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Co

lo

ra

do

D

uc

ks

u

nl

im

it

ed

N

ew

sl

et

te

r

NE

WS

& IN

FO

RM

AT

ION

FO

R D

UC

KS

UN

LIM

ITE

D M

EM

BE

RS

Winter 2005

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inter 2005

WIN

GSOVER

COLO

RADO

Inside

ww

w.ducks.o

rg is DU

’s national w

ebsite

Non-P

rofit Org.

U.S

. Postage

PAID

Ducks U

nlimited Inc.

Ken C

onstantinePO

Box 776283Steam

boat Springs,CO

80477

PO

ST

MA

ST

ER

:If undeliverable,do no

t return.

2N

ew Editor

3Chairm

an’s Corner

5 Wetlands D

isplay

62004 G

un Winners

7Sanctuary Shootout

10CO

Conservation Plan

5th Annual D

USporting C

lassic Results

First,I wo

uld like to thank everyo

ne who

attended the 5th Annual D

ucks Unlim

itedSpo

rting Classic.T

he weather co

operated!

There w

ere 170 shoo

ters,from

eight states,w

ho attended the tw

o-day event w

hichgro

ssed almo

st $55,000.Over 50,000 targets

were throw

n over the course o

f two

days!O

ver 150 cases of W

inchester Shells and 18guns w

ere awarded during the event.A

silentauctio

n was run bo

th days and a live auction

was held after O

utback Steakhouse provided

us a fabulous dinner o

n Saturday night.Our

live auction auctio

neer,Dave Linnertz,did a

great job fo

r us.W

e had four side gam

es running each day,M

ake-a-Break,Team

Flurry,Co

bo W

obble,

and a Greenw

ing only target.Everyo

ne who

played these games had their tickets entered

into the draw

ings for prizes and guns.T

hose

individuals who

wo

n guns as a result of par-

ticipating in the side games include:G

arySm

ith,Eugene Ritchey,M

ichael Haigh,

Randy

Lewis,Larry Sharp,G

ary Upperm

an,David

Brando

n,Brian Po

tter,and Benny Jo

nes.T

he Greenw

ing only target w

as a specialo

ne this year to enco

urage the youngsters to

participate.A do

zen Greenw

ings participat-ed.T

he prize for participating w

as a Ducks

Unlim

ited Edition .22 rifle,w

hich was aw

ard-ed to

Sam Jo

rdan.D

uring the course o

f the event,we w

ereselling raffle tickets fo

r two

prizes:a water-

fowl package including a gun,blinds,decoys

and a hunt;and a gun raffle for a cho

ice of a

391 Beretta o

r a Winchester Surprem

e O/U

.Jo

seph Phillips wo

n the waterfow

l packageand K

ent Sandoz w

on the gun raffle and

choo

se the Winchester Surprem

e O/U

.W

e need to give a special thanks to

all of

our spo

nsors,fo

r witho

ut them w

e wo

uldno

t be able to put o

n this annual event.B

enelli,Beretta,B

rowning,B

udweiser,B

ull &B

ear Outfitters,Inc.,C

hris Swinhart,

Co

rgenix Medical C

orp,D

avid LinnertzA

uction Service,Eastern Plains T

herapy,ESP -Electro

nic Shoo

ters Protectio

n,Gunw

orks o

f

Co

lorado,K

iowa C

reek Sporting C

lub,Matt

& D

enise Rivera,M

BN

A,O

utbackSteakho

use,Sportsm

an’s Wareho

use,Sto

neback Landscaping,Winchester

Am

munitio

n All o

f the DU

Sporting C

lassicC

om

mittee M

embers,and all o

f the Ducks

Unlim

ited Volunteers that m

ade this eventpo

ssible!A

com

plete list of the results can be

viewed o

n the Kiow

a Creek Spo

rting Club’s

website at w

ww

.kiowacreek.co

m.T

here isalso

a short survey requesting info

rmatio

nfo

r making this an even better event.If yo

uhave a chance please take a m

om

ent to co

m-

plete the survey.Thank yo

u.

By Todd Olson,

Area C

hairman

Spo

rting Classics happy participants take a break betw

een stations.T

he two

-day eventgro

ssed almo

st $55,000.

Gary Im

el (aka Santa C

laus)takes a break fro

m the sho

ot

action.A

ll the imels (w

ifeK

ris and daughter Jenny)w

orked the S

tate Co

nvention

and shoo

t.

those golf carts. Todd and A

lison are known and established

sporting clay shooters and have plenty of trophiesin their hom

e as testimony. T

hese two South

Dakota natives are hom

etown sw

eethearts fromC

hamberlain, SD

, where Todd returns w

ith sever-

al other DU

volunteers each year for deer andpheasant hunting. B

oth Todd and Alison cam

e toC

olorado to attend and graduate from A

dams State

College in A

lamosa. Todd serves as a controller for

the state, while A

lison is a practicing physical ther-apist w

ith Eastern Plains T

herapy. The fam

ily

resides in Aurora.

Whether

a D

U

shoot, banquet,

or State

Convention you can alw

ays count on the Olsons to

be there and offering support. They’re a great fam

-ily and all of the D

U folks say big thanks for all they

have done and continue to do. Thanks O

lsons!

Olson’s

On A

ugust 6 thand 7 th,

over 80 dedicated DU

volunteers, staff andsupporters descended on theS

ilvercreek Lodge near G

ranby,C

olorado for what w

as to be oneof the best D

U state conventions

ever. Designed by S

tate Chair

Brad B

illingsley and Convention

Chair K

evin Metzler, their initial

goal was to m

ake this fun week-

end informative, energizing and

fun —- all of w

hich were

achieved. The G

rand County D

U

comm

ittee led by Shaw

n Anderson

(AC

) and Nick M

eyer carried outthe registration and logistics of theevent.

Key highlights for this gather-

ing started on Saturday m

orningw

hen biologists and conservationstaff provided their update briefin-gs on projects and activitiesthroughout the continent. N

otonly did the audience hear fromour ow

n state biologists (Bob

Sanders and G

reg Kernohan) but

also received informative briefings

by DU

staff from the G

reat Plains

Regional O

ffice, Steve A

dair, andfrom

the Canada D

U staff R

ickH

arland. Highlighting and cap-

ping the morning conservation

briefings was a very inform

ative,and hum

orous, brief by Wildlife

Com

missioner R

ick Enstrom

. The

morning session concluded w

ithan added brief by G

reaterC

olorado Outdoors executive

director John Sw

artout. When you

add up the entire input coming in

from both the state, regional and

international speakers, it was

obvious that attendees were given

a very comprehensive snapshot of

where their fundraising dollars are

being put to work throughout

North A

merica.

Saturday afternoon brought a

change to the normal state con-

vention activities. This year’s

goal was to build cam

araderieam

ong DU

volunteers and staffthrough a “D

U O

utdoorsC

arnival” which included educa-

tional activities for the entire fam-

ily. Fly tying clinics, D

OW

elec-tronic shooting gam

es, retrieverdem

onstrations, fly casting clinics,and a G

IS S

urvey demonstration

led by DU

staffers Richard V

ailand B

en Chavez kept everyone

busy for the afternoon. But per-

haps the highlight of the carnivalw

as the waterfow

l hunting clinicgiven by D

U volunteers Jim

Arnold and S

hane McC

oy. Jimand S

hane, co-owners of

Waterfow

l Haven O

utfitters,shared their expertise on decoylayouts and calling procedures.

Saturday night’s events includ-

ed a Major D

onor social, which

saw volunteers Tom

Ren and G

regW

ilson become M

ajor Donors.

