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Ducks Unlimited Canada

6K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  vailcat 
#1 ·
Ducks Unlimited Canada appears to be something other than what they appear to be, or what they say they are all about. We have DUC structures upstream and downstream of our property that are very poorly maintained ( plugged up ) etc. We have been flooded and DUC REALLY doesn't give a **** if we loose our crops. After many years of complaining of the problems, I went to my MLA who took it to the Minister, and now AEP ( Alberta Environment and Parks ) is involved trying to get DUC to live up to their license stipulations, which they ( DUC ) have not been doing. If any of you farmers are having issues with DUC, please contact the Environmental Complaint Hotline @ 1 800 222 6514 or myself , farmdogginit at hotmail dot com, and I can fill you in on what we have gone through dealing with DUC.

Regards.
 
#3 ·
I have had endless problems farming next to ducks land poor drainage wrecking our roads, overflowing waterbodies spilling over into my fields, they will not maintain anything they lease some land out for pasture where the fences are not maintained which leads endless amount of cattle in our fields I am lucky if i can get them to dig out a beaver dam.Some of there land is getting into so poor shape even the ducks don't like it there grassland is turning into brush land. Its getting so bad nothing will even graze it , ducks unlimited are a real problem.
 
#4 ·
Ducks Unlimited is a poison on Western Canadian agriculture! They ran around here many years ago when times were tough and put caveats on marginal land for $100/acre, that land is out of production seemingly forever. I have one on some of my land from a previous owner which sticks into the middle of a field and is a real nuisance. I offered to pay twice what they did or trade it to a larger piece that would be more advantageous for both me and the wildlife and they will not budge.

Every business I see that has one of those silent auction items for DU I am sure to voice my displeasure about it. Anybody that wants to see Canadian farming hit it's true potential will be completely opposed to DU.

They are no friend of the farmers.:mad:
 
#6 ·
Ducks unlimited have taken an entirely new tact lately with their propaganda. Their goal is no longer to work with the farmer to save waterfowl and marginal land. Their new goal is to vilify the farmer in the eyes of the urban population. This started with the ad campaign in 2012 approx with them blaming farmers for urban flooding, and now saying that the prairie landscape is worse then the rainforest for habitat destruction, all due to the horrible no good evil farmer. They have no interest in working with farmers anymore, their main goal is to win over the urban voter and politicians to have draconian legislation introduced and passed.

I was at the sask legislature last year and the NDP ag critic Cathy Sproule had the audacity to read a petition put forward by ducks unlimited and it she stated that farmers are to blame for the destruction of over 90% of the wetlands and can't be trusted to manage their own land. This is the B.S. we are dealing with here, the lies and half truths coming out of DU are not meant to change the farming practices of farmers but to vilify farmers in the eyes of their donors, the U.S. hunter and urban resident. Divide and conquer, it’s hard to garner donations if you don’t identify an enemy that you have to fight. I know they have the ear of the NDP, but the are also numerous Sask party MLA’s who are DU supporters.

They also have a new game plan when it comes to land. They don’t want to own land anymore and deal with the responsibility of keeping it up. They buy land, put a drainage easement on it, then flip, rendering that land unimprovable in regards to any type of water movement or terraforming for an eternity no matter what the future might require.

I would also look at business that support Ducks Unlimited by taking your business someplace else, or at the very least letting them know your displeasure with their management practices. The big ones where it comes to ag are, bayer, agrium, and potash corp. I know it's impossible to avoid these companies, but perhaps if they knew how displeased we all are with DU they would think twice about sponsorship. But I guess they aren't sponsoring DU for our benefit, but for public percption. I also try my best not to due business with any store that display's the horribly tacky paintings from DU in their entrances. Our Partners ? Ducks Unlimited Canada

They really want to start a war with the farmer, and with how marginalized we already are, I’m not sure it's a war we can win. This is more than just drainage, this is fighting for the ability to have a say in the future of our land. First they will want every farmer to have 30 potholes in each field that total 40 acres, then they will want to have a buffer zone of 100m around each slough, then they will say we can't spray or fertilize on that field, and god help us if they should find a endangered species. Who is going to bear the burden of this Utopian hunter's paradise, the farmer that's who. Buying a couple quarter’s in each RM is small potatoes compared to what they can accomplish through legislation.
 
#8 ·
WE NEED to fight as nasty against these guys as the leftys do at everything the right tries to do. DU is the number one enemy of agriculture in this state too. They are the reason it dang near takes an act of congress to get any drainage done.

You need to Duck shame every single person that supports anything DU does. If that doesn't work slap them with a muddy fist because what they are doing to your property rights is destroying them. They are outright communist with feathers.

2014 in ND there was Measure 5. Would have taken oil tax revenue and given 5% of state oil tax revenues to a created fund in the state. Of that 5% DU was to get 25% to administer the program. That would have been the end of any fundraising needs DU ever needed as they stood to collect about 250 million from the deal. Got voted down 80-20 but naturally they will be back. The president of DU in ND said he felt they raised the conversation about conservation in the state. He is a first class douche.

DU has a wetland mitigation site north of Carrington. They will for the price of 40,000 an acre sell you wetland credits. Sounds like a good non profit huh?

I think we should fight DU by making them a threat to safety. How many people do you know that goes to one of their benefits gets hammered then drives home? I bet DU night is one of the tops for DUI busts of all the day of the year!

Fight them every time their names come up boys! I post land and then when guys call and ask for permission I ask if they are a member of any of the wildlife groups. If they are I tell them to beat it and give them all my reasons for it.
 
