MYAKKA CITY, FL - August 24, 2020 - Ducks Unlimited (DU) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), the Public Lands Council (PLC) and Safari Club International (SCI) to outline the groups' shared commitment to conservation of natural resources through sustainable multiple use. The MOU outlines these groups' efforts to cultivate healthier ecosystems, wildlife populations, and economies through active management. Hunting, fishing, and livestock grazing are all key components of successful, comprehensive management plans for our nation's public lands and resources.

The MOU highlights decades of successful voluntary conservation programs and formalizes a partnership to allow these groups to coordinate multi-sector projects in the future. Cattle and beef producers, hunters, and conservationists often engage in conservation partnerships that maintain open space, honor the cultural and historical value of landscapes and empower local communities and rural economies. Signatories of the MOU are proud of the meaningful conservation achieved, and today reaffirmed their commitment to voluntary conservation.

"DU members and ranching families alike know protecting wildlife habitat and working lands go hand in hand," said Ducks Unlimited CEO Adam Putnam. "The signing of this agreement solidifies the strong bond between sportsmen and ranchers. America's farmers and ranchers both feed the world and host a wide range of wildlife on their working lands, and have done so for generations. Together, we are ensuring our natural resources and our food security are provided for."

"One thing cattle producers and the sportsmen communities have in common is a shared commitment to being good stewards of the land. Combining efforts under this memorandum, will boost conservation efforts and management of wildlife habitat," said NCBA President Marty Smith. "We want to thank everyone who has made this partnership possible."

"This MOU is a great step in putting the hard work from long-standing partnerships on paper," said PLC President Bob Skinner. "Ranchers are true conservationists, and I am proud to partner with groups whose members also work to protect open spaces and manage our country's natural resources for a better future."

"As sportsmen and cattle producers both know, land that is used, is land that is loved," said SCI CEO W. Laird Hamberlin. "We are committed to prioritizing partnerships that help deliver results for conservation and cementing that with the signing of this MOU. SCI and its members look forward to working together in the future to ensure sportsmen, cattle producers and the American public can enjoy these lands for generations to come."

Background

Signatories of the MOU make personal, financial, philanthropic, and political investments in these landscapes that improve the condition and future of these landscapes for the future and decrease the financial burden on the American taxpayer through the leveraging of private funds with government appropriations.

For more information, visit www.ducks.org, and be sure to Follow DU's newest Twitter feed - @DUNews1937 - to get the most up-to-date news from Ducks Unlimited.

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved almost 15 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org.

Media Contact:
Parker Williams
(202) 621-1646
pwilliams@ducks.org