Follow

ing this the annual banquetcom

menced and included the

annual awards recognition for our

outstanding chapters and individu-als. C

had Thom

as of Loveland

and Bill D

avis, Steam

boatS

prings, stole the show as they

shared the prestigious Area

Chairm

an of the Year aw

ard. Bill

also won the D

istrict Chairm

an of

State Convention 2004

Area C

hairmen o

f the Year Bill D

avis and Chad

Tho

mas receive

their awards fro

m state chair B

rad Billingsley.

State W

ildlife Co

mm

issioner

Rick E

nstrom

briefs the DU

attendees on C

olo

rado D

OW

action pro

jects.S

ee State C

onventio

n,Page 3

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Spring 2003

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Winter 2005

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1W

inter 2005

Colorado State Leadership

State C

hairman

Brad Billingsley3940 East W

esleyD

enver,CO

80210720-635-2166

State T

reasurerJerry M

arrs230 S.H

olland St.Lakew

ood,CO

80226303-936-6355

Spo

nsor C

hairman

Lawrence “Buck” Buchholz

S Deer C

reek Road

Littleton,CO

81027303-921-5864

Majo

r Gifts C

hairman

John Winter

90 Pinion Dr

Carbondale,C

O 81627

970-704-0886

MA

RS

H C

hairman

Bob Clark

13720 6000 Rd

Montrose,C

O 81401

970-240-4026

Event M

erchandiseC

hairman

David J.Barber

10891 East Llliff PlaceA

urora,CO

80014-1713303-751-4600

Greenw

ing Chairfam

ilyD

ennis,Pam and C

ameron

Markw

ay472 S.Joe M

artinez BlvdPueblo W

est,CO

81007719-547-4494

Co

nvention C

hairman

Kevin M

etzler4900 S.Syracuse St.D

enver,CO

80237303-740-2539

New

sletter Edito

rC

hris Cude

1159 Knotty Pine Ln

Pueblo West,C

O 81007

719-547-8257

Sho

ot C

hairman

Matt R

ivera8189 W

ebster StA

rvada,CO

80003303-693-1550 ext.211

Go

lf Chairm

anC

hris Swinhart

8116 Nola D

r.D

enver,CO

80221303-438-8997 ext 13

Feather So

ciety Chairm

anJack W

itt5259 M

anitou Rd

Littleton,CO

80123720-283-2588

Statstician

Deborah Poirier

220 S.County R

d 21Berthoud,C

O 80513

970-532-9831

Webm

asterD

.J.Banta5835 R

avina Court

Colorado Springs,C

O 80919

719-266-8862dj.banta@

adelphia.net

Nat’l B

oard M

ember at

Large

Steve Tonso1016 E.H

ighway 112

Center,C

O 81125

719-754-3745

Regio

nal Vice-P

residentG

ene Engrav6219 Buffalo A

veC

heyenne,WY

82009307-638-6437

Senio

r Vice-P

residentJill O

lsen3315 S.C

olumbine C

ircleEnglew

ood,CO

80110

CO

LO

RA

DO

ST

AF

FR

egional D

irector

Ken C

onstantinePO

Box 776283Steam

boat Springs,CO

80477970-871-6665

Regio

nal Directo

rK

irk Davidson

7795 Lebrun Court

Lonetree,CO

80124303-927-1949

State B

iologist

Bob Sanders206 Lyell StM

onte Vista,C

O 81144

719-852-0925

Directo

r of D

evelopm

entTom

Harris

10143 Highland M

eadow C

ircleParker,C

O 80134

303-799-5880

Edito

r’s Co

lum

nB

y Ken C

onstantineF

or over four years Chris C

udehas been the editor of W

ings Over

Co

lorad

o,

ou

r C

olo

rado

D

uck

sU

nlim

ited

official

new

sletter.T

hat is

about a

dozen issues

ofediting, review

ing, gathering, andputting

together this

newsletter.

Chris

is finally

taking a

well

-deserved break and for this issueonly I w

ill be the temporary edi-

tor. Chris is not leaving D

U at all.

Chris

ablely chaired

the P

uebloW

est chapter annual banquet lastm

onth and in addition, Chris also

played a key role in the Pueblo

West

chap

ter’sF

amily F

un Shoot

last spring. In hissp

are tim

e C

hris

coach

es 4

-

Hshooting sports inth

e P

ueb

lo

West

area and squeezesin m

aking a livingas a general con-tracto

r b

uild

ing

custo

m

ho

mes.

He

has

been

known to occupy a

duck blind on notfreq

uen

t en

ou

gh

occasions.

Chris

than

ks

for

fou

rgreat years of vol-u

nteer

service

toall of us in C

olorado DU

!N

ow I w

ill let our new editor,

Fran

Reinier,

introduce herself.

And yes the picture in this colum

nis of F

ran!A

few years ago I volunteered

to help, if any was needed, on the

newsletter. I guess a little bird (or

Regional D

uck) overheard me vol-

unteering! I’m F

ran Reinier, and

I’ve been involved with D

ucks form

ore than 10 years now, starting

as a Ducky D

arling and working

my w

ay up though the volunteerladder to a chairperson. N

ow, I’m

happy to report, that I still volun-teer

for just

about any

job, but

most often now

I’m in the back-

ground getting donations to help-ing set up for banquets. W

hen theposition opened for editor I w

asasked

if I’d

be w

illing to

stillhelp.... I accepted.

For

a real

job I

work

at the

local

new

spap

er,th

e S

teamb

oat

Pilo

t an

d

To

day

and have

worked

for

the

com

pan

yclose

to 25

yearsnow

. I know w

hatdeadlines

are and

have to meet them

daily.

So

, a

new

sletter, h

op

e-fu

lly, w

ill b

esm

oo

th

sailing

.(I’d

h

ate to

u

seone of the papers Iw

ork

o

n

to

beat

someone over the

head with!) I w

illw

elcome

any and

all ideas or sugges-tio

ns

to

help

ev

eryo

ne

wo

rktogether as one great team

. Thanks

Ken for the opportunity, and I’m

looking forward to a new

chaptero

f v

olu

nteerin

g

for

Du

cks

Unlim

ited!

AD

VE

RT

ISING

RAT

ES

Full Page-------------------$900Q

uarter Page-------------$3002 C

olumns by 2”---------$80

Half Page-----------------$500

1/8 Page-------------------$1501 C

olumn by 2”----------$50

View

from

the West &

So

uthT

he spring, summ

er, and fall of2004 w

ere different than in years pastas m

any traditional events moved to

different spots on the calendar. Sum

mit C

ounty DU

missed their

traditional fall date and ended up hold-ing their banquet in m

id April. B

asedon feedback they returned to their pre-vious Septem

ber timefram

e led by anenthusiastic new

chairman Trip

McLaughlin. M

any of you met Trip

and his wife R

enee at the state conven-tion in early A

ugust. Trip and his newcom

mittee held a great banquet Sept.

17th.April also found Steam

boat holdingtheir Sponsor event w

ith a sneak pre-view

of the Colorado Plan given by

Bob Sanders head biologist for

Colorado D

U. Pueblo W

est thenheld their Fun Shoot in late A

pril with

good weather (as in no w

ind) andgood turnout this year. T

he event was

ably chaired by Pam M

arkway this

year.May had the C

arbondale chapterled by B

ill Johnson hosting theirSponsor T

hank You event at the Basalt

gun Club and the Pikes Peak chapter

held their dinner event in Mid M

ayw

ith a truly earnest effort put forth byVerl O

lsen and his comm

ittee. LateM

ay found state leaders and staff at thenational convention in C

algary for anexcellent gathering of D

U volunteers

from all across the continent.

June held the second very successfulFront R

ange Greenw

ing day chaired byB

ill Sullivan at the Fort Carson Turkey

Creek w

ildlife area where B

ill and hiscom

mittee earned top honors for sign-

ing up the most G

reenwings in the

state this year. District m

eetings were

held across the region and the stateconvention m

oved to August.

