Illinois Prairie Chapter ‘Reinvests’ Field & Stream Award
Know this about the committee members of the Illinois Prairie Chapter of Delta Waterfowl: They don’t waste time when it comes to raising more ducks for duck hunters.
Late last year, Field & Stream magazine named the chapter a “Hero of Conservation” for its grassroots conservation work and other activities on waterfowler’s behalf. The honor also came with a stipend: a $1,000 check, which the chapter is already busy “reinvesting.”
Indeed, committee members recently built 19 wood duck boxes, artificial nesting structures that will be erected on state and federal lands by the chapter in February before the spring nesting season.
“With any luck, we’ll get some usage this year,” said co-president John Denker, who founded the chapter, based in central Illinois, in October 2005. “What’s great is that we’re taking what we’ve won and are putting right back into the resource. We’re reinvesting it…so it pays future dividends.”
The Hero of Conservation announcement, in the venerable magazine’s November 2009 issue, touted the chapter for building and installing more than 300 wood duck boxes and mallard hen houses, a conservation project that helped two local boy scouts earn Eagle Scout status. The magazine also cited the chapter’s efforts on sponsoring waterfowl research for Ph.D students and waterfowling seminars for hunters, as well as the work it does with youth recruitment and retention.
In fact, the chapter co-sponsored its first-ever mentored youth hunt in October at Clinton Lake.
“This is a great award for our chapter, and we’re honored that we were recognized,” said Denker. “I give all the credit in the world to the guys on the committee for their hard work and dedication. We have a great bunch of guys who also happen to be diehard waterfowl hunters.”
Added Denker: “The good new is that when you raise more ducks, like we’re tying to do by building more wood duck boxes, there’s a good chance that may translate into more hunters. And more hunters are critical for the long-term future of our hunting heritage.”
For more information about the Illinois Prairie Chapter of Delta Waterfowl: www.illinoisprairie.org.