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To acknowledge DUC’s critical role in conservation, the provincial government recognizes every March 17 as Ducks Unlimited Canada Day. Bill 244 was proclaimed in 2023, celebrating DUC for “conserving, restoring and managing wetlands and grasslands for the benefit of waterfowl and other wildlife and its connection with Manitoba.”
Ducks Unlimited Canada celebrated March 17th as DUC DAY!
“DUC is a national organization with strong roots in Manitoba,” explains Manitoba’s manager of provincial operations, Mark Francis. “DUC’s first meeting was in Winnipeg and our first wetland conservation project was Big Grass Marsh near Gladstone in 1938. Since then, we have conserved, influenced or enhanced over 3.1 million acres in the province and many millions more across Canada.”
In addition to project acres, DUC’s footprint in Manitoba includes provincial offices in Brandon and The Pas, and a national office and wetland discovery centre north of Winnipeg at Oak Hammock Marsh, which attracts 100,000 visitors per year.
“We are indebted to our many partners including governments at the provincial, federal and local levels, Indigenous Peoples, landowners and conservation-minded organizations,” says Francis, “and to our supporters, volunteers and employees. March 17 is a day to celebrate our conservation achievements together and focus on the opportunities ahead.”
Even though wetlands keep water on the landscape in times of drought, help mitigate flooding and remove contaminants from water to keep lakes and rivers clean, these precious ecosystems are vanishing at an alarming rate. Today, only half of the world’s wetlands remain, and their loss creates major challenges for the environment, for communities and for people.
DUC's wetland and grassland restoration programs are supported by many funding sources, including Manitoba’s Conservation Trust. By helping to conserve water and soil, the Trust provides economic benefits to landowners and ecological benefits for all of us including cleaner water, healthier communities and opportunities for residents to connect with nature.
Learn more about DUC programs at our open houses or ag.ducks.ca/programs/manitoba/.