Conservation in Tennessee

Tennessee is part of the Mississippi Flyway and provides important winter habitat for waterfowl that are produced in the Prairie Pothole Region and Great Lakes states.  In most years, Tennessee winters significant numbers of mallards and wood ducks across the state.  Western Tennessee comprises an important portion of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, known regionally as the Delta.  Historically, flooded forests of the Delta provided reliable, high quality habitat for thousands of mallards, wood ducks, and other waterfowl.  DU has worked to conserve over 30,000 acres of waterfowl habitat throughout Tennessee.  Our goal is to perpetually secure habitat and the future of Tennessee as a key wintering area in North America.  Your support of DU will help us achieve that goal.

Tennessee Habitat Projects

Mississippi Alluvial Valley  Chickasaw NWR  White Lake Refuge  Lower Hatchie NWR  Bogota WMA  Eagle Lake Refuge  Ernest Rice WMA

Southeastern Coastal Plain  Lick Creek WMA  Kyker Bottoms Refuge   Cheatham County WMA   Camden WMA   Tellico Lake WMA   Whites Mill Refuge  AEDC WMA - Hunts Creek  Henderson Island  Yuchi WMA  Horns Bluff Refuge

DU PRAISES TWRC’s DECISION TO REINSTATE WATERFOWL PROGRAM FUNDING

Partial funding restored to waterfowl program

MEMPHIS, Tenn. Sept. 22, 2008 – During yesterday’s meeting, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission voted unanimously to partially reinstate funding for Ducks Unlimited’s habitat conservation activities on the Canadian breeding grounds. The program was cut from the budget in June, but the final decision came at yesterday’s meeting.

“We are delighted to see the Commission reinstate a portion of the funding cuts proposed for this cooperative program, especially in light of this year’s tight budget,” said Ross Melinchuk, Director of Public Policy for DU’s Southern Regional Office. “Ducks Unlimited will leverage TWRA’s funds at least five-fold and direct them toward habitat conservation activities in Saskatchewan where roughly one-third of Tennessee’s ducks are raised. Tennessee duck hunters have enjoyed liberal seasons and bag limits for the past decade and good to excellent numbers of ducks for each of the last couple of seasons. These funds are an investment that will pay dividends for Tennesseans well into the future.”

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Students of Daniel Boone High School in Gray, Tenn., in between Johnson City and Kingsport, recently went out of their way "for the ducks."

Instructor Carley Lester says, "We are fortunate to be able to offer Wildlife Management and Recreation as a course. Tennessee Department of Education includes this course in its Agricultural Education curriculum for Environmental and Natural Resources Systems."

While some of the participants in the class are hunters and/or fisherman (or fisherwomen), many are not. Some students are interested in careers as wildlife biologists or game and fish officers while others are merely interested in wildlife.

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