July held only one event, theSteam

boat Fun Shoot aka “Ducks in

the Boat” that attracted shooters from

3 states and doubled their Net/N

etfrom

the previous year. August had

everyone converging to Grandby for

the state convention and that was fol-

lowed by the first banquet of the new

fiscal year in Grand Junction on the

21st.The fall banquet season really

geared up in September w

ith theSum

mit C

ounty banquet as alreadym

entioned and the Colorado Springs

Sponsor event on the 16th. LasA

nimas held their second golf event on

the weekend of Septem

ber 18th and19th. Pagosa Springs under new

chair-m

an Nolan Fulton w

as well organized

for their Sept. 25th date and was

joined on that date by Pueblo trying afall tim

eframe after being in February

for many years. Steam

boat roundedout the m

onth on the 30th with their

banquet at the Sheraton.O

ctober had the Glenw

ood Springscom

mittee, chaired by Joe B

air, sell out

their second event since the tremen-

dously successful restart of the chapterlast fall. N

ovember saved everything

for the weekend before T

hanksgivingw

ith the North Fork chapter in

Hotchkiss holding their event on

Friday Nov. 19th and both Las A

nimas

and Montrose banquets on Saturday

Nov. 20th. M

ontrose celebrated theirspecial 30th anniversary event this year.

Decem

ber finished 2004 in a flurryw

ith Colorado Springs on the 2nd,

Pueblo West on the 3rd and C

raig onSunday D

ec. 5th. Many events from

the typical fall schedule such asW

oodland Park, Durango, and A

spenhave m

oved to winter schedules.

The end of FY ’04 in June found

the region stable in dollars and mem

-bership and all of us looking forw

ardto grow

ing both as we com

plete thenew

year.

By K

en Co

nstantine,Regio

nal Directo

r

Wings O

ver Co

lorado

’s New

Edito

r,Fran Reinier.

Winter / Spring 2005

Western and Southern C

olorado Duck D

ates

DA

TE

EV

EN

TC

ON

TAC

TPH

ON

E #

Jan. 29San L

uis Valley B

qt.H

oyt Anderson

719-589-8334Feb. 5

Gunnison B

qt.D

an Brauch

970-641-7070Feb. 26

Eagle V

alley Bqt.

Wendy Sacks

970-328-3373Feb. 26

Colo. Spgs. Pheasant H

nt.D

oug Hantelm

an719-265-8825

Feb. 26C

rystal River

Bill Johnson

970-963-3998M

arch 4A

spen Banquet

Chuck Torinus

970-923-5989M

arch 5D

elta Banquet

Christy E

ckstein970-874-5394

March 5

Woodland Park B

qt.Sam

Woldridge

719-687-7573M

arch 12D

urango Banquet

Tom B

rossia970-382-8783

March 13

Meeker B

anquet.N

ori Pearce970-878-4659

March 18

Canon C

ity Bqt.

Jeremy L

ey970-275-6318

March 19

Krem

mling B

qt.C

huck Cesar

970-724-3691M

arch 19N

orwood B

qt.C

raig Grother

970-327-4261M

arch TB

AFairplay

Ken C

onstantine970-871-6665

April 2

Rifle B

anquetW

illie William

s970-285-6826

April 7

Steamboat Sponsor

Nick H

otchkiss970-875-0454

April T

BA

Pick Your Pattern

Darrell M

ontgomery

303-808-4157A

pril TB

AC

haffee County

Lonnie Peschiera

970-270-1712M

ay 14Pikes Peak B

qt.D

oug Hantelm

an719-265-8825

June 11Front R

ange Greenw

ingB

ill Sullivan719-282-4319

Win

gs o

ver colo

rado

Ducks U

nlimited is a private,non-profit organization dedicated to conserving w

etlands habitat for waterfow

l and other wildlife.D

U w

as incorporated by a group of farsightedconservationists on Jan.29,1937.

Mem

bership in the organization is $25 minim

um,w

hich includes a subscription to the national Ducks U

nlimited m

agazine.A

s the organization’s official publication for Colorado

has a circulation of 14,000.View

s expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of Ducks U

nlimited Inc.Sim

ilarities between the nam

e Ducks U

nlimited Inc.and those of

advertisers are coincidental and do not indicate mutual affiliation unless clearly stated.

Mem

bers who m

ove,should send new address and current m

embership num

berto national headquarters on

POD

Form 3578.Please direct inquiries to State C

hairman Brad Billingsley.

Ken C

onstantine

PO

Box 776283,S

teambo

at Springs,C

O 80477• 970-871-6665

Wings O

ver Colorado is p

rinted by Main Street N

ewsp

apers,Salem

VA.

ww

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Winter 2005

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Spring 2003

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inter 2005

About a year ago, I

sat in a room at the

Sheraton in southD

enver w

ith a

dozen DU

biolo-gists,

staff, and

lead volunteers todiscuss an oppor-t

un

it

y.

“Opportunity”

isprobably

not the

right word, as w

ew

ere in the finaldiscussions

forsecuring a tract ofland

along the

South Platte River that w

ould be a final piecein securing m

ore than 70 miles of contiguous

property along

the Platte…

for

eternity.Sim

ply put, this was the critical piece that

would ensure that this portion of the Platte

would be protected from

development and

agriculture, and preserve it for wildlife habitat

for the rest of our lifetimes, and those of our

grandchildren, their

grandchildren, and

theirs…. I recall the excitem

ent as the biolo-gists show

ed slides of the beautiful cotton-w

oods that lined its banks, the broad river thatflow

ed during the past Fall, and the waterfow

l- countless w

aterfowl!! D

ucks and geese as faras you could see! T

here was a feeling of elec-

tricity in that small room

…w

e were in the final

stages of inking the deal that would be a w

in tocelebrate. In fact, one State C

hairman in the

room

(who

shall rem

ain nam

eless) even

brought a bottle of champagne to entice the

others. “We shall celebrate once w

e finalizethis deal!!” I said (oops, I gave aw

ay the guiltyparty…

).A

ll that was left w

as some final negotiations

and the signing of the deal…m

inor details. T

he call came a few

weeks later. T

here will

be no celebrating, the voice on the phone said.T

here will be no “m

arquee project in our back-yard” the voice said. B

asically, there will be no

“for eternity” the voice said. The electricity

turned to anger, then sadness. It turns outanother buyer entered the picture under theradar. T

his was prem

ier property, and itattracted deeper pockets. A

nd just like that,the deal w

as off.D

uring our State Convention this past

summ

er, we learned that there are currently

plans for developing this property into “trophyhouses”, and our fears are being realized. W

hatjust m

onths ago seemed like a huge w

in forconservation and D

ucks Unlim

ited has turnedinto our greatest loss. B

ut like any disappoint-m

ent, I realize we have a choice. W

e can fretour loss and allow

it to dampen our spirits, or

we can fight. By fight I m

ean continue thegreat w

ork that so many individuals reading

this article do year in and year out for conser-vation. Put on a second event, recruit som

enew

comm

ittee mem

bers to your chapter, sella few

more tickets to your banquet…

DU

isan organization unlike any other in that w

eshare a com

mon bond so strong and for m

anyso deep, that w

e overcome the seem

ing insur-m

ountable odds stacked against us. I watched

the many children that attended the State

Convention a few

months ago. I saw

theirexcitem

ent as they cast a fly rod for the firsttim

e, as they learned gun safety from our

friends at the DO

W, and their enthusiasm

tokeep getting back in the layout blinds thatW

aterfowl H

aven had set up to teach thehunting clinic.

That’s w

hy we keep up the fight. So that

we can relieve the thrill that w

e first learnedyears ago w

hen we first sat in a duck blind or

enjoyed our wild places.

