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weather was very successful with
over 1000 people in attendance.
We are already planning for big-
ger and better things to come for
2017 and we would like to thank
everyone for their hard work and
support on this new event.
In the Central region we also just
had a DU Dedication at the Chilli-
cothe Bottoms Site. It was a great
day spent together with Staff and
many of our major donors cele-
brating the fruits of everyone’s
labor. I would like to thank James
Roberts on all his hard work on
this making it a special day for all.
Well I hope to see many of you
this fall and if not have a great
event season and a pleasurably
season afield enjoying the up-
coming waterfowl season.
Until then
Thank you
Dennis
Ducks Unlimited Illinois has had
a busy summer and is now en-
tering into the fall event season
which is off to a great start. At
this point in time the state is up
11% over last year at this same
point in time in 2015. So far in
my travels and per my phone
conversations with our Area
Chairman the fall event atten-
dance has been strong across
the state. So keep up the good
work and fill the halls and every-
thing else will fall in place, great
job to all the committee mem-
bers and Area Chairman.
This past month we have been
working on the states newly
formed Conservation Committee
who will consist of volunteers
from across all 4 regions working
to promote the public aware-
ness of our conservation efforts
within the state. To date the
following people have expressed
interest in serving on this com-
mittee, Galen Johnson, Terry
Fuchs, Tom Phelan, and Mark
Schore. Mark will be serving as
the Conservation Committee
Chairman. Anyone interested in
serving on this all important
committee feel free to contact
Mark Schore, your Regional
Director or myself. Our new
conservation Staff manager
Mark Flashpohler will be the
staff liaison for this group.
This past August we have had
some great experiences in the
State. To start off the Southern
Region lead by Vicki Mandu-
rano, and Jon Sturgill took a
group of SIU students to the
third term training seminar at
the DU National headquarters
in Memphis, they had a great
experience and be sure to
reads Vicki’s article on this to
follow in the newsletter.
In the Northeast region the
Volunteer Leadership and Kyle
Stefancin just finished holding
the 1st annual Waterfowl Clas-
sic. The event despite the
What is inside this Issue?
∗ Save the Illinois DU
License Plates
∗ State Campaign Up-
date
∗ In The News
∗ Upcoming Events
∗ Help Wanted
∗ Call for Field Reps
Rescue our Wetlands
A Word From Our Chairman Editor: Ryan Nikolich
Quick State Facts
Total Membership 29,132
Total Acres Pre-
served
46,492
Major Sponsors 384
Feather Society
Members
193
Greenwings 1,979
September 2016 7/15/2016
Read more in the
upcoming Illinois
State newsletter to
find out more
about these top
five priorities in
our
“Conservation
corner” found on
the last page of
each issue.
1. Waterfowl Forever 2. Breeding Landscapes 3. Wintering and Migration
Landscapes 4. Conservation Education 5. Conservation Legacy
Rescue Our Wetlands fo-cuses on five priorities vital to the survival of wetlands as well as the waterfowl, eco-systems and communities that rely on those resources.
WE NEED 1,000 OF OUR ILLINOIS DU SPECIALTY LICENSE PLATES ON THE ROAD NOW! Keep spreading the word about our Specialty License plate! As of August 4th , we have 616 registered motor vehi-cles on the road with our Illinois Ducks Unlimited Specialty License Plates. If someone you know has an Illinois Sport-ing Series Specialty License on their vehicle, ask them to consider switching to an Illinois Ducks Unlimited Specialty License Plate! $25 from every one of our license plates comes back to us and is used for habitat projects right here in Illinois. Go to http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/ and click on "Pick-A-Plate" to order your DU license plate today. Do you already have an Illinois Ducks Unlimited Specialty License Plate? Great! Thank you! Now, send me a copy of your vehicle registration along with your email address and phone number to
the address below and I’ll enter you into a raffle for a chance at one of the guns on our Dream Gun Giveaway. Do you have two or more Illinois Ducks Unlimited Specialty License Plates? Outstanding – you are a DU Rock Star! Send copies of them all – each vehicle registration with one of our Specialty License Plates gets the owner entered into the raffle. Don’t have our Illinois Ducks Unlim-ited Specialty License Plate and still
want a chance to win a gun off our Dream Gun Giveaway? Order your Illinois Ducks Unlimited Specialty License Plate through the Secretary of State’s Office. Send me a copy of the registration and you’re in the Dream Gun Giveaway. BUT DON’T WAIT TOO LONG TO ORDER YOUR PLATE! It takes the Illinois Secretary of States Office 60 -90 days to issue Personalized or Vanity license plates. Drawing will be at the 2017 Illinois Ducks Unlimited State Convention on February 5th in Peoria, IL. You don’t
have to be present to win. Ducks Unlimited c/o Bill Sarafin P.O. Box 587 Oregon, IL 61061 Questions? Want to help get more of our Specialty License Plates on the road? Call Bill Sarafin @ 815-440-5494.
NE Region: Scott Hilpert
847-417-1735
NE Region: Bill Beckmeyer
630-697-6533
Chairman: Todd Johnson
217-494-7755
NW Region: Mark Swegle
815-440-2410
Central Region:
Merlin & Michelle Horath
217-737-8708
South Region: Denny Ward
618-498-9855
Illinois Ducks Unlimited Sponsor Committee.
save one acre of wetlands!
The newly established Illinois
State Sponsor Committee is
there to help chapters increase
and maintain Illinois Sponsor
numbers.
The Statewide goal is to in-
crease Sponsor numbers to
2,500 a 10% increase. We
can do it, but only with your
help.
Please find the Illinois DU
Sponsor Committee contact
information below and give
them a call to see what Ideas
they have to help increase
and maintain sponsor num-
bers for your chapter.
Become a sponsor & Save an Acre
Each year, more than 80,000
acres of wetlands disappear in
the United States. When a
wetland is lost, we all lose.
Wetlands are vital not only to
waterfowl and other wildlife,
but also to the very quality of
life on earth.
By becoming a DU Sponsor,
your $250.00 sponsorship will
Help Save the Illinois Ducks Unlimited License Plates
Page 2 September 2016
Go to the Pick a plate utility
and see if your custom plate is
available. Or better yet pick
one out for your buddy!
Action: Through the use of Ambassadors to coordi-nate with RD’s, these goals should be easy to work through. Using the quarterly reports James Roberts distributes about Major Donors and those who are working toward the MD level, this should help focus attention on these goals. Action: The State Campaign Chair will be mailing “solicitation letters” to individuals who are on the
above mentioned quarterly reports to help further the spreading of the word and helping bring more atten-tion to these efforts. Action: Continue to develop the Ambassador pro-gram and increase Ambassadors by at least 1 in the Southern Region and 1 in the Central Region. Action: Utilizing the Ambassador Blueprint and Guidelines for success booklet to bring all Ambassa-
dors further up to speed on Best Practices and how to approach their involvement. Action: Schedule dedication sites around the state and announce those to help increase new pledges. Perhaps those who are close to the MD giving level should be invited to attend these events as a way to increase their excitement. Similarly, Big Rivers Experiences should be held in appropriate areas around the state to help further excitement
levels and poten-tially involve those close to the MD levels. August Update:
We held the Chillicothe Bottoms Dedication in Aug. GOAL: Maximize Major Donor Contributions Action: Make sure at each membership event (Dinners/Banquets) all the chapter Major Donors participate. At the minimum, each MD should purchase a membership ticket. State Leaders should push this process and actively pursue assis-
tance here from the District Chairs, the Ambassadors and the RD’s. GOAL: Major/Planned Gift Goals should be developed and included into the State Strategic Plan. Action: Working in close conjunc-tion with James Roberts, annually develop and publish these goals, so all the State Leaders, District Chairs, Ambassadors and RD’s know what is expected. GOAL: Life Sponsors 21 with stretch goal of 32 August Update: We are at 14 GOAL: Upgrade Sponsors 27 with stretch goal of 40 August Update: We are at 11 GOAL: Feather Society Commit-ments 5 with stretch goal of 8 August Update: We are at 0
State Campaign Update, Campaign Plan and Goals: Tom Tomlinson
Page 3 September 2016
Ducks Unlimited Sprint
Cup Series Ticket Package
for Race Fans. $75.00 off
select packages!
• Life Sponsors—Goal is 21. To date, we have 14 new Life Sponsors
• Upgrade Sponsors—Goal is 27. To date we are at 11
• Feather Society Commitments—Goal is 5. To date we are at 0
Pictured below is State Chairman Dennis Wooten,
Artist Joseph Hautman & Illinois Former State Chair
Bill Sarafin. This is Joseph’s 5th time winning the
Duck Stamp Print. Congratulations Joseph!
