Friday, February 6, 2009, 8 p.m.  Anne Arundel Bird Club.  Ducks Unlimited: How DU Works for the Conservation of Waterfowl Nationally and in Maryland.   Steve Linhard, Former Ducks Unlimited Chairman of the Annapolis Chapter and of the Greater Anne Arundel County Area.   Come to Arlington Echo Environmental Education Center in Millersville to hear Steve Linhard, an active volunteer with Ducks Unlimited, who will discuss DU’s national and Chesapeake Bay campaign to conserve, restore and manage wetlands and associated habitats for North America's waterfowl and other waterbirds. See details below. Steve Linhard, an avid sportsman, conservationist and active volunteer with Ducks Unlimited (DU), will describe DU’s national and Chesapeake Bay campaign to conserve, restore and manage wetlands and associated habitats for North America's waterfowl. DU was started in 1937 by sportsmen concerned with the loss of wetlands as waterfowl populations had plunged to unprecedented lows. DU is now backed by more than one million supporters with conservation projects throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and in Latin America and the Caribbean.   DU is now the world’s largest and most effective private waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization and has conserved more than 11.6 million acres of waterfowl habitat in North America.   Steve will detail how DU works closely with biologists and ecologists to evaluate habitat needs and to monitor how birds respond to various environmental changes and to then restore, protect, and purchase wetlands   and to educate landowners to foster bird conservation.   Steve will focus on Ducks Unlimited efforts through the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem Initiative to fulfill the annual life cycle needs of waterfowl by restoring, enhancing, protecting and managing wetland and associated uplands while improving the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.   DU has conserved more than 53,000 acres of habitat in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem already, positively affecting waterfowl, other birds, and other wildlife and improving the quality of life for people.   Since the Bay region lost half of the wetlands and half of its riparian base, steep declines in water quality and bay grasses occurred with a 70–80 percent decline in waterfowl production. Steve Linhard lives in Annapolis and serves as Treasurer for the Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Foundation and the Maryland League of Conservation Voters.  He also served on the Severn River Commission, Annapolis Environmental Commission and was on the Board of the Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage.  He previously worked for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. 



Sue Ricciardi for Gerald Winegrad, AABC Program Chair