#9 ·
When a county takes part of a "wetland" out to build a road or whatever, they are supposed to give x amount of dollars to DU to create a new wetland somewhere else. Camrose County has taken the stance that they won't give it to DU but take the x amount of funds and do it themselves. DU didn't like that but it at least keeps those funds within the county.
 
#10 ·
Someone should contact the Western Producer and Manitoba Co-operator next time DUC tries to cause legislation or bad publicity to agriculture... They don't waste time coming to the defence of Farmers.

My dad is a councillor for our Municipality, a developer moved into build two country subdivisions and tried to put two, 150 head cattle operations out of business so they would not cause a disturbance to him.... One of **** of a fight followed... Thank God DUC wasn't part of this either, or I'm sure it would still be going with all the now useless land around here they have created.
This is one of the articles, contact this reporter if you're in Manitoba, she is fantastic. Cattle producers see conflict with residential real estate deal

Robert Arnason of the Western Producer is a fantastic reporter as well. If you want a fight, these will be two of your best tools..
 
#11 ·
I wouldn't have as much of a problem with DUC if they were not so ignorant to the current situation. Consistently repeating that wetlands are decreasing and in danger, while the reality is most producers in the pothole region are facing challenging conditions due to excess moisture and an increase in wetlands. It only illustrates how important it is for us to stand up publicly and defend responsible water management much like is done for the use of pesticides etc.

One of the largest frustrations about DU is that they completely ignore the devastating effects non managed wetlands are having on surrounding farmland. It is no secret that farmland close to wetlands has simply been destroyed due to excess moisture and an increase in soluble salts in the soil profile. One can go so far to say that this is also destroying bio-diversity, as in these areas nothing is growing! But yet their solutions do not include managing the water! Which is in reality the only long term viable solution with the best out come!

Their goal is to influence as many acres as they can. Whether it be through ownership, land titles or forage programs. All of their programs have some sort of stipulation. The worst part is that they even fail to implement some of their own practices. I was at a workshop on managing salinity and DU had a 20 min presentation on how they were trying to establish salt tolerant forage mixes in these areas. Not only were the results disastrous, the methods they used were as well! They had a hard time seeding or establishing anything because the site was way too wet! They also used 4x the normal seeding rate!

One of the saddest parts is that DU sits on the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Crops along with many of our farm business partners. (http://sustainablecrops.ca/images/members_list.pdf)
What do you think they are doing on there? Well! Most likely advocating for the protection of wetlands! Why would this be so bad?! Well just imagine JRI, ADM, you name it now include in their message that their products are 'sustainable' because they support DU's agenda and the protection of wetlands. Now our industry partners are against us.

It makes my stomach churn because none of this has anything to do with sustainability. It is all about image and you can match whatever message you like. However in the countryside farms are suffering and losing their ability to produce grain because we are not actually tackling the root of the problem.

We have great opportunities, but we need people with vision to develop a framework so that we can have functional watersheds that provide resilient farmland, flood control, nutrient retention and habitat. A framework that respects our needs and not solely those of DU. All so that we can strengthen our rural farm communities in which success and wealth are large drivers.
 
#12 ·
I wouldn't have as much of a problem with DUC if they were not so ignorant to the current situation. Consistently repeating that wetlands are decreasing and in danger, while the reality is most producers in the pothole region are facing challenging conditions due to excess moisture and an increase in wetlands. It only illustrates how important it is for us to stand up publicly and defend responsible water management much like is done for the use of pesticides etc.

One of the largest frustrations about DU is that they completely ignore the devastating effects non managed wetlands are having on surrounding farmland. It is no secret that farmland close to wetlands has simply been destroyed due to excess moisture and an increase in soluble salts in the soil profile. One can go so far to say that this is also destroying bio-diversity, as in these areas nothing is growing! But yet their solutions do not include managing the water! Which is in reality the only long term viable solution with the best out come!

Their goal is to influence as many acres as they can. Whether it be through ownership, land titles or forage programs. All of their programs have some sort of stipulation. The worst part is that they even fail to implement some of their own practices. I was at a workshop on managing salinity and DU had a 20 min presentation on how they were trying to establish salt tolerant forage mixes in these areas. Not only were the results disastrous, the methods they used were as well! They had a hard time seeding or establishing anything because the site was way too wet! They also used 4x the normal seeding rate!

One of the saddest parts is that DU sits on the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Crops along with many of our farm business partners. (http://sustainablecrops.ca/images/members_list.pdf)
What do you think they are doing on there? Well! Most likely advocating for the protection of wetlands! Why would this be so bad?! Well just imagine JRI, ADM, you name it now include in their message that their products are 'sustainable' because they support DU's agenda and the protection of wetlands. Now our industry partners are against us.

It makes my stomach churn because none of this has anything to do with sustainability. It is all about image and you can match whatever message you like. However in the countryside farms are suffering and losing their ability to produce grain because we are not actually tackling the root of the problem.

We have great opportunities, but we need people with vision to develop a framework so that we can have functional watersheds that provide resilient farmland, flood control, nutrient retention and habitat. A framework that respects our needs and not solely those of DU. All so that we can strengthen our rural farm communities in which success and wealth are large drivers.
The reason they claim we are losing all these wetlands is that many of the wetlands have grown so large they are no longer considered wetlands by definition but small lakes. I am not making this up as I asked a consultant once if that was true and he said only in name we are losing wetlands.
I found it rather hard to believe the Dakotas have net lost any wetlands as a ride in an airplane tells a completely different story.

Remember that the next time you need to have a conversation with a conservation warrior who is only interested in shooting ducks for free on your land.
 
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