Comments from Curt: Volume 1, Issue 1, The State of Indiana was recognized at the National Convention for the following:

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1 State of Indiana Ducks Unlimited Comments from Curt: Volume 1, Issue 1, By the time you receive this first edition of the Indiana DU Newsletter, District Meetings are over and those chapters that hold fall banquets are knee deep in planning for their events. Last year was a great year for Indiana Ducks Unlimited. Hendricks County was recognized at the National Convention as a Chairman s Top 50 Major Sponsor Chapter, the Purdue Chapter ranked tenth in the University Chapter Sweet Sixteen, and Indiana was seventh in the Nation in Grassroots fundraising and growth. To every one who worked with a chapter to plan an event, sell raffle tickets or just asked someone to come to a banquet, thanks for a job well done. (rest of Curt s note on page 4) We wore our Purdue DU shirts with Pride! National Convention The State of Indiana was recognized at the National Convention for the following: 7th in the Nation for Grassroots Fund Raising This is due to growth of 9.2% in grassroots income. Indiana came in ahead of all of the states in our region. Indiana was just ahead of Iowa. University Chapter Information The Purdue University chapter received The Bronze Presidential Citation which is an important criteria for the State Awards. They also placed 10 th in the DU national collegiate sweet 16. Details of the Comprehensive State Awards Program: The Comprehensive State Awards Program is designed to recognize those states that excel at growing and improving their state organizations. Each year we recognize EVERY state that achieves the various milestones established in the program. Awards are recognized as Bronze, Silver, or Gold. These awards were presented to the Top State Chairman. Beginning this past year, calendar year 2008, the state chairman s award has been streamlined. State Chairmen still compete against each other in the same Olympic scoring metric as in the past. However, the categories have been reduced from 18 to 8 to reflect the more streamlined focus of the company. Each of these winners receive onstage an leather computer case with the DU Crest and the legend Top 10 State Chairman. See the next page for Upcoming Events

2 Upcoming Events in the State of Indiana 07/11/2009 Cedar Lake Golf Outing 07/11/2009 Clinton Fun Shoot 08/06/2009 Crystal Valley (Middlebury) Corn & Sausage Roast 08/08/2009 Whitley County Golf Outing 08/22/2009 Miami County Dinner 08/22/2009 Porter County Sponsor Smoker 08/22/2009 Kankakee Valley (LaPorte) Waterfowl Hunters Party 08/30/2009 Laughery Valley Waterfowl Hunters Party 09/12/2009 Three Rivers (Fort Wayne) Waterfowl Hunters Party 09/12/2009 Goshen Dinner 09/12/2009 Clinton County Sportsman's Night Out Banquet 09/12/2009 Lowell Dinner 09/17/2009 Elkhart/Nappanee Sportsman's Night Out Banquet 09/17/2009 Big Lake Waterfowl Hunter's Party 09/19/2009 Huntington Hills Fun Shoot 09/25/2009 St. Joseph Valley Dinner 09/26/2009 Wabash County Sportsman's Night Out 09/26/2009 Clinton Waterfowl Hunters Party / Sportsmen's Night Out 10/03/2009 Whitley County Dinner 10/03/2009 Crown Point Sportsman's Night Out 10/03/2009 District 8 Shoot 10/15/2009 Fort Wayne Banquet (Bill W. Dailey Stag) 10/17/2009 Dekalb County Banquet 10/24/2009 Bluffton Dinner 11/07/2009 Cedar Lake Banquet 11/07/2009 Laughery Valley Dinner 11/21/2009 Adams County Duck Race 12/02/2009 Porter County Big 5 Banquet State of Indiana Facts: Total DU Membership: 11,620 General Members: 9,940 Greenwings: 891 Legacy Greenwings: 230 Sponsor Members: 559 Total grassroots dollars raised in 2008: $503,220 Contacts in the State of Indiana Indiana State Chairman Curt Lee lee7598@sbcglobal.net Indiana State Treasurer Pam Harkin Pamela_m_harkin@uhc.com Indiana Executive Administrator Jim Prough jim_prough@andersoninc.com Indiana State Council Chairman Frank Wolka r.frank.wolka@cummins.com Indiana Regional Director - North Dave Neal dneal@ducks.org Indiana Regional Director - South Joe Borders jborders@ducks.org Total acres conserved in Indiana: 20,794

3 Purdue University s Bronze Presidential Citation Award Information Dear Area Chairman, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate your chapter for earning the Bronze Presidential Citation Award. The Presidential Citation program began in It is part of the criteria for the Comprehensive State Awards presