Southern Region E-Newsletter
January 2020
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Keep up with DU’s Southern Region.
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A Message From The Regional Leadership Team
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We all love a winner. While few of us could name the second-place horse in the Kentucky Derby or remember who lost the Superbowl or the fight for the Stanley Cup, we remember the victors. Our Southern Region team is full of winners. DU is narrow in focus, simple in purpose, but incredibly complex in how it has evolved to meet the mandates of the mission. After decades of hard work developing strong partnerships and establishing new and growing programs, we are finding new levels of success across all of our business streams. This isn’t some happy accident. It is the result of gritty, hard work and a steadfast focus on a better tomorrow.
Recently, the New York Times published a piece with a startling message, “the skies are emptying out.” The analysis of 500 bird species, originally published in the journal
Science
, tells a terrifying tale of population declines. Nearly 3 billion birds are gone since 1970. The places and things that they needed have been replaced with landfills, Starbucks, houses, gas stations, and other manifestations of our human footprint. But the same article clearly tells us that all hope is not lost. Most waterfowl populations are above the long-term average. Again, this is no happy accident. Waterfowl populations are in a relatively good place while other bird species plummet towards the precipice of extinction in part because of the dedicated work of Ducks Unlimited and its conservation partners, but we can’t take all the credit.
Climate change, shifts in agriculture, and the wonderful adaptability of waterfowl all play a role in the strength of waterfowl populations. Still, the 83 years of dedicated mission focus have certainly had a hand in it. We in the Southern Region, as a critical part of DU’s continental success, have done our job, and done it well. Beyond the more than 2 million acres we have conserved in the region, we have maintained a consistent record of raising more money and delivering more conservation with maximized efficiencies so that critical unrestricted funds could be invested in the prairies – where we can make the biggest difference for waterfowl populations.
We have an organizational code of modeling the behavior we want to see in the world. We expect each banquet to maximize efficiency, and we also expect each habitat project and fundraising proposal to embody those same aspirations. Because of our dedication to this tenet, we are a team of winners. We have a big job, but we pursue it with a nobility of purpose. No matter your role, know that you serve something great that will live beyond you, and that you are on the winningest of teams. It says so in the New York Times!
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News From Around the Region
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America's River Initiative
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Sherburne WMA - North Farm Unit Restoration
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We are working with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to enhance waterfowl habitat on Sherburne Wildlife Management Area between Baton Rouge and Lafayette. Construction should be completed in summer 2020.
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1,000 Acres of Arkansas Habitat Enhancements Funded
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DU and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) are working together to restore more than1,000 acres of waterfowl habitat on Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Construction should be completed by the end of summer 2020, weather permitting.
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Southern Prairies and Playas Initiative
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DU Continues Partnership with NMDGF
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The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish continues to turn to Ducks Unlimited for wetland engineering expertise. We have already provided survey and design work for several public land projects across the state, and we are slated to provide further assistance for La Joya Wildlife Management Area and others moving forward. This multi-year partnership will yield better habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds in years to come.
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Southeast Wetlands Initiative
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DU, DOD Team Up for Conservation
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The Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program is a key tool for combating development that can limit or restrict military training, testing, and operations. DU has entered a strategic partnership with the United States Air Force and Joint-Base Charleston to increase conservation land surrounding their base in South Carolina along the Edisto River and recently completed our first REPI project to protect 242 acres.
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First Altamaha Project Completed in Georgia
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We completed the first of multiple wetland restoration projects on Altamaha Wildlife Management Area in coastal Georgia to improve public recreation opportunities, water quality, coastal resilience and waterfowl habitat. The Rhett’s Island Unit phase one restoration project is the first of nearly $9 million funded through FEMA, the Georgia DNR and two NAWCA grants secured by DU.
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$22 Million for Florida Wetland Restoration Work
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Four years of restoration work in Florida’s Apalachicola River Wildlife Environmental Area was made possible thanks to a nearly $22 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund.
