volume 3-14
A quarterly newsletter for DUC Supporters in Atlantic Canada
Help us restore wetlands in your community
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ucks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is looking for wetland restoration sites across Atlantic Canada, and you can help us find them. Since all three Maritime provinces have wetland conservation policies, all wetland loss in the region has to be mitigated. As part of our restorations services program, DUC helps individuals, companies and government departments compensate for wetland loss through the regulatory process. How can you help us put wetlands back on the ground? By letting us know if you or someone you know has land suitable for wetland restoration, and you’d like a wetland project on your property. Ideal sites should be flat, have clay soil and be generally “wet” at least part of the year. Once you get in touch, one of our conservation program specialists will visit for a consultation. And if your land does turn out to be suitable for a project, all restoration work will be done at no cost to you, and DUC will be committed to all future project maintenance and management. DUC is also interested in purchasing land – or accepting them as a donation – for restoring wetland habitat. Wetlands help increase biodiversity, provide vital habitat for wildlife, minimize erosion and improve groundwater quality. They’re vital habitat, which is why DUC has a goal of achieving no net wetland loss throughout Atlantic Canada. If you’re interested in having your property assessed, selling or donating land to DUC for wetland restoration, or you simply want more information on the program, contact Wade Lewis, DUC head of restoration and client services, at 902-569-2676 or w_lewis@ducks.ca.
In 2013, thanks to funding from Environment Canada’s EcoAction program and Wildlife Habitat Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada completed eight wetland restoration projects in P.E.I. DUC also received EcoAction funding in Newfoundland and Labrador for a new nest box brochure, and to hire a project coordinator for the eider nest box program and to also manage inspections in Hare Bay and Table Bay. EcoAction also has provided funding for DUC’s Atlantic Wetland Care pro-
gram, helping support landowners as they steward DUC-managed wetlands. Since 1985, Wildlife Habitat Canada, a national, non-profit, charitable conservation organization, has invested over $60 million to support hundreds of conservation projects on private and public lands across Canada, through its granting program. Wildlife Habitat Canada works through partnerships with communities, landowners, governments, non-government organizations and industry to conserve, enhance and
restore wildlife habitat. To learn more about the projects that Wildlife Habitat Canada has funded or see their annual report, visit www.whc.org. Without habitat, there is no wildlife. It’s that simple! This project was undertaken with the financial support of:
Event update: New Brunswick Eric Morgan, Manager of Events and Volunteer Relations
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he fall season was full of great events in New Brunswick, and I’d like to thank all of the volunteers whose hard work made them all so successful. This past fall we had two brand-new neighbouring committees organize stellar sold-out events, which took place just weeks apart. The Memramcook chapter held its first dinner and auction on November 9. The meal was fantastic, attendees had a great time and the volunteers received a ton of positive feedback. They’re already getting ready for next year. It might have helped that the Memramcook committee had a secret weapon: 10 year old Samuel Leblanc—the
official youngest Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) volunteer in New Brunswick. His passion and enthusiasm for DUC were inspiring. If the next generation of volunteers is anything like him, DUC will be in very good hands. A few weeks later, on November 30, just down the Trans-Canada, the new Sackville committee hosted its dinner and auction at the Sackville Legion. The event was sold out six weeks beforehand, and every seat in the place that night was taken. The dinner felt like a really big party, and the crowd was engaged from start to finish. As we move into a new year I would like to thank all of our volunteers who are currently working on our upcoming events. It looks as though we’ll have a great start to 2014.
Event update: Nova Scotia/P.E.I. jamie young, Manager of Events and Volunteer Relations
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eager conservationist gets the chance to hone a new skill olunteers across Nova Scotia and Prince and show off his enthusiasm for DUC, remind us why Edward Island held fantastic events this fall, we’re all DUC volunteers too—for the wetlands, for the and I’d like to thank everyone for their hard people and the fun! work and dedication. I’d also like to share one highlight with you from the PeptesI’d also like to announce that wick, N.S., dinner and auction, which Rachael Durelle joined the DUC team took place on Saturday, Sept. 21. as a fundraising manager assistant That night, 10-year-old Sandy on Nov. 1. She will be working out Hiltz came out with his parents to the dinner. Dressed in khakis, a blue of the Fredericton office and will be dress shirt and bright yellow bowtie, assisting with fundraising programs he sat unassumingly at his table with in Newfoundland and Labrador, his family—waiting patiently for the Nova Scotia and P.E.I. Her email is auction. r_durelle@ducks.ca and her phone Part-way through the event, one of number is 1-888-920-3330, the Petpeswick committee members extension 222. approached me to see if I minded if Sandy auctioned a few items during the live auction. Being just 10 years old, he’d never auctioneered before, but it was something he really Sandy Hiltz, at the Pepteswick, N.S., dinner wanted to try. Sandy was a total professional. He worked the crowd, told a few jokes and had a lot of fun. Everyone in the room thought he was fantastic. Moments like this, where a young,
Event update: Newfoundland and Labrador paul wood, Manager of Events and Volunteer Relations
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his fall, we held outstanding events across the province from Gros Morne to Clarenville, and they were some of the most creative dinner and auctions I’ve seen yet. In Churchill Falls, committee member Sean “Hunter” Wilson dressed up like Bubbles, the coke-bottle glass spectacled character from Trailer Park Boys. He entertained the crowd with Bubbles’ very unique sense of humour, even doing a bit from the jumbo chair. The crowd just died. The Gros Morne chapter created their very own bingo raffle, where players were eliminated until a winner was declared. And the Lewisporte committee had a Christmas-
themed raffle complete with a donated tree, decorations, cakes, cookies, preserves, crafts and, of course, Ducks Unlimited Canada gear. In Trinty-Bonavista, committee members created a 10th anniversary garden package (in honour of the chapter’s 10th anniversary), and special 75th anniversary wooden coasters. The Corner Brook chapter auctioned off some superb jewelry, and Tri Town developed a great camp raffle. All of these things make events exciting, and encourage attendees to come back again and again. I look forward to seeing all of you at our upcoming volunteer appreciation events.