Pictured left to right is Dennis Wooten, Bill Sarafin ,Suzanne
Malec-McKenna, Executive Director, Chicago Wilderness & Kyle
Stefancin
On Friday August 12 Ducks Unlimited was
represented in Lincoln Park, Chicago for the
kickoff celebration of the Centennial of
the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Bill Sarafin gave a speech on behalf of Ducks
Unlimited before representatives of the
USFWS, US Park Service, the Audubon Soci-
ety, the Chicago Wilderness Society, the Cook
County Forest Preserves, the Chicago Park
District and the staff of the Lincoln Park Zoo.
In the News: Migratory Bird Conservation & Gun Frenzy
Page 4 September 2016
Below are two pictures from the first annual DU Water-
fowl Classic and 66 Gun Frenzy at the Chicagoland
Speedway on August 20th. Where the NE
Regional Chapters sold over 3000 tickets
and had 1000 people in attendance. De-
spite the severe weather and rain storms it
was an amazing event. Next years is going
to be even bigger and better.
Monroe County Ducks Unlimited Annual Dinner Saturday, September 24, 2016 Shawnee Ducks Unlimited Annual Banquet Saturday, October 1, 2016 Lily-Cache Flyway Dinner - Romeoville, IL Saturday, October 1, 2016 Calhoun County Ducks Unlimited Annual Banquet Saturday, October 1, 2016 Marengo Guns and Gear - Woodstock, IL Saturday, October 8, 2016 North East Illinois Banquet - Wadsworth, IL Friday, November 4, 2016 Steeleville Ducks Unlimited Annual Dinner Saturday, November 5, 2016
Corporate Awards: A special thanks to Caterpillar & Reeds
A special congratulations is in order for Bob & Pat Burton for their Lifetime Achievement award. Also congrats to our Volunteer of the year, Mike Hecht. Thank you.
Congratulations: Volunteer of the Year & Lifetime Achievement Awards
Northwest Suburban Chapter signs 40 Sponsors at Dinner on August 25th.
A great job to the whole NW Committee and the area Chairman Jeff Lanaghan and Mark West for all of your efforts.
Upcoming Events:
Page 5 September 2016
Got an
Idea for a new
event. Contact
your Regional
Director & See
who’s trying
what!
Geneseo Dinner Saturday, September 17, 2016 37th Annual Montgomery County Dinner Saturday, September 17, 2016 Highland Ducks Unlimited Annual Dinner Saturday, September 17, 2016 Starved Rock Dinner Saturday, September 17, 2016 Orland Park Dinner Fundraiser Friday, September 23, 2016 Tim Bell Memorial Annual Ducks Unlimited Dinner Saturday, September 24, 2016 Migratory Waterfowl Ducks Unlimited Annual Dinner Saturday, September 24, 2016
Central Illinois Chapter Startups
Needed:
Vermillion County—Danville
Carlinville
Shelbyville
Bloomington/Normal
Areas in Central Illinois needing
additional Volunteers
Macon County
Champaign County
Quincy
Pike County
Jacksonville
Manito
Northern Tazewell
Clinton
Tri-County
Pekin
CONTACT: [email protected]
Regional Biologist-Illinois Mark Flaspohler [email protected] Regional Biologist-Indiana (Leading Projects in Southern Illinois) Mike Sertle [email protected] Director of Fundraising & Volunteer
Relations Troy LaRue [email protected] Director of Development James Roberts [email protected]
Illinois State Chairman Dennis Wooten [email protected] State Campaign Chairman Tom Tomlinson [email protected] State Treasurer Scott Marcacci [email protected]
Ducks Unlimited National Officers Senior Vice President Rex Schulz Regional Vice President Galen Johnson Bill Sarafin At-Large Member Diane Oberhelman
Ducks Unlimited Staff Senior Regional Director-NW Illinois Brett Brown [email protected] Senior Regional Director-Central Illinois Jim King [email protected]
Regional Director-NE Illinois Kyle Stefancin [email protected] Regional Director-Southern Illinois Jon Sturgill [email protected]
State Secretary Mark Schore [email protected] State Youth & Education Chairman Vicki Mandurano [email protected] State Sponsor Chair Todd Johnson [email protected]
State Webmaster Jonathan Fields [email protected] State Convention Co-Chairman Bill Hartter [email protected] State Convention Chairman Bob Dunn [email protected]
State Shooting Chairman Rob Bockstruck [email protected] State eNewsletter Editor Ryan Nikolich [email protected]
Illinois Ducks Unlimited Contacts www.ILDU.org
Are you ready to get involved?
