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errace Bay - Schreiber Barry Gray asks if anyone. will give the price he's asking for during the Schreiber/Terrace Bay Ducks Unlimited third annual Banquet and Auction held in Schreiber last week. The money raised will go towards the many programs D.U. carries out throughout Canada. Photo by Dave Chmara 40 cents Over $20,000 raised by local Ducks group By Dave Chmara Over $20,000 was raised at the Schreiber/Terrace Bay Committec of Ducks Unlimited Canada's Third Annual Banquct and Auction. The fundraising evening was -held Wednesday, September 20 and a total of 132 people were on hand for the dinner and auction. Gerry Landriault, chairman of the Schreiber/Terrace Bay Committee of Ducks Unlimited Canada, said the moncy raised goes to the national organization, - Ducks Unlimited Canada. The money goes towards--a variety of projects - the main one being wetlands restoration. Landriault briefly explained the process of restoring a wet- land. First, the areca is drained so work can be done. Then, dikes are built to hold the water in the area and water is then pumped back in. The water is maintained at a constant level and natural foliage, such as bull rushes, are replanted. "If a marsh can be saved before it's too badly drained there's less work to be done," Landriault said. One local: project being spon- sored by D.U. is taking place in the Nipigon area. Nesting geese are being intro- duced into the Nipigon river sys- tem. Landriault said D.U. is hop- ing to increase the number of nesting pairs to 150 by the end of the five-year project. He mentioned another local project is taking place in Marathon where a wild rice pro- gram is being conducted in asso- ciation with the Canadian Wildlife Federation and the Ministry of Natural Resources. D.U. also buys feed crop and helps farmers by paying for crop damages which watcrfowl cause, mainly in the Prairies. The auction, which took place at the Schreiber Recreation Hall, was conducted by Barry Gray, an auctioncer from the Barrie area. "He donatcs his time and experience at D.U. auctions and "we pay for his expenses in return," sai Landriault. "We'd like to thank all the businesses for their support and hope cverybody had a good time," he said. In the 1930s, a group of con- servation minded North American sportsmen acted on the realization that rapid declines in waterfowl populations were caused by deterioration and loss of natural breeding and nesting habitats and formed Ducks Unlimited Inc. _ They began raising funds from private sourccs in the United States for a waterfowl habitat restoration program in Canada, whcre more than 70 per cent of the continent's waterfowl origi- nate, Ducks Unlimited came next, formed by Canadians to use the moncy by carrying out the actual 'habitat work. Instead of buying land, D.U. obtains no cost land access from government agencies and private landowners which allows D.U. to use its moncy for habitat improvement. In its arst-S02 years; D.U. Canada has conserved nearly 4 million acres of wetland habitat in more than 3,500 projects locat- ed throughout Canada. D.U. contributions to Canadian habitat development have recently surpassed the $300 million mark. : Despite D.U. efforts, destruc- uon of watcrfowl habitat - mainly from agriculture, industry and urbanization - continucs at a rate not matched by current conserva- tion efforts. More than 50 per cent of the original wetlands in the U.S. have vanished and experts estimate that 3.6 million additional acres of waterfowl habitat are needed by the year 2000 just to stabilize North American waterfowl popu- lations at current levels. 4 Belluz SUPERIOR Beiter INSIDE THIS WEEK SAORELen Simcoe PI ; : : Terrace Bay, ont | | Enforcing the Law Local Recreation Pet Talk sg a warded Juris Adanevskis | | POlice crack down on -- Take a look a Hunting season poses _ | | Insurance Specialists! | _ 'Broker seat belt law in Oct. upcoming programs problem for pet safety 825-9492 , 1-807-824-2933 Page 6 Pace 9 rt 1-807-825-9393. Page 4 g 9 =