Volunteer Spotlight: John Johnston
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ucks Unlimited Canada (DUC) volunteer John Johnson remembers the first dinner and auction he ever attended. It was the first dinner east of Montreal, held at the Rothesay Golf and Country Club in New Brunswick, where attendees got into a bidding war over an acrylic toilet seat filled with pennies. “Someone paid over $800 for it,” John remembers. “I’ve been involved in Ducks ever since.” It was that infectious enthusiasm that inspired John to become a DUC volunteer— and one of the organization’s most dedicated supporters. Shortly after the penny-toilet dinner, John joined the at-the-time newly-formed Moncton committee for four years, and the Halifax committee for one year. After that, he started working for CN Rail in Montreal, and was a volunteer for 18 years on the committee just across the border in Cornwall, Ont., where he lived and commuted from. Since moving back to New Brunswick in 2004, John has joined the Fredericton dinner committee, and become part of the New Brunswick provincial council. Six years ago,
DUC volunteer John Johnston (center) with DUC President Mac Dunfield (left) and national director Kevin Harris (right)
he created a volunteer program for the Ducks Unlimited Conservation Centre administration, recruiting volunteers to help run the centre’s front desk throughout the week—a job he still does himself every Wednesday morning. John also runs seven Silent Bid Auction sites in the Fredericton area, and raises about $25,000 for the program per year, making him the highest earning SBA volunteer in Atlantic Canada.
But it’s the people, not the money—or the penny-filled toilets—that John enjoys most about being part of DUC. He loves interacting with people who make wetland conservation happen. This year he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award at Province House in Fredericton for his outstanding work as a volunteer. And he says, “Having it presented by DUC President Mac Dunfield and national director Kevin Harris was every bit as good as having it presented by the Lieutenant Governor.”
Legends and believers: Why I volunteer for DUC Adam Campbell, Volunteer and Head of Conservation Programs in Atlantic Canada
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retired Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) staff member, and a good friend of mine, told me years ago, “We’re legends in our own minds.” He was right. As a staff member I know DUC does great work. I’m reminded of that every time I visit one of our wetlands teeming with wildlife, when I take my family canoeing, and hunt waterfowl with my daughter on a wetland I helped restore. And I get to go home from work each night feeling like I helped influence the environment for the better. I am a legend in my own mind, and that’s a problem. More people need to know about the great conservation work DUC is doing for wetlands, wildlife and people across Canada. More people need to be excited about it, and to feel like they’re part of it. This is why I joined the Sackville volunteer chapter. Volunteering for DUC gave me an opportunity to throw a big part and to raise money for DUC and awareness of our conservation programs. But it also gave me the chance to make people excited, and to make them feel proud. On Nov. 30, the night of the dinner, I took a few minutes at the microphone to share some
of our accomplishments with the crowd. The point was simple: We are all working hard to protect, manage, maintain, enhance and restore wetlands. And they should all feel as proud as I do to be part of DUC’s success. DUC’s conservation work is only as good as the number of people who believe in what we do. And the room that night in Sackville was full of believers. In the back of each AtlanticConnections, we’ll be publishing stories written by you, our volunteers. These stories can be about anything from your most memorable moment volunteering to an exciting anecdote from your last dinner. We want to know about it. Our first story is by Atlantic Canada’s head of conservation programs, Adam Campbell, who also happens to be a passionate volunteer on the Sackville dinner committee. Stories should be 300 to 350 words, and can be sent to Krista Elliott at k_elliott@ducks.ca.
Contact Us NOVA SCOTIA PO Box 430, 64 Hwy 6 Amherst, NS B4H 3Z5 (902) 667-8726 du_amherst@ducks.ca New Brunswick 752 Union Street Fredericton, NB E3A 3P2 (506) 458-8848 du_fredericton@ducks.ca Prince Edward Island Suite 201, Farm Centre 420 University Avenue Charlottetown, PE C1A 7Z5 (902) 569-4544 du_charlottetown@ducks.ca Newfoundland and Labrador c/o CBPP Woodlands Department, PO Box 2001 Corner Brook NL A2H 6J4 (709) 637-3131 du_newfoundland@ducks.ca