are Ducks Unlimited

ducks.org

DU recognizes Top-Minnesota Chapters as President’s Elite During 2011, 60 out of 2,700 chapters nationally raised more than $100,000 net. Minnesota had three chapters in this category: Lake Christina Garrison West Hennepin

Minnesota Top 25 Chapters

This year ,MNDU recognized the top grassroots chapters by underwriting a portion of a 12ga Stoeger O/U to be used as a fundraiser at their 2012 event. I would like to recog-nize the following chapters as Minnesota’s Top 25. (We had a tie in the top 25, so you will note there are 26 chapters listed.) 1. Christina Lake 2. Garrison 3. Fergus Falls Area 4. Marsh Lake 5. Northfield 6. St Croix Valley 7. Frozen North

8. Des Moines River 9. Meeker County 10. Metro/St Paul 11. Lake Crystal 12. Buffalo 13. Rosemount 14. Freeborn County 15. Southern Minnesota 16. Roseville 17. Pelican Rapids 18. Koronis 19. West Central 20. Winona County 21. Rich Spring 22. St Cloud Sponsors 23. Northern Cass County 24. New Prague 25. Prairie Benson 26. Morrison Cty

State Chairman’s Chatter (Continued from Page 2)

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