The mission of Ducks Unlimited is to fulfill the annual life cycle needs of North American waterfowl by protecting, enhancing, restoring, and managing important wetlands and associated uplands.

It all started over half a century ago, during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, when a group of sportsmen banded together to form an organization that would become known as Ducks Unlimited (DU). North America s drought-plagued waterfowl populations had plunged to unprecedented lows, and the founders of DU decided to do something about it. They incorporated the fledgling conservation group in 1937, and within a year, 6,720 supporters had raised $90,000.

Sixty years later, Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest private waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization with membership of 701,000. DU's conservation projects occur throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America—wherever waterfowl breed, migrate, or winter. Dozens of species of ducks, geese, and swans rely on this critical habitat year-round.

From the very start, DU focused its conservation efforts on Canada's prairie breeding grounds. Today, a majority of DU's habitat conservation work continues on the upland nesting sites and shallow wetlands located within the Prairie Pothole Region of the north-central U.S. and south-central Canada, where 70 percent of North America's ducks are produced.

In 1974, DU turned its attention to Mexico. Where, wetland projects offer secure wintering habitat for waterfowl to rest and restore energy for the spring trek north to breed.

In 1984, DU began its work in the United States to provide waterfowl with breeding habitat, wintering grounds, and stopping places along their migration corridors.

DU is a leader in implementing the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). The NAWMP is an international agreement among the United States, Canada, and Mexico that establishes goals for rebuilding waterfowl populations to levels of the 1970s.

Waterfowl are not the only beneficiaries of DU's habitat work. Wetlands improve the overall health of our environment by recharging and purifying groundwater, moderating floods, reducing soil erosion, and proving recreation. These are nature's most productive ecosystems, providing a critical habitat to numerous wildlife species, including 160 that are threatened or endangered. DU is a leader in delivering habitat conservation not only for a waterfowl, but also for over 900 other species of wildlife, including many high priority grassland birds, forest-nesting songbirds, and shorebirds.