Conservation: Duck Policy Insiders

By Parker Williams

Throughout Ducks Unlimited’s history, public policy has played an outsized role in fulfilling its mission. Legislation such as the Duck Stamp Act, Farm Bill, and North American Wetlands Conservation Act provide crucial funding for wetlands and waterfowl conservation work across the continent. According to DU Advisory Senior Vice President for Public Policy Mike McShane, the secret to DU’s success in maintaining key public policy support is its vast network of volunteers.

“The single largest impact on good public policy is having dedicated volunteers who are genuinely passionate about the mission,” McShane says.

DU President Bob Spoerl agrees. The Wisconsin resident has more than 40 years of public policy experience through his work as a beer distributor, which prepared him well to advocate on behalf of wetlands conservation as a DU volunteer. “The beer industry is very heavily regulated, and, like DU, we need to be involved so that we are not negatively impacted by state or federal policy. It was an easy decision for me to participate in DU’s policy work,” he says.

Spoerl describes successful public policy as proactive rather than reactive. “I learned a long time ago that you need to develop relationships before you need assistance,” he says. Those relationships can be essential to maintaining funding for DU’s work on high-priority landscapes from the Chesapeake Bay to the coast of California.

“The stroke of the pen can create billions of dollars for conservation,” says former DU President George Dunklin Jr. “In 1985, President Ronald Reagan signed the first-ever conservation title in the Farm Bill, which included the Conservation Reserve Program, supporting millions of acres of habitat across the Prairie Pothole Region and other important waterfowl breeding areas. Building on the success of that legislation, the Wetlands Reserve Program, now known as Wetland Reserve Easements, was introduced in the 1990 Farm Bill. This program has converted millions of acres of flood-prone farmland back into natural bottomland habitat on the wintering grounds.”

Julia Peebles, DU’s director of agriculture and sustainability policy, says DU volunteers are irreplaceable assets in the public policy arena. She says Dunklin is a great example of a volunteer who is “able to speak in depth about his experience with voluntary agricultural conservation programs and convey what’s working and what’s not working on the ground. This feedback is invaluable and influences lawmakers to think substantively about conservation programs in the Farm Bill.”

Dunklin, who credits former DU President John Tomke and former Advisory Senior Vice President of Public Policy Al Montna as mentors, helped create DU’s annual volunteer fly-in event in Washington, DC. During the fly-in, DU volunteers from across the country visit Capitol Hill and meet with their members of Congress to discuss wetlands and waterfowl conservation.

“My favorite was last year, when we invited a select group of college students to attend,” Dunklin says. “Walking the halls of Congress with these young people and hearing their stories made me proud that we could offer an opportunity like that at DU. The return on our investment in that program will be significant.”

In 2015, DU volunteer Dave Bowers attended his first policy event. That sparked his interest in doing more for the organization. “As I continued to attend these events, I grew more and more interested in working with legislators to share our story and to advocate for wetlands conservation,” he says.

After becoming DU Michigan state policy chair in 2018, Bowers has attended many events in Washington and has testified before state house and senate committees. He also founded the Michigan DU Legislative Luncheon, now entering its fourth year. According to Bowers, it all came together via a casual conversation with a DU staffer while waiting to meet with a state representative. “The response was positive, and before I knew it, we formed a staff committee and began planning the event,” he says. “The first year, we had roughly 110 attendees, but it has grown in popularity and now it’s attended by well over 200 state senators, representatives, staff, and members from key partner agencies.”

For his efforts, Bowers received DU’s Excellence in Policy Volunteerism Award. Another winner of the prestigious award is Nels Swenson, who originally got involved with DU simply by approaching volunteers at a local event and offering to help. But his interest in policy came later. “While I was serving as Wisconsin state chair, another senior DU volunteer couldn’t make it to our state capitol to provide testimony at a Natural Resources Committee hearing,” Swenson recalls. “I was asked to fill in, and after I finished, I discovered that I liked being in front of a committee of lawmakers representing DU.”

Swenson and a small group of partners later led a decade-long effort to increase the price of the Wisconsin state duck stamp. “By 2021, we were able to get it done. It’s a great example of playing the long game in policy work and shows that determination and a stick-to-it attitude can produce results,” he says. As a result, the stamp now brings in an additional $400,000 annually for wetlands conservation.

Bowers agrees that establishing personal relationships with legislators and their staff is paramount. “I never fail to ask about their dogs, family, grandkids, and how their significant others are doing,” he says. “It seems to break the ice, and they realize you are not there to always ask for something, but to thank them and show genuine concern and respect for their well-being. When you’ve built up that trust, the tough conversations become easier.”

Sometimes, relationships pay off in different, unexpected ways. Nick Goodwin is a former communications director with the US Department of the Interior. During his tenure, he worked with many outdoor recreation and conservation organizations, including DU. When life brought him back to his home state of Indiana, Nick sought out volunteer opportunities with DU and now serves as state policy chair.

In his volunteer role, Goodwin has facilitated hunts and legislative outings to build relationships with key federal and state lawmakers and administrators. “I’ve found this to be a great way to build relationships and talk about DU's conservation mission,” he says.

Connie Parker didn’t come to DU as a hunter or an event attendee, but her professional experience helped expand DU’s public policy outreach, and she has witnessed its growth within the organization firsthand. “I learned about DU from the public policy perspective,” Parker says. “Public policy, in my view, is an investment in our future.”

Parker credits her public policy participation with helping her forge lifetime friendships. “I always say how lucky I am to have learned about DU the way I did. I count Mike McShane and Al Montna as dear friends. I am blown away at our accomplishments, people, and success,” she says.

At the end of the day, Spoerl says public policy starts at a personal level, and it’s important to get to know lawmakers in a less formal setting. Bowers agrees, encouraging those who have an interest in public policy to simply ask their local volunteer leadership. “There are many opportunities, and it’s a perfect way for nontraditional volunteers to get involved in our mission,” Bowers says.

One thing is certain. As long as Ducks Unlimited works to conserve and restore waterfowl habitat across North America, public policy volunteers will be an important part of its success.

For more information about how you can get involved with DU’s public policy work, visit ducks.org/conservation/public-policy.