It was a night for ducks and volunteers at the 33rd annual Humboldt Ducks Unlimited banquet on March 24.
The Humboldt area has always been a big supporter of Ducks Unlimited with $667,372 raised in the past 33 years, says Travis Behning, Manager of Events and Volunteer Relations for Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Games, live and silent auctions, and blitz raffles kept the fun going throughout the night with trips and merchandise up for grabs, says Behning.
“Ducks Unlimited dinners is unlike anything else you ever go to for fundraising events, that sets us apart and that’s why people come.”
Committee President Darcy Leonew says the community and corporate sponsors readily return to help out with the event year after year which is nice to have.
Ducks Unlimited has been in Saskatchewan for the past 80 years so this year’s event focused on celebrating the many volunteers that bring so much success to the event and the organization.
“We just want to recognize the volunteers for everything they’ve done over 80 years because without volunteers we can’t do this. There is no possible way we could do this.”
Around 15 committee members worked to bring the event to Humboldt for another year with Behning saying they will have a lot more to celebrate with their 35 year event coming soon.
Every year more and more people are seeing the need to secure habitat in the area, says Dave Atamanchuk with Humboldt Ducks.
Humbold area projects total up to 592 with 411,869 acres secured and over $49 million invested.
The main focus right now is for conservation easements and wetland restoration, says Atamanchuk, with producers paid up-front for marginal acres to go into forage or water storage basins. Easements ensure the land is protected forever with the organization with the easement staying with the title of the land.
“People buying the land know it’s on but the people that put it on knows that it’s going to be protected forever. They’re leaving a legacy,” says Atamanchuk.
Land can also be put into rotational grazing or haying operations, which helps with management practices and keeps it in good condition, he says, but also to give it a use while still helping to maintain habitats.
Winter wheat is also a way that farmers can protect those habitats because it offers nesting cover opportunities for fowl as they return to the area in the spring.
Especially with the flooding that is happening in the area, water management goes hand in hand with wetland restoration, says Atamanchuk, with restoration including putting water back in certain areas to restore wetland habitats and manage flooding.
With Ducks Unlimited being in the Humboldt area since the early ‘90s, the organization continues to get stronger and stronger, says Atamanchuk.