As

I finish

my

first year

as your

StateC

hairman and look tow

ard the next, I thankeach of you for continuing the fight, for sharingthe D

U story, and for doing your part to ensure

that countless generations can enjoy what w

e’vecom

e to love in the outdoors. I look forward to

joining you in a most prosperous year for the

Ducks!

Colorado C

onservationP

rogram R

eceives Grant

Ducks U

nlimited’s C

olorado State Conservation Program

recently received

a $1,600

grant from

the

Conservation

Resource C

enter (CR

C) for its land conservation activities last

year. The C

RC

’s Tax Credit E

xchange program is the state’s

largest conservation tax credit facilitator and transferred over$14 m

illion in credits in 2003. T

his success allowed C

RC

, a nonprofit organization, togrant funds to land trusts across the state and to supportim

portant statew

ide land

conservation initiatives.

D

ucksU

nlimited’s grant w

as based upon the number of our conser-

vation easement donees that transferred credits through C

RC

in 2003. DU

will contribute this grant to our C

oloradoR

evolving Lands Program.

To learn more about D

U’s C

olorado Revolving Lands

Program contact Jenifer C

hristman at (303) 369-5180.

If you are interested in learning more about C

RC

or thegrants m

ade, please contact them directly at (303) 544-1044

or via their website at w

ww

.taxcreditexchange.com.

■C

hairman’s C

orner

An O

pportunity L

ost

By B

rad Billingsley

Co

lorado

Co

nservation P

lanSince 1997, D

ucks Unlim

ited’s Colorado

program has grow

n from a handful of w

et-land restoration projects to a m

ulti-million

dollar effort involving over 27,000 acres ofim

portant wildlife habitat. R

ecently, ourC

olorado Conservation staff has begun dis-

tributing brochures

of our

2003-2012C

olorado Conservation Plan. T

his new plan

outlines how D

U w

ill continue conservingC

olorado’s wetland resources through 2013

via a comprehensive and integrated program

of land protection, restoration, and wetland

managem

ent.O

ver the next 10 years, our goal is toconserve 70,000 acres at a cost of $58 m

il-lion w

ith a focus on the South Platte River,

San Luis Valley, and N

orth Park.T

he South Platte provides high qualityspring

migration

habitat for

waterfow

l as

they move from

wintering areas to prairie

breeding grounds. In addition, the Rocky

Mountain B

ird Observatory estim

ates that74 percent of all bird species in C

olorado usethis river som

etime during the year. T

heSouth Platte w

etland corridor encompasses

more than 425,000 acres including 71,000

acres of wetlands. N

inety-four percent of thecorridor is unprotected and thus at risk of

being lost or degraded. Due to its proxim

ityto the Front R

ange, DU

considers wetlands

of the South Platte the most threatened in

the state.T

he 3,500 square mile San Luis V

alley isone of the largest interm

ountain basins inthe w

orld and arguably one of the most

important

water

bird habitats

in the

Intermountain W

est. During spring and fall

migration, hundreds of thousands of w

ater-fow

l utilize the valley. In some areas of the

valley nesting densities have been document-

ed at 1,000 per square mile-m

aking it among

the most productive breeding habitats in the

world. T

he 230,000 acres of wetlands in the

SLV are threatened by changing agricultural

practices, water export schem

es, and growing

residential development. T

he majority of

these acres are privately owned and are cur-

rently unprotected.N

orth Park is a semi-arid high m

ountainvalley of approxim

ately 1,600 square miles

that has long been recognized as quality habi-tat for breeding and m

igrating waterfow

l. Itis a rich landscape of rivers, reservoirs, ponds,m

eadows

and expansive

sagebrush-grassuplands

that has

recorded an

average of

30,000 breeding ducks per year. Thousands

of waterfow

l also utilize these wetlands for

molting

areas during

the spring

and fall

migration.

Although D

U’s efforts over the next 10

years will focus on the m

ission critical habi-tats of the South Platte R

iver, the San LuisV

alley, and North Park, additional projects

will be undertaken in other im

portant wet-

land and waterfow

l habitats across the stateas funding and resources allow

. The addi-

tional wetland areas include the A

rkansasR

iver Basin, M

iddle and South Park, andW

est Slope Rivers.

We m

ade impressive progress during our

first year of the Colorado Plan’s im

plementa-

tion. We com

pleted fiscal year 2004 at theend of June and w

ere 35 percent ahead of ourannual goal for protected acres, 24 percent ofour annual goal on restored and enhancedacres and cam

e within 3 percent of m

eetingour annual goal for m

anaged acres! Those

are extraordinary accomplishm

ents and we

plan to keep the mom

entum going.

One of the m

ost exciting opportunitiesyet greatest challenges w

ithin the Colorado

Plan is Colorado’s R

evolving Land Fund. Inthis cost-effective revolving fund approach,D

U purchases land in fee-title from

a willing

seller at

fair m

arket value,

restores any

degraded w

etland and

grassland habitats,

places a conservation easement on the prop-

erty to protect the wetlands and grasslands in

perpetuity, and then sells the land to a publicor private conservation-oriented buyer. Landsales are conducted through a com

pletelytransparent internet auction that insures fair-ness

and im

partiality am

ong prospective

buyers. During the holding period, the cost

of restorations are partially funded by variousgovernm

ent programs, and easem

ents may

be sold to protect the grasslands and wet-

lands as well as offset the cost of the land

purchase. Easem

ent payments, along w

iththe net proceeds from

the sale of the land, aredeposited back into a revolving fund that isutilized for new

acquisitions. Through the

revolving fund approach we w

ill be able toperm

anently protect 5,200 acres of land with

a market value of $12.5 m

illion with only

$5.3 million in w

orking capital. This is

extremely cost effective w

ork, but we have a

lot of money to raise to get it done.

To

receive a

copy of

the C

oloradoC

onservation P

lan, please

contact B

obSanders

at (719)

852-0925 or

Greg

Kernohan at (970) 399-5719.

BEST

NET,N

ET:GR

OSS

BEST

NET,N

ET:GR

OSS

(BA

NQ

UET

S)(O

TH

ER EV

ENT

S)

1.Steamboat Spr.

82%1.G

unnison Greenw

ing200%

2. San Luis Valley78%

2.S.L.V. Greenw

ing178%

3.Sterling76%

3.Longmont Sponsor

100%4.C

raig73%

4.Aurora G

olf100%

5.Wray

73%5.C

olo. Springs Spons.76%

6.Delta

71%6.Pikes Peak H

unt68%

7.Eagle69%

7.Colo. Springs H

unt63%

8.Rifle

69%8.Steam

boat Sponsor52%

9.Golden

69%9.Steam

boat Shoot43%

10.Meeker

69%10.Pueblo W

est Shoot23%

GR

EATEST

DO

LLAR

INC

REA

SEG

REAT

EST %

INC

REA

SE(A

LL EVEN

TS)

IN D

OLLA

RS (B

AN

QU

ETS)

1.Sterling$ 8,160

1.Sterling62.1%

2.Denver

$ 7,2102.C

raig41.3%

3.Loveland$ 6,804

3.Denver

35.8%4.Steam

boat$ 5,007

4.Royal G

orge32.7%

5.South Platte Init.$ 3,742

5.Burlington

29.8%6.Eagle

$ 3,5466.Eagle

27.8%7.R

oyal Gorge

$ 3,3047.Steam

boat22.4%

8.Craig

$ 3,1568.Loveland

21.9%9.B

urlington$ 2,901

9.River Valley

21.3%10.C

olorado Springs$ 2,794

10.Lakewood

17.2%

MO

ST R

EGU

LAR

MEM

BER

GR

EATEST

% IN

CR

EASE

(ALL EV

ENT

S)IN

MEM

BER

S (ALL EV

ENT

S)

