Local Ducks Unlimited members meet in Kilgore

Charlie Martin of Whitehouse Ducks Unlimited joined more than 100 other DU volunteers in the Van Cliburn Auditorium on the Kilgore College campus for the Second Annual Ducks Unlimited Volunteer Celebration Day on Aug. 4.

The Kilgore and Kilgore College Ducks Unlimited committee served as host committee for the event. Similar events held at more than 100 other locations throughout the nation attracted more than 1,500 DU volunteers, who joined in celebrating both DU's 70th anniversary and its conservation accomplishments.

Joining Martin were David Lomax and Marc Ordeo with the Tyler DU committee.

Since its founding in 1937, DU has conserved, restored and protected almost 12 million acres of critical wetland habitat and the accompanying upland habitat. These areas provide haven for more than 900 documented species of wildlife.

One high point of the day came with the announcement that the Kilgore event was selected to receive one of the 10 major national raffle items. In a nationally broadcast raffle, the Kilgore event qualified for the second prize, a camo 16-footlong War Eagle boat with trailer and an Avery boat blind. Joey Baxter, Sulphur Springs DU area chairman, won the local raffle for this boat.

"This was a great day for Ducks Unlimited," East Texas DU regional director J. E. Thomas said. "Naturally, it was great to see someone from our area win such a great prize. But what's more important, it really highlighted the significance of the volunteer. DU is -- always has been -- a volunteer-driven organization, and today's activities really recognized the volunteers and their importance."

Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest and most successful wetlands conservation organization. With more than a million supporters, DU continues to work toward the preservation of North America's vanishing wetlands. Each year, the North American continent loses more than 800,000 acres of wetlands.

"Lots of people don't understand the importance of wetlands in our life," Lomax said. "Not only do they provide habitat for a huge variety of wildlife, but they also impact our daily life. Wetlands filter both agricultural and industrial contaminates from the water. They help control flood waters. On the Gulf Coast alone, we're losing wetlands at a rate of a football field every half hour."

In 2006, DU announced its Wetlands for Tomorrow Campaign, the most comprehensive and most ambitious fund-raising effort in its 70-year history. This plan calls for DU to raise $1.7 billion for wetland conservation by 2010. DU has already achieved more than half its fund-raising goal.

"The need to conserve our wetlands and our native grasslands has never been greater," Thomas said. "In 20 years, we'll look back at this first decade of the 21st century as one where we had an unprecedented opportunity to protect a priceless, irreplaceable resource."

For more information about Ducks Unlimited, visit the organization's website at www.ducks.org.