DU Receives $500,000 from The Kresge Foundation

Ducks Unlimited
Wednesday, 19 June 2002

The Trustees of The Kresge Foundation recently sent a check for $500,000 to Ducks Unlimited toward the purchase of the Goebel Ranch in South Dakota. Ducks Unlimited met the Foundation's challenge grant conditions by successfully raising $2.2 million.

D. A. (Don) Young, Ducks Unlimited's Executive Vice President, said, "As a past recipient of the Foundation's generous support for the construction of Ducks Unlimited's national headquarters in Memphis, we know first-hand what a Kresge Foundation challenge can do. We thank the Foundation for their confidence in our ability to meet this challenge as well."

Kresge Foundation grants are awarded in a national competitive review process. Young added, "We worked very hard to meet the terms of the challenge. We couldn't have done it without the financial help of the many, many people who share our vision for the conservation of the grasslands. We are deeply grateful for this help."

Ducks Unlimited recently had the extraordinary opportunity to take a first step toward creating a 25,000-acre national prairie ecosystem of native grassland by acquiring the centerpiece-the Goebel Ranch. The 8,492-acre Goebel Ranch is one of the largest remaining contiguous grassland tracts on the Missouri Coteau, widely viewed by conservationists as the "best of the best" remaining habitat in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. The Goebel Ranch was going to be subdivided and sold. It is now conserved and protected in perpetuity by Ducks Unlimited's ownership.

Jeff Nelson, Director of Operations for Ducks Unlimited's Great Plains Regional Office in Bismarck, North Dakota, said that the Goebel Ranch is an excellent site for implementing improved management of the areas extensive grasslands.

Stating that the overall condition of the pastures has been good, Nelson added that "with minor modifications to management and the restoration of some sites, native species will reappear and increase, making the property ideal nesting habitat for waterfowl and other grassland birds. These grasslands will also meet the needs of livestock, thus helping retain the historical ranching tradition of the area that is so important to the entire local economy."

For more information, or to contact Ducks Unlimited, see their website at: www.ducks.org