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Texas GLO Contributes $6.6 Million for Breakwaters
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The Texas General Land Office (GLO) committed $6.6 million through the Coastal Erosion Planning and Response Act (CEPRA) to support two Ducks Unlimited shoreline protection projects in coastal Texas. This CEPRA funding complements $6.2 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
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DU Varsity:
St. Agnes Academy
The St. Agnes Academy DU chapter is one of many varsity chapters in Memphis, Tennessee, but it is the only all-girls committee in the nation. This dedicated committee raised over $15,000 for DU’s conservation mission and had more than 120 attendees at their spring event in 2019.
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Major Sponsor Profile:
Phillips 66
Phillips 66 has been a strong partner in conservation for many years, and they have recently elevated their contributions to help us do more for wetlands, waterfowl and people in several states. In just the last five years, Phillips 66 has contributed more than $1.5 million to support important wetland restoration projects in Texas, Louisiana, Illinois, Kansas and Colorado.
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NAWCA Reauthorized
The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate agreed to government funding legislation that includes $46 million in appropriations for the bipartisan North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), $4 million over the baseline funding level. This legislation will now go to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
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Conservation Science & Planning
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Geospatial Science
The Southern Region’s geospatial information system (GIS) staff act as the glue between multiple parts of the organization.
From a science and planning perspective, GIS is critical in helping develop bioenergetic and decision support models to evaluate and inform objective setting and conservation program direction. Though focused on waterfowl, the work DU does also provides habitat for many organisms and benefits humans through increased water retention, water quality benefits, and reduced erosion. GIS plays a key role in quantifying these ecosystem outcomes for planning, fundraising, and communications efforts.
From a conservation delivery perspective, GIS staff provide quality control of accounting for all habitat deliveries in the Southern Region and maintain possibly the most accurate spatial database within Ducks Unlimited. GIS staff also work with information technology and conservation planning staffs to bring web applications to biologists and the public. For example, GIS staff produce and provide access to
maps that assist hunters in finding public hunting opportunities on lands DU has worked on. In addition, we provide field biologists with data collection capabilities, maps, and other spatial information used for proposals and project evaluation efforts.
Conservation planning and GIS staffs also support development, policy, and communication efforts by analyzing data and developing maps or other informational products that inform specific questions or fulfill other needs. Most of these efforts are designed to help educate the public about the scope of work DU does and the on-the-ground acres we influence through management actions. The capacity to tailor information to specific geographies is critical for effectively influencing and informing policy makers, volunteers, partners, and funders.
Geospatial science is a key piece to the success of regional conservation science and planning efforts. Our goal is to provide staff with information and tools to allow them to make efficient and effective decisions about our delivery, science, policy, fundraising, and communications endeavors. With that, we are pleased to announce that our regional conservation science and planning team is getting better with the addition our newest GIS analyst, Anna Rollosson!
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Anna Rollosson is extremely excited to be joining DU as a GIS Analyst, as she has a strong interest in the applications of GIS and remote sensing technology for strategic conservation efforts and science communication. She is a native of Memphis, TN, and has been passionate about land and wildlife conservation since childhood. She received a B.A. in Environmental Science and English at the University of Virginia in 2015, and after working as a field technician in Virginia and Georgia, recently graduated from the University of Florida with an M.S. in Forest Resources and Conservation. Anna enjoys all things outdoors and looks forward to exploring Central Mississippi on foot and bike.
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Texas Prairie Wetlands Project named a Texan by Nature Conservation Wrangler
The Conservation Wrangler program highlights the very best Texan-led conservation projects that demonstrate a positive Return on Conservation for people, prosperity, and natural resources.
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Field to Market Recognizes the USA Rice-Ducks Unlimited
Rice Stewardship Partnership
as the Collaboration of the Year
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By the end of 2019, more than 600,000 acres were enrolled in the program as producers applied conservation practices to conserve irrigation water, improve water quality and provide critical habitat for wetland wildlife.
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See what's going on around the country in the other Ducks Unlimited regions. Check out their e-newsletters.
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193 Business Park Drive, Ste. E
Ridgeland, MS 39157
1-601-956-1936
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