1.Greeley

2741.B

righton130%

2.Durango

2692.C

raig74 %

3.Loveland266

3.Pagosa Springs50 %

4.Steamboat

2654.San M

iguel Basin

39 %5.G

unnison226

5.Royal G

orge35 %

6.Montrose

2216.R

ifle32 %

7.Golden

2097.M

eeker27 %

8.Grand Junction

2048.Ft. C

ollins25 %

9.Colorado Springs

1949.Steam

boat24 %

10.Pagosa Springs189

10.Grand Junction

24 %

MO

ST SPO

NSO

RS

GR

EATEST

INC

REA

SE IN

(ALL EV

ENT

S)SPO

NSO

R (A

LL EVEN

TS)

1.Loveland93

1.Loveland17

2.Steamboat Springs

592.D

urango14

3.Durango

523.Steam

boat Springs12

4.Crystal R

iver48

4.Grand Junction

105.Pagosa Springs

345.Fort C

ollins9

6.Denver

306.Pagosa Springs

87.San Luis Valley

277.C

raig5

8.Littleton25

8.Colorado Springs

39.C

astle Rock

229.M

eeker3

10.Pikes Peak21

10.Fairplay3

MO

ST G

REEN

WIN

G M

EMB

ERS

MO

ST D

OLLA

RS R

AISED

(ALL EV

ENT

S)(A

LL EVEN

TS)

1.Front Range G

W72

1.S.P. I.$ 41,798

2.San Luis Valley66

2.Loveland$ 37,871

3.Gunnison

443.G

reeley$ 37,501

4.Pueblo34

4.Steamboat

$ 34,490 5.D

elta28

5.Durango

$ 28,7076.G

rand Junction27

6.Colo. Springs

$ 28,7047.Loveland

267.Pagosa Springs

$ 27,9428.Evergreen

268.D

enver$ 27,327

9.Sterling25

9.Golden

$ 27,19310.W

ray22

10.Evergreen$ 26,189

Colorado D

ucks Unlim

ited FY 2004 Rankings

MO

ST D

OLLA

RS R

AISED

NEW

EVEN

T1.A

spen$ 17,861

2.Glenw

ood Springs$ 11,279

3.Westm

inster SBA

$ 6,8544.A

urora Golf

$ 3,7505.Front R

ange GW

$ 2,4746.R

ifle SBA

$ 2,3977.Steam

boat SBA

$ 9708.G

unnison SBA

$ 9319.C

olo. Spr. SBA

$ 66410.Las A

nimas G

olf$ 345

TO

P FLIGH

T AW

AR

DS

TO

QU

ALIFY EV

ENT

S MU

ST : 1. H

ave a Net, N

et : Gross of at least 60 %

2. Meet 10/30

Reporting R

equirements 3. M

eet Grow

th Incentive Requirem

ents • Steamboat - B

ill Davis

Pagosa Springs - Tracy Bunning • R

iver Valley- Kevin O

’Brien • Fairplay - B

rad Hart

Delta - C

hristy Eckstein • Durango - Tom

Brossia • Sterling - Steve K

aiser • Eagle - Wendy Sacks

Loveland - Chad T

homas • R

ifle - Jane Chapm

an • S.P.I. - Mark K

eeler • Col.Springs - M

ark Smagner

Meeker - N

ori Pearce • Loveland ’03 - Bruce Kelly • C

anon City - D

on Ley • Aurora G

olf - Tim

Nelson

Col. Springs Sponsor - D

oug Hantelm

an • Pikes Peak Hunt - D

oug Hantelm

an

the Year A

ward. T

he evening concluded with a very

fun-filled and lively live auction. The convention did a

final wrap-up on S

unday morning w

ith a general statem

eeting. Before dism

issal several volunteers offered toserve on the 2005 state convention com

mittee, further

testimony to the enthusiasm

and spirit of Convention

2004. Area C

hair Steve K

aiser of Sterling best sum

med

it up when he stated, “w

e (speaking for the group hebrought to the convention) had never been to a stateconvention, and w

e’re definitely coming back.” H

ere’sto C

onvention 2005 next July. Be there!

State Convention

Aflo

ck of N

ear and Pearse Greenw

ings enjoy the2004 C

onventio

n.

ww

w.ducks.o

rg2

Spring 2003

ww

w.ducks.o

rg2

Spring 2003

ww

w.ducks.o

rg4

Winter 2005

ww

w.ducks.o

rg9

Winter 2005

“Focus on the million”; that’s our C

oloradograssroots goal that echoed from

our state con-vention and it rem

ains our target as we enter

the FY

05 DU

banquet and event season. Our

NE

region started off strong has the SterlingC

hapter under Area C

hair (AC

) Steve Kaiser’s

leadership added a new July golf event and w

ehad a record setting A

ugust for our region asw

e hosted the State Convention w

ith theG

rand County C

hapter (AC

Shawn A

nderson);follow

ed this with the 1st R

ocky Mountain

Shootout at Sanctuary held by the Westm

instercom

mittee (A

C E

ric Near), and finished the

month w

ith our annual Sporting Classic shoot

led by AC

Todd O

lson. In betw

een all this AC

Sharon Moore once

again guided the Fort Collins chapter to

another successful banquet. A

lthough the money is still com

ing in ourA

ugust totals should net/net over $75,000 forthe ducks! T

his is a great start towards our

million-dollar m

ark and it’s going to requirethe com

bined efforts of all our state chaptersto achieve it, w

hich we undoubtedly can.

As w

e discussed in our district meetings it’s

imperative for each com

mittee to focus on a

goal and center their efforts and event towards

this achievement.

Ticket sales; com

mittee grow

th; effectiveraffles; selecting the right silent and life auc-tion m

erchandise; proper money control; all

the basics that if properly executed achievesuccess.

You’ll find our winter and spring schedule

in this newsletter and I ask your participation

in has many events as possible w

hether as aparticipant, or w

orker. Fall in C

olorado is an absolute beautifultim

e as the sandhill cranes start passingthrough and the leaves start turning.

Take som

e time to enjoy our great outdoors

and give some tim

e to your local DU

eventand/or chapter.

Truly it is time for T

EA

M D

U to go into

action and a big thanks to all our dedicatedvolunteers as w

e lead the way to a m

illion!

■N

ortheast C

olo

rado U

pdate

Go

al focuses o

n the millio

nB

y Kirk W

.Davidso

n,Regio

nal Directo

r

Meet D

ennis Markw

ay

The O

lson’s - It’s a Family A

ffair!

By K

en Constantine

Dennis M

arkway is the currently

the state Greenw

ing Chairm

an but hedoes not occupy that position alone.D

ennis shares that position with his

wife Pam

and son Cam

eron as thefirst G

reenwing chair fam

ily Colorado

has ever

had. H

ow

does som

eonecom

e up with that original an idea?

