In the Great Lakes region alone, Ducks Unlimited (DU) has been involved in hundreds of projects in the past decade that involve either the conservation of wetlands through acquisition, or the restoration and management of wetlands. These projects — always in concert with public and private partners, universities and other organizations — seek to establish or conserve the maximum amount of acreage possible with available funds. To that end, the non-profit’s funds are consistently met with matching dollars from federal, state and local governments.
Waterfowl hunters founded DU in 1937 in response to plummeting bird populations. Since then, Ducks Unlimited has created a worthy conservation model: multi-level fundraising, science-based action and a high “return rate” on dollars as it conserves and manages millions of acres in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
From Million-Dollar Donors to Grassroots Volunteers
The list of major DU donors ($10,000 or more) in the finest print, is dozens of pages long and features corporations in nearly every industry such as Dow, Coca Cola, Caterpillar, FedEx, Bank of America, Cargill and Exxon Mobil as well as stalwart givers like the Pew Charitable Trust. Over the decades DU has received more than 350 donations exceeding $1 million each. Just last year, Cox Enterprises committed $100 million to DU, while its leadership has on their own donated millions.
Jake McPherson, a DU director of development, said major donors are crucial to its mission: to conserve, restore and manage wetlands and their associated habitats for waterfowl in North America.
“All the great work DU and our partners do in conservation is not a cheap endeavor,” he said. “The governments aren’t just handing out money to us in good faith, we’re required to bring private, non-governmental funding to the table. Without that we can’t access that money from the federal government, the states, municipalities.”
According to McPherson, major donors can direct their donations to specific regions, specific science projects or species.
“Major donors can have the satisfaction of knowing they had an outsized impact on DU’s work, and they can choose their landscape,” he said.
This coastal wetlands is an example of a Great Lakes project in which DU worked with state and federal agencies. (Photo by James Proffitt)
While high-dollar donors are important for DU, it’s the army of volunteers supporting the organization from the ground up that’s kept it going for more than 80 years. Ohio state chairman Brian Rees is one of more than 30,000 volunteers nationwide.
“It can be a lot of work and I’ve had a lot of really cool experiences,” he said. “There’s something they call the DC fly-in. Every year they bring in state chairs and policy chairs into Washington and spend a couple days hitting up state senators and representatives, talking about the Farm Bill and conservation programs. It’s not something that would have been on my hit list, since I’m not very political.”
After a friend gushed about how cool it was to get free trips, Rees clarified.
“They didn’t pay for my trip, it was on my own dime,” he explained. “That’s how they’re effective, how they maintain the high percentage of funds going right into the ground, by not doing those things. That’s the kind of stuff that gets you in trouble.”
As state chairman, Rees visits as many DU banquets as possible each year, usually held at local levels. Nationally there were more than 629,000 attendees at 5,200 events in 2024. In addition to great dinners and conversation, folks buy raffle tickets and bid on auctions. Auctions can include things from hunting, fishing and camping gear to guns, bourbon, clothing, trips, prize baskets and a host of other items. Last year, $100 million was raised at these volunteer-operated events.
Rees chuckled when talking about his girlfriend’s previous limited exposure to and lukewarm perception of DU.
“We went to the national convention in San Diego and the first night we had dinner on the deck of the USS Midway. We ended up sitting with the state chair for New York,” he said. “She’s a young lady in her 20s, Ashley Owens. That really surprised my girlfriend and it broadened her horizons. They’ve texted back and forth and everything else.”
Great Lakes-specific projects
The Little Portage Wildlife Area in Ottawa County, Ohio recently received a 300-acre wetland renovation, plus an adjacent 400 acres of agriculture runoff was redirected into the wildlife area. DU partners included the state’s H2Ohio program, Ottawa Soil and Water Conservation District and two private landowners. While the landowners were skeptical when first approached, according to Kendra Wecker, Ohio Division of Wildlife chief, they now provide great testimonials about her staff and DU’s involvement.
Pointe Mouillee State Game Area south of Detroit restored a portion of its important waterfowl habitat and fish spawning grounds by re-building dikes and installing water control structures. The goal was increasing control over invasive species, improving waterfowl migration and nesting habitat and better control of water levels. Partners included the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS,) Waterfowl USA Southwestern Lake Erie Chapter and Gibraltar Duck Hunters Association.
