Delta Chapters Commit Over $80,000 for ALUS

Thirty-one Delta Waterfowl chapters from 11 states recently committed over $80,000 to Alternate Land Use Services, a Conservation Reserve-type program for Canada.

“This contribution reflects that Delta members have a deep understanding regarding the conservation of North America’s waterfowl,” says Robert D. Sopuck, Delta’s Vice President of Policy for Prairie Canada.  “It’s very gratifying to see Delta members throwing their support behind the farm community of prairie Canada.”

Delta chapters retain a percentage of the money they raise in their Waterfowl Heritage Funds.  The WHF is used for projects like erecting nesting structures and holding youth events.

“The fact that so many of our chapters opted to send some of their WHF to Canada shows that Delta members ‘get it’”, commented Senior Vice President John Devney.  “Our members understand the connection between the ducks they enjoy and the prairie breeding grounds. That makes all of us at Delta very proud.”

ALUS will greatly benefit duck production by compensating farmers for setting aside environmentally sensitive areas.  The first pilot project in the Rural Municipality of Blanshard in Manitoba was launched this spring.

“Habitat losses in prairie Canada have been staggering,” says Devney. “Canada doesn’t have a habitat program comparable to CRP or the federal duck stamp in the US.  That’s why ALUS is so critically important.”

Delta has worked side-by-side with Keystone Agriculture Producers of Manitoba and numerous other Canadian farm groups to make ALUS a reality.  Sopuck, KAP’s Ian Wishart, and Delta’s Jonathan Scarth and Dr. Robert Bailey were key in bringing the ALUS concept to fruition.

Devney had special praise for Delta’s regional directors for working with individual chapters across the country, and particularly for Scott Terning, who coordinated the details of the ALUS/WHF effort.

Chapters participating were Fox Lake, Wisconsin; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Conway, South Carolina; Concord, North Carolina; Perham and Pine River in Minnesota; Wakefield in Rhode Island; Grand Forks, Fargo and Bismarck in North Dakota; Houston, Austin, Beaumont, Dallas, Trinidad and Paris in Texas; Lafayette, Opelousas, Abbeville, Houma, Zachary, DeRidder, Hessmer, Lake Charles and Natchitoches in Louisiana; Memphis, Jackson and Columbia in Tennessee, and Jackson, Meridian and Germantown in Mississippi.