Well let’s take a look at how

Dennis

has been involved with D

U over tim

eand I bet you w

ill get the picture. O

riginally from M

issouri, Dennis

first became involved w

ith DU

rightafter he got out of V

eterinary school.H

e joined the Jefferson City chapter

in 1979. After helping for a few

yearsD

ennis helped

found the

nearbySt.T

homas

chapter and

was

Area

Chairm

an of that comm

ittee for 4years. H

e moved right up the volun-

teer ranks in Missouri D

U as Z

one,D

istrict Chairm

an, and then Missouri

DU

State Publicity Chairm

an.A

ll through his volunteer career inM

issouri, D

ennis had

caught the

attention of

Senior R

D

Mitch

Rodgers w

ho knew a quality volun-

teer when he saw

it. Through M

itch,D

ennis was offered a position w

ithD

U

as a

Regional

Director

in

Minnesota. D

ennis moved his grow

-ing fam

ily up north in ’92 to work for

DU

full time. N

ot to be left out, dur-ing that sam

e time Pam

chaired a

wom

en’s chapter in MN

. A pattern

was beginning to em

erge.In

1994 D

ennis w

as offered

achance to transfer to C

olorado and he

moved his fam

ily of Pam, 6 kids, and

assorted horses,

dogs, and

cats to

Pueblo West. For the next tw

o yearsD

ennis was R

D in C

olorado first forthe

Western

and Southern

Region

where I first m

et him, and in his sec-

ond year covering Southern Colorado

and Western K

ansas. Dennis and I

laughed about the 800-mile corner-

to-corner size of that region stretchingfrom

Cortez, C

O to Phillipsburg, K

S.A

t the time that w

as one of the largestR

D regions in the country and how

glad he was that Jim

Ware at N

HQ

didn’t let it stretch all the way to

Hutchinson, K

S! In 1996 after 4 years as a R

egionalD

irector for DU

in 3 states, Dennis

went back into veterinary practice in

Pueblo West. B

ut that was far from

the end of his involvement w

ith DU

.W

ith Doug H

err and Steve Adam

s hehelped found the Pueblo W

est chap-ter in 1998. A

continuously activecom

mittee

mem

ber, D

ennis once

again took a turn at the helm as A

reaC

hairman in 2001 and 2002. D

uringthat tenure Pueblo W

est launched it’ssecond

annual event

the spring

“Family Fun Shoot”, now

in its third

By K

irk Davidson

Team, or fam

ily effort, is the word w

hen talk-ing about the O

lson family and their dedicated and

continued support to Ducks U

nlimited. Just in

the last couple months there probably w

asn’t a sin-gle night you couldn’t catch Todd, or A

lison, uppast m

idnight as they ran all the pre-registrationsand

planning for

the annual

Sporting C

lassicshoot. O

f course Todd & A

lison (dad and mom

)head up the O

lson klan rounded out by daughterC

harlee (age 13), and two sons D

erek (age 12) andQ

uinton (age 8). This bunch in, and of itself,

practically makes up their ow

n DU

comm

ittee andthey easily do the w

ork of one. The entire fam

ilyhas alw

ays been involved in all outdoor and sportsactivities and, m

ost notably, DU

events. For thepast several years the O

lson’s have served on theD

enver Metro (C

O 007) com

mittee and every past

recent Denver banquet saw

the entirefam

ily scurrying around, running raffles,setting up auctions and cleaning up afterthe events. T

his year Todd assumed the

reins as the Area C

hair for the SportingC

lassic shooting event, which now

servesas one of the four m

ajor DU

continentalshoots. A

s in the past, the total Olson

family participation w

as engaged in thisyear’s running of the Sporting C

lassic,w

hich was a truly first-class event. W

hileTodd and A

lison worked the preparation

and running of the shoot, their kids were

seen throughout the 2-day event haulingw

ater, food, goods, setting up auctions…doing w

hatever it took to support theshooters and, of course, loving to drive

See O

lson’s,P

age 12

See M

arkway,P

age 8

Volunteer Spotlight

Winter/Spring 2005

Northeast C

olorado Duck D

ates

DA

TE

EV

EN

TLO

CA

TIO

NC

ON

TAC

T

Jan 14A

very Worldw

ide Goose

The R

anchC

had Thom

asC

alling Cham

pionshipLoveland, C

O70-556-0581

Jan 27-30International S

portsmen’s

Denver

Steve S

ecorE

xpositionC

onvention Center

303-740-4041Jan 30

CS

U B

anquetS

undance Steakhouse

Aaron C

ohn2716 E

. Mulberry S

t.303-638-4115

Fort C

ollins, CO

. 80525F

eb 4G

olden Banquet

Denver W

est Marriott

Al Larson

303-795-6751M

ar 5ongm

ont Banquet

Longmont E

lks Club

Bob A

hern303-775-0297

Mar 12

Aurora B

anquetR

adisson Hotel

Mik A

nderson303-627-4275

Apr 8

South P

latte InitiativeT

he Wildlife E

xperienceM

ark Keeler

Parker, C

O303-478-6041

Apr 23

Evergreen B

anquetT

he Pines

Steve R

eelG

enesse, CO

.03-670-2688

May 14

Loveland Banquet

Ft C

ollins Marriott

Chad T

homas

970-556-0581M

ay 21D

U Texas H

old-Em

Castle R

ockC

huck Klafka

Poker Tournam

ent303-905-8702

Jun 17Q

uacker Classic

Saddleback G

olf Club

Eric N

earG

olf Tournament

Firestone, C

O303-507-1723

On N

ovember 5, 2004, the

official unveiling of the jointD

ucks Unlim

ited – Wildlife

Experience w

etlands display was

conducted at the Wildlife

Experience m

useum near D

enver,C

olorado. The W

ildlifeE

xperience is the result of theinspiration and passion that D

aveand G

ail Liniger (founders and

CE

O of R

E/M

AX

, International)have for w

ildlife and wildlife

habitat. The L

inigers are avid sup-porters of D

ucks Unlim

ited andopened the m

useum in P

arker,C

O, in S

eptember 2002. It fea-

tures displays of wildlife, rotating

wildlife art exhibits and an

IWE

RK

S theater.

The unveiling cerem

onyincluded rem

arks by Museum

Director, D

r. Richard S

martt;

Senior C

olorado volunteer JillO

lsen; and State P

resident Brad

Billingsley. T

he permanent

exhibit focuses on DU

projects inC

olorado and includes six interac-tive stations w

ith activities rang-ing from

self-tests on wetland

ecology and audiotapes of wet-

lands inhabitants, to a wetlands

“drawing” station. In addition,

the display highlights Ducks

Unlim

ited’s contribution to theprotection of w

etlands. F

or over two years, D

ucksU

nlimited and W

ildlifeE

xperience personnel worked

jointly on the wetlands project to

promote the im

portance andpreservation of this critical

resource. Specim

ens for the dis-play w

ere provided by area volun-teers and staff and m

any were col-

lected on joint field trips between

the Wildlife E

xperience personneland D

U staffers G

reg Kernohan

(Regional B

iologist) and Kirk

Davidson (R

egional Director).

Since opening, the W

ildlifeE

xperience has had over 220,000visitors and w

ill average approxi-m

ately 110,000 visitors a year.T

he museum

’s gift store also sellsD

U m

erchandise with proceeds

going back into conservation.

ww

w.ducks.o

rg5

Winter 2005

ww

w.ducks.o

rg8

Winter 2005

Wetlands D

isplay opens at Wildlife E

xperience Museum

successful year.

Pam

Markw

aychaired

this year’s

shoot.V

olunteering on the local comm

it-tee w

as not enough, as Dennis has

also held

positions as

Colorado

Sponsor chairm

an and

nowG

reenwing C

hairman.

The Pueblo W

est chapter hasprospered in part because D

ennisand the entire com

mittee share a

similar philosophy about helping

the Ducks. W

hen asked why they

do so well D

ennis said, “I love theresource. T

his is my passion! I feel

every hunter should give back tothe

resource and

make

it better

than it was. W

aterfowling and D

Uare part of m

y life 12 months a

year. If we are not planning an

event, we are training dogs, paint-

ing decoys, or working on the boat.

It involves the whole fam

ily. All

my fam

ily supports DU

.” T

he fam

ily D

ennis refers

toincludes 6 children and 3 grand-children,

with

all nine

beingLegacy G

reenwings. D

ennis says,“T

he only reason the other 2 aren’tis because they w

ere too old when I

found out about the program!”

That brings us back to his cur-

rent role on the state comm

ittee asState G

reenwing chairm

an. He,

Pam and son C

ameron fill the role

jointly and promote it from

thefam

ily perspective.