Financial breakdown for 2024
In 2024, DU generated $333 million in total revenue, with 53% coming from federal, state and nongovernmental partnerships, according to its annual report. About 18% came from major donors and endowments, and 22% from memberships, sponsorships and events, while 7% was derived from advertising, royalties and donated conservation easements.
Expenditures overwhelmingly go toward the purchase, restoration and management of wetlands and adjacent land at 83%. Another 14% is spent on fundraising and developing income streams. Just 3% of DU income is spent on administrative and human resources.
In 2024, DU set an organizational record by delivering 1 million acres of conservation across North America, including Mexico and Canada. The number includes acquisitions, restorations, land easements and agricultural programs targeting wetlands conservation and water quality improvement.
Ducks marsh birds and wildlife associated with wetlands are a focus of DUs conservation efforts. (Photo by James Proffitt)
Since its inception DU has directly conserved about 15.9 million acres of land in North America, equaling acreage about the size of Massachusetts, Delaware and Connecticut. It’s directly and indirectly influenced the conservation or improvement of 243 million acres, equaling acreage about the size of Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin.
From hunters to birders to farmers
Joe Genzel, DU communications coordinator, said that historically waterfowl hunters have been the solid base but that a growing number of non-hunters are getting on board.
“You’re seeing a lot more now. Like DU biologists that obviously care about wetlands and maybe their number one priority isn’t waterfowl hunting, it’s the habitat and all the wildlife that benefit, plus the human benefit in flood mitigation and water quality, all that type of stuff,” he said. “And a lot of birders, too, they see the positive impacts.”
In fact, Metroparks Toledo’s Howard Marsh project, a 1,000-acre crops field-turned-wetlands near Lake Erie was largely engineered and constructed by DU scientists and contractors — and is now a darling of the birding community. It’s one of the most popular sites during the annual Biggest Week in American Birding event each May.
Genzel said a growing number of farmers are working with DU to optimize cash flow through conservation easements and a host of other programs while making farms more sustainable and improving water quality.
“I’ve gone to a couple events in the Midwest where farmers have come together, they’re at another person’s farm who is into sustainable agriculture and you can just tell, they feel like that’s the future,” he said.
Swift acquisitions, lasting impact
One way in which DU works with governments is through facilitated acquisitions. In short, DU often locates and quickly scoops up land that comes up for sale. That’s something public agencies can rarely do in a timely fashion.
“A partner comes in and completes an acquisition process,” explained Russ Terry, DU regional biologist. “So we’ll already have the funding to step in and help the Ohio Division of Wildlife or the USFWS. We’re much more nimble, we can do it more quickly. A lot of times these properties, if you have a willing seller you don’t have a lot of time to wade through the process and a lot of times that’s how the government works, right?”
Marshes like this one bordering Lake Erie are prime targets for DU and its partners in restoration and improvement efforts. (Photo by James Proffitt)
In short, Terry said DU secures land that many public entities otherwise could not purchase.
“We have two properties we’re getting ready to donate now,” he said. “One to expand a wildlife area and another we just bought at auction this summer. We’re in the process of donating that to the Ohio Division of Forestry to expand Maumee State Forest. On two other projects we’re negotiating price with landowners and we’ll buy those, hold them for a short period of time and flip the titles to the state and USFWS.”
DU Great Lakes memberships, in 2024
Illinois membership: 25,854
- Grassroots fundraising from last year: $5.8 million
- Total acres conserved: 61,320
Indiana membership: 15,302
- Grassroots fundraising from last year: $1.6 million
- Total acres conserved: 30,901
Michigan membership: 26,734
- Grassroots fundraising from last year: $2.4 million
- Total acres conserved: 76,411
Minnesota membership: 49,135
- Grassroots fundraising from last year: $5.4 million
- Total acres conserved 240,967
New York membership: 16,406
- Grassroots fundraising from last year: $1.06 million
- Total acres conserved: 59,367
Ohio membership: 16,814
- Grassroots fundraising from last year: $1.6 million
- Total acres conserved: 96,582
Pennsylvania membership: 15,203
- Grassroots fundraising from last year: $827,000
- Total acres conserved: 29,489
Wisconsin membership: 35,696
- Grassroots fundraising from last year: $3.9 million
- Total acres conserved: 136,568
Catch more news at Great Lakes Now:
Walleye Numbers are Down in Lake Erie
A Decade After Crisis, Algal Blooms Persist
Featured image: This private marsh bordering state and federal Lake Erie marshes was previously a crop field. DU and partners worked together to restore it to wetlands. (Photo by James Proffitt)
