Anne Arundel Chapter Of Ducks Unlimited Commences In Pasadena

A new chapter of Ducks Unlimited recently held its first meeting at the Greene Turtle in Pasadena, and a group of mostly waterfowl hunters listened intently for what the first steps of establishing the new chapter would be.

The first item on the meeting’s agenda was to reveal the name - the Anne Arundel County chapter. The leaders of the chapter explained thought about naming it the Two Rivers chapter, after the Severn and Magothy rivers in the Pasadena region, but they wanted the chapter to encompass all of the county and not just Pasadena. The wheels were put in motion for setting up the chapter’s initial fundraising effort, which includes a bull roast and calendar sale.

“Ducks Unlimited is a great organization,” said Pasadena resident Randy Bode, the co-chairman of the chapter, after the meeting. “I see that it’s set up to extend the life of duck hunting for the young. If people had their way, I think they would stop hunting altogether in the United States, and this brings back hunting to the youth.”

Ducks Unlimited works to conserve wetlands (the habitat for waterfowl) all across North America. On its website, Ducks Unlimited asserts to have conserved more than 13 million acres of waterfowl habitat in Canada, Mexico and the United States as of January 1. Chapters across the continent raise money that is used in part to buy land across the continent and partner with landowners to ensure the survival of waterfowl habitat. Chapters for Ducks Unlimited hold more than 5,000 events a year in the United States to fundraise.

Ducks Unlimited has restored more than 50,000 acres in Maryland, mostly on the Eastern Shore, according to Josh Voelker, the regional director of Ducks Unlimited, who covers all of Maryland. Voelker, who helps chapters across the state with fundraising, said Maryland’s chapters raised about $830,000 in grassroots money last year, and a little more than that was pumped back into the state to help conserve waterfowl habitat. It remains to be seen, according to Voelker, whether a site in the Pasadena region will be suitable to conserve or restore in the future.

“The dollars raised by the chapters throughout the country is unrestricted income, and Ducks Unlimited can use that money to do projects and wetlands restoration, conservation as it is needed,” Voelker said.

Jamie Roell is the president of the new chapter, while Bode and Austin Karls are the co-chairmen. All three have enjoyed the outdoors for nearly as long as they can remember. Roell has been around water his entire life. Bode was a party-boat mate at the age of 12. Karls has been hunting since he was in his early teenage years.

Karls, Bode and Roell – along with everyone else in the room that day – have a commonality in particular: They want to preserve the ability to experience the outdoors for future generations. The Anne Arundel County chapter wants to get involved with Greenwing, which allows people age 17 and younger to join Ducks Unlimited and so they may become educated on the outdoors.

That said, getting involved with the outdoors doesn’t necessarily mean hunting is a requisite activity. “My father wasn’t a hunter,” Karls said. “He was more of a naturalist, which kind of works right together with Ducks Unlimited. Ducks Unlimited doesn’t just mean duck hunting. It’s all about conserving and helping all of the wildlife that revolve around these areas grow.”

August 18 marked the beginning for the Anne Arundel chapter, which will contribute to the fundraising efforts for Ducks Unlimited and the chapter itself. The group decided to hold a bull roast at Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company, which they aim to hold on the evening of March 14, 2015. There will be raffles and auctions to raise money, with Ducks Unlimited donating some items for the event.

“For our events, they’ll offer us items that we can raffle off; they [offer] us auction items, high-end artwork, gun of the year,” Roell said. “For every dollar that we raise, they give us back items to auction off and use the money to make our chapter stronger.”

The chapter also learned about another fundraising tool – the Ducks Unlimited calendars. The Anne Arundel chapter will sell calendars for $50, which will include a Ducks Unlimited membership and the chance to win a gun every week. They’ll sell a portion of the 1,000 calendars made available to Maryland chapters, with $25 of every calendar going to Ducks Unlimited and $25 staying with the chapter. The chapter will also sell calendars and hot dogs outside Bass Pro Shop on October 26.

Along with fundraising, the Anne Arundel County chapter seeks to build awareness about the mission of Ducks Unlimited. “Pasadena is an untapped reservoir of duck hunters,” Bode said. “People don’t know it, but we live on peninsulas. We have water surrounding us. So I think there are a lot of people that could get involved and enjoy it. It could be a great group, just a great group of guys that can network and interact together and just raise a lot of money for a great organization.”