Page 6 September 2016
“IL DU needs
chapters in the
following areas. If
you know of
anyone in these
areas please
contact the State
Chairman or the
local Regional
Director”
Just as ducks need us to help provide adequate habitat for their migration, IL DU needs
chapters in the following areas. If you know of anyone or have friends in these areas,
please contact the state chairman or your local Regional Director.
Southern Illinois Chapter Startups
Needed:
Robinson
O’Fallon
Vandalia
Mascoutah
CONTACT: [email protected]
Northwest Illinois Chapter Start-
ups Needed:
Galesburg
Monmouth
Galena
Aledo
CONTACT: [email protected]
Northeastern Illinois Chapter Start-
ups Needed:
Grundy County
Yorkville
Elgin
Areas in Northeastern Illinois need-
ing additional Volunteers
Naperville
Aurora
Bolingbrook
Kankakee
CONTACT: [email protected]
Hey…. have ya’ll heard about Ducks University before? If I’m sounding a little more Southern than usual, it’s because I had a great opportunity to at-tend The Third Term: Ducks University Leadership Summit in early August. At National Headquarters they say “ya’ll” a lot! Jon Sturgill, Southern Regional Director, Scott Ishman, School Advisor for SIU, and I attended to support our only college Chapter – SIU. First, I would like to congratulate Mark Horobetz, Manager of Youth & Education Programs and Ash-ley Ward, Senior Youth & Education Coordinator. Mark and Ashley treated these young adults with honor and the utmost valuable program to date which included a very active, informative and fun weekend. The Ducks Unlimited University chapter program began in 1985 at the University of Texas at Austin; since then, the number of active chapters in the United States has steadily increased. In 2015, 100 chapters from over 30 states were responsible for raising $1.5 million dollars in event income for wetland conservation. One new highlight of the Ducks University chapter program is “Third Term”. Third Term is an annual Leadership summit held in August where college volunteers from across the country come to Ducks Unlimited National Head-quarters to learn about conservation, leadership skills, and fundraising techniques. Today, Ducks University chapters are playing an increasingly important role in Ducks Unlimited conservation mission. DU recognizes that a vibrant and strong collegiate program is the key to a healthy future for wetlands conservation, and a strong emphasis will continue to be placed on the development of what has been a very successful program.
Ducks University volunteers get involved for a variety of reasons including: Social functions that build community School pride DU merchandise Conservation education Resume Building Networking and volunteer opportunities Leadership development National competition with other University chapters across the country
Each spring, Ducks Unlimited announces its Sweet 16 list of top-producing volunteer uni-versity chapters throughout the nation. This elite group is considered the best of the best when it comes to fundraising and overall chap-ter strength. To qualify for the Sweet 16 competition, chap-ters have to raise more than $25,000 during the calendar year. In 2015, university chapters raised $1.5 million dollars for the ducks; this was largest fundraising year in university chapter program history. The Sweet 16 chap-ters were responsible for raising $925,000 alone. “Ducks Unlimited’s University Pro-gram continues to be a vital part of our organi-zation’s mission. It is a valued revenue gen-erator for our conversation efforts, as well as an important source of organizational aware-ness and leadership,” said David Schuessler, DU’s National Director of Event Fundraising. In 2015, there were 16 University chapters who made the Sweet 16 list! Congrats to those Chapters!
The Third Term program celebrated
their third year in early August! The
open reception on Friday night, at Na-
tional Headquarters, starts off the week-
end. Guest speakers, breakout sessions
and an Awards night completed Satur-
day activities. It was interesting to
watch these young adults collaborate
and challenge each other throughout the
weekend. Approx. 150 were in atten-
dance.
If you want to learn more about The Third Term Leadership Summit or Sweet 16 program, and/or if you know of anyone who would be interested in putting together a College University Chapter, please reach out to me anytime. We need to give our SIU Chapter a little competition! Keep checking the website for SIU ac-tivities and support them in their conser-vation efforts. They typically hold their dinner event in Carbondale in March timeframe. For more information visit www.greenwing.org or www.ducks.org Thanks for your Greenwing Support!