D

ennis says

“DU

is the greatest conservationorganization in the w

orld. We all

have to give something back to the

resource and DU

is a great way to

do that.” We couldn’t agree m

ore.

Markw

ayBy the tim

e you’re reading this,the waterfow

l season of 2004/2005 will w

indingdow

n.G

oose hunting will linger on for a couple m

ore weeks in the C

entral Flyway,

and there are but a few m

ore precious days of duck hunting in the Pacific Flyway.

What a perfect tim

e to start thinking about next year’s duck season,or spring turkey,or trout fishing.W

hat am I talking about? The International Sportsm

an’s Exposition,of course!

January 27 through 30,the Colorado C

onvention Center in dow

ntown D

enver

will host the 30 th

annual International Sportsman’s Exposition.W

ith over 600exhibitors ranging from

our own D

OW

to African Professional H

unters,from gear

manufacturers to art dealers,you’re sure to find plenty talk about and explore.

Bookthat hunt of a lifetim

e,pick up some tips on blind placem

ent or goose calling,try yourhand at the casting pond,but m

ost of all,stop by the DU

booth located in space 633.W

e’ll have DU

logo stuff to trade for donations,prints to auction and hopefully ashotgun to raffle.

Want to find out about an upcom

ing event,learn more about D

U’s investm

ent inC

olorado,volunteer for a comm

ittee? Stop by and see us.We’d love to chat and

swap lies about full lim

its by 7:30 and the biggest Canada G

oose ever bagged.Talk toD

U biologists,project m

anagers,and land use consultants about where your dona-

tions are being spent and learn what m

ore can be done to conserve the resource.The show

runs from noon to 9:00 Thursday and Friday,10:00 to 8:00 on Saturday

and 10:00 to 5:00 on Sunday.Adm

ission is charged at the door,and as of this writing

hasn’t been set by the Convention C

enter,but whatever the cost,it’s a sm

all price topay for this once-a-year extravaganza.

Com

e on down,and bring those G

reenwings!

International Sportsman’s E

xposition

The U

.S.Fish and W

ildlife Serviceto

day anno

unced that

Ducks

Unlim

ited (D

U)

President Jo

hnTom

ke will serve as one of only five

judges in

the Federal

Duck

Stamp

Com

petition this year.T

his marks

the fifth time that a D

U representa-

tive has judged the competition.

“It’s an

hono

r to

have

Ducks

Unlim

ited invo

lved o

nce again

injudging the stam

p contest and it’s aperso

nal pleasure

for

me,”

saidTom

ke.“T

he result of duck huntersuppo

rt to

assure

the future

of

waterfow

l populations is tangible inD

U’s

habitat projects

and through

the Duck Stam

p program,too.

Both

will be valuable for generations to

come.”

Last night,D

U hosted the presti-

gious Duck Stam

p Dinner in dow

n-tow

n Washington D

.C.honoring the

federal duck stamp judges.

“Ducks U

nlimited and the Federal

Duck Stam

p Program have a long and

often intertwined history of habitat

conservation,” said Tomke.

“The tw

ohunter-supported efforts have beenaround for about the sam

e amount of

time and have com

bined to conserveover 16 m

illion acres of waterfow

lhabitat.”

The Federal D

uck Stamp Program

began in

1934 w

iththe

signingo

f the

Mig

rato

ry

Bi

rd

Hu

nt

ing

Stamp

Act.

The

Act

requires all

wa

terfo

wl

hunters 16

or older

topurchase

astam

p.T

hem

oney

isused to buyw

et

lan

ds

and associated

upland habitats.

Todate,$670 m

illion duck stamp dollars

have conserved more than 5.2 m

illionacres of habitat.

DU

got started three years later in1937 w

hen a small group of sports-

men

banned together

to conserve

habitat on

North A

merica’s

water-

fowl breeding grounds.

Now

,DU

isthe

wo

rld’s largest

wetlands

andw

aterfowl conservation group,

with

more than a m

illion supporters andconservation

programs

throughoutC

anada,the U.S.and M

exico.D

U has

raised more than $2 billion to con-

se

rv

em

ore than11

million

acres o

fw

aterfow

lhabitat.

Because

the D

uckS

ta

mp

pro

gra

mand

DU

have a

co

mm

on

mission to

con

serve

waterfo

wl

ha

bita

t,the

two

efforts often join forces.Earlier this

year,D

U

signed an

agreement

tom

anage the

Federal D

uck Stam

plicensing program

.U

nder the agree-m

ent,D

U

is helping

the Fish

&W

ildlife Service broaden the aware-

ness o

f the

Federal D

uck Stam

pProgram

and the role it plays in con-servation efforts.

Like DU

's currentlicensing program

s that raise money

for waterfow

l and habitat,royalties

generated from the sale of products

with the stam

p images w

ill conservem

ore waterfow

l habitat.“T

he Federal Duck Stam

p Program

is an important source of funding for

habitat co

nservation,”

explainsTom

ke.“N

ot only does it generatem

oney

through

direct sales

andlicensing,but also through print andstam

p collections.”For exam

ple,the first duck stamp,

designed by Ding D

arling,may bring

as much as $1,200 today.

This year,D

arling’s family,through

his grandson Kip K

oss,donated oneof the few

remaining prints of the

first federal

duck stam

p to

Ducks

Unlim

ited.D

U auctioned the print at

their Annual C

onvention in May,rais-

ing valuable dollars for habitat con-servation w

ork.W

ith more than a m

illion support-ers,

Ducks U

nlimited is the w

orld’slargest w

etlands and waterfow

l con-servation group.

The U

nited States alone has lostm

ore than half of its original wet-

lands –

nature’s m

ost

productive

ecosystems – and continues to lose

more

than 100,000

wetland

acresevery year.

Look for Ducks U

nlimited on the

World W

ide Web at w

ww

.ducks.org.Tune

in to

T

he W

orld

of

Ducks

Unlim

ited R

adio,and

watch

Ducks

Unlim

ited Television on the Outdoor

Life Netw

ork (OLN

).

DU

President N

amed Federal D

uck Stamp Judge

Ducks U

nlimited (D

U) w

ill manage

how Federal D

uck Stamp im

ages arelicensed

to m

anufacturers w

ho place

the images on a w

ide variety of con-sum

er products. Under the agreem

ent,D

U w

ill use its expertise to expand andm

anage the licensing program for the

U.S. Fish and W

ildlife Service's FederalD

uck Stamp Program

."W

e're excited to have DU

manage

our Duck Stam

p licensing program and

the potential it will have to provide

even more m

oney for wetlands conser-

vation," said

Service D

irector Steve

William

s. "I am confident that this

agreement w

ill help us fulfill the goalannounced by President B

ush of con-serving three m

illion acres of wetlands

across the

nation over

the next

fiveyears."

Since 1934,

the Federal

Migratory

Bird H

unting and Conservation Stam

p,popularly know

n as the Federal Duck

Stamp, has been sold to hunters, con-

servationists, and stamp collectors. In

that time, stam

p sales have generatedm

ore than $670 million that has been

used to acquire more than 5.2 m

illionacres of im

portant wetlands and associ-

ated upland habitat for the National

Wildlife R

efuge System.

The stam

ps, which feature im

ages ofw

aterfowl

painted

by som

e of

then

ation's

most

promin

ent

wildlife

artists, are

valued for

their beauty.

Recogn

izing

the stam

ps' popularity

with the public, C

ongress authorizedthe Service to license stam

p images for

use on a variety of products in 1984,w

ith proceeds going to acquire addi-tional habitat for the R

efuge System.

Since that

time,

dozens of

licensedproducts

ranging from

em

broideredhats

and sw

eatshirts; to

knives, key-

chains, and prints have been successful-ly

marketed

by private

compan

iesacross the country.