Hunting season is around the corner
remember, “Take a kid hunting…..not
just your kid, someone else’s as well!
Youth & Education Update Vicki Mandurano
Page 7 September 2016
profiles and how-to-videos. Additional plans for the web-site include interactive educa-tional games. You can utilize this site for Greenwing activi-ties for a dinner, camp, event or in school. Check it out!
For more information visit www.greenwing.org or www.ducks.org
Thanks for your Greenwing Support! Send me stories of your Greenwing Successes!
Upcoming Illinois Greenwing Events: Northeast Greenwing Event in Antioch – Sept.
In case you haven’t heard – Ducks Unlimited unveiled a new Greenwing Youth Web-site in an April 2016 release. The new Greenwing website was specifically designed for DU’s junior Greenwing members. Features include a myriad of activities such as printable worksheets, early reader features, waterfowl
New Greenwing online resources. www.Greenwing.org
Page 8 September 2016
Take a look at the
new online resources
for the future of
wetland
conservation.
www.GreenWing.org
We are on the web:
www.ILDU.org
Business Name
Ducks Unlimited con-serves, restores and manages wetlands and associated habitats for North America’s waterfowl. These habi-tats also benefit other wild-
We look forward to sharing more details about our work. You can always visit www.ducks.org/illinois for project updates, photos and other infor-mation. Reach Mark Flaspohler at (573) 234-2132 ext.
178 or [email protected]. Reach Michael
Sertle at (812) 749-3199 or [email protected].
Conservation Corner: Projects close to home
A central part of the Mississippi Flyway, Illinois provides important migration, breeding and wintering areas for many of the continent's waterfowl such as wood ducks, mallards, canvasbacks and Canada geese. We at Ducks Unlimited recognize its importance, and focus strategic conservation efforts across the state to improve the quality of migration, breeding and winter-ing waterfowl habitats. DU so far has invested more than $18 million in Illinois projects, conserving 48,202 acres with a variety of partners. An experienced duo of DU staffers leads the conservation efforts in Illinois. Mark Flaspohler is DU’s manager of conserva-tion programs for the Big Rivers Initiative. Mark been in the conservation field for 27 years and has dedicated a decade to DU, delivering conservation programs in Mis-souri. Michael Sertle is DU’s regional biologist and an Illinois native. Michael will be on the ground in Illinois continuing to improve habitat for ducks and the 30,690 DU members in the state. In upcoming issues, we’ll take you inside some of our conservation projects and give you a better idea about how we choose our projects and complete them. First, some good news: DU has been recommended receive a $1 million North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant for its Heart of the Big Rivers proposal. The project targets the conservation of wetland habitats throughout the transition area between the Upper Mississippi River and Mississippi Alluvial Valley, including Illinois. This grant will protect, restore, or enhance about 2,500 acres of floodplain associated wetlands throughout parts of Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky; from the Confluence of the Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers south to the bottom of the Mis-souri Bootheel. And next, DU was awarded two NAWCA small grants for work in Illinois under the Big Rivers Initiative. A $75,000 grant will allow DU to purchase 145 acres on Upper Peoria Lake. DU will use a second $75,000 grant to assist part-ners in acquiring 19 acres and restore 123 acres of waterfowl breeding habitat located within the Hackmatack National Wild-life Refuge area of northeast Illinois. Finally, Ducks Unlimited will help Illinois and Indiana combat climate change effects on habitat with a $250,000 grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Climate Adaptation Fund, a program made possible by the Doris Duke Charitable Foun-dation. The grant pays for the restoration, enhancement and improvement of 1,225 acres of bottomland forest and wetland habitat. Partners include the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wild Turkey Federation and the Friends of the Cache River Watershed. Ducks Unlimited will use the grant to implement adaptive conservation strategies to counter the effects of climate change on bottomland hardwood habitats in the Central Hardwood Region of Southern Illinois and Southwest Indiana. Projects are under way in Illinois include:
Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge – reforestation Shawnee National Forest – Brushy Bayou enhancement and Oakwood Bottoms infrastructure upgrades and timber stand
improvements
Welcome our new Conservation Chair Mark
Schore,