By engaging the professional m

arket-ing and licensing expertise of D

U, the

Service hopes to take full advantage ofthe valuable stam

p images to generate

more m

oney for conservation and raisepublic aw

areness of the Duck Stam

pitself.

Under the agreem

ent, DU

will help

the Service broaden the awareness of

Federal Duck Stam

ps and the role theyplay in past, current and future conser-vation

efforts.

Like

DU

's curren

tlicensing program

s that raise money for

waterfow

l and habitat, royalties gener-ated from

the sale of products with the

stamp

images

will

be dedicated

tow

aterfowl conservation efforts.

"When w

aterfowlers purchase a prod-

uct depicting a Federal Duck Stam

pim

age, they're not only supporting agreat conservation program

and tradi-tion, they're enabling the m

anufacturerof that product to donate im

portantfunds to habitat conservation, as w

ell.E

veryone

win

s," said

Don

Youn

g,E

xecutive Vice President of D

U.

"DU

an

d its

mem

bers share

ourstrong com

mitm

ent to wetlands con-

servation, and

understand the

valuesthat

the D

uck Stam

p represen

ts,”W

illiams

added. "T

he Service

has a

long history of partnership with D

U on

wetlands conservation projects, and w

elook forw

ard to deepening this partner-ship through our licensing program

."For m

ore information on the D

uckStam

p Program and how

Duck Stam

pfunds have benefited a refuge in yourstate, visit the D

uck Stamp hom

e pageat http://duckstam

ps.fws.gov.

With m

ore than one million support-

ers, Ducks U

nlimited w

ww

.ducks.org isthe w

orld's leading wetland and w

ater-

fowl conservation group.

The U

.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is

the principal Federal agency responsi-ble

for con

serving,

protecting

and

enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and

their habitats for the continuing bene-fit of the A

merican people. T

he Servicem

anages the 95-million-acre N

ationalW

ildlife Refuge System

, which encom

-passes

544 national

wildlife

refuges,thousands of sm

all wetlands and other

special managem

ent areas. It also oper-ates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 Fishand W

ildlife Managem

ent offices and81

ecological services

field stations.

The

agency enforces

federal w

ildlifelaw

s, adm

inisters

the E

ndan

geredSpecies

Act,

manages

migratory

birdpopulations, restores nationally signifi-cant

fisheries, conserves

and restores

wildlife habitat such as w

etlands, andhelps foreign governm

ents with their

conservation efforts. It also oversees theFederal A

ssistance program, w

hich dis-tributes hundreds of m

illions of dollarsin excise taxes on fishing and huntingequipm

ent to

state fish

and w

ildlifeagencies.

Service Signs Agreem

ent To Manage Federal D

uck Stamp

ww

w.ducks.o

rg7

Winter 2005

ww

w.ducks.o

rg6

Winter 2005

On A

ugust 16th over 50 golfersw

ere treated to one of them

ost mem

orable and fungolfing events of their life.

Held at the

prestigious Sanctuary in Sedalia,Colorado,

Ducks U

nlimited and RE/M

AX

hosted thisgreat event titled the “R

ocky Mountain

Shootout”.While the perm

anentSanctuary staff effectively ran the event,our

own W

estminster C

hapter led by EricN

ear effectively carried out the “DU

duties.” Through the generosity and sup-port of RE/M

AX

co-founders Dave and

Gail Liniger,D

ucks Unlim

ited was one of

23 charities handpicked from a field of

over 275 to be afforded the opportunity tohost an event at Sanctuary.

In attendanceat the event w

as DU

’s President,JohnTom

ke.Like all the participants,John w

asfrequently heard com

menitin in aw

e of thebeauty of Sanctuary.

He spent m

uch time

welcom

ing guest on the first tee box,which

had a 360 degree panoramic view

s of theFront Range and eastern plains.W

hetherlooking at Pikes Peak to the south,Long’s

Peak to the north,or listening to elkbugling;as the players m

aneuvered throughthe course of beauty and w

ildlife,it was evi-

dent that Sanctuary is truly in a class of it’sow

n.The outstanding Sanctuary staff pro-vided only the best of accom

modations

from golfing equipm

ent to fine foods andbeverages.The participants w

ere honoredw

hen Dave and G

ail joined the golfers forthe w

rap-up evening banquet.Both

Linigers aggressively “participated” in thesilent auction and raffles in w

hich Dave

won tw

o prizes and,being the avid hockeyfan,bought all the hockey item

s (stick,jer-sey and helm

et) on the silent auction.Truly,our m

ost heartfelt DU

thanks to Dave and

Gail Liniger for their outstanding support

and allowing us to use this fantastic facility.

Likewise a special thanks to our senior

Colorado volunteer,Jill O

lsen,who proved

to be the linchpin for this unique event asw

ell as Eric Near and his com

mittee for

putting on one of the classiest events of theyear.

Ro

cky Mo

untain Sho

oto

ut at Sanctuary

DU

President

John To

mke

watches as Jim

Young launches

another ball

into the ro

ugh!

1st Place- B

rent Henry,R

usty Ham

es,S

cott B

ailey and David D

uke.2nd P

lace- Lenny N

osenicz,C

hristieA

ustin and Tom

Law

erence.

Middle o

f the Ro

ad- Do

ugS

choenro

ck,Kevin Q

uinn,Brian

Wasto

n and Greg L

awso

n.

Alm

ost L

ast- Mark K

eeler,Bo

b Olsen

and Geo

rge Richardso

n.

Back o

f theB

lind- Travis

Pecklam and

Charlie

Cadigan.

2004 Gun w

inners

2004 Bud G

un Winner!

Lakew

oo

d AC

Rich P

hillips presents the 2004 Bud

Gun to

winner A

ndy Larsen.

Andy’s nam

e was

drawn fro

m 64 entries at the S

tate Co

nvention fo

rthe highly custo

mized B

rowning C

itori valued at

over $10,000.A

ndy earned his entry by being thehigh bidder o

n the Bud S

tein at the Lakew

oo

dannual D

U dinner banquet in N

ovember 2003.

Already A

ndy is planning for a “repeat” as he pur-

chased the 2004/05 stein at this year’s Lakew

oo

dbanquet in O

ctober.

Go

Andy!

Winner o

f the Gart

Do

uble Gun 28 gauge

Brow

ning Cito

riL

ightning is Ro

nA

rant,retired DO

WD

istrict Wildlife

Manager fro

m N

uclaand fo

rmer chairm

anand current co

mm

it-tee m

ember o

f theS

an Miguel B

asin DU

chapter in farW

estern colo

rado.R

on can’t w

ait totake his prize D

oveand Q

uail huntingand to

the Skeet

Range.

Co

ngratulations R

on!

The co

lorado

Spo

nsor G

un drawing

was w

on by C

lintB

arter of D

urango.C

lint has been a DU

sponso

r for m

anyyears and w

as obvi-

ously very pleased to

win the S

ponso

r Gun

Draw

ing.The gun is a

Beretta S

ilver Pigeo

nII

Genero

usly donat-

ed by the Grand

Junction S

portsm

an’sW

arehouse fo

r thethird year in a row

.E

very Spo

nsor in the

state was auto

mati-

cally entered in thedraw

ing.Thank yo

uS

portsm

an’sW

arehouse and co

n-gratulatio

ns Clint!

First C

hoice w

inner of the G

art Do

uble Gun raffle

is Ken D

ecker who

chose the 20 gauge B

rowning

Cito

ri Gran L

ightning donated by G

art Spo

rts,Ken,

who

wo

n the raffle at the Grand Junctio

n banquet ayear ago

was tickled to

be the first Grand P

rize win-

ner.Thank yo

u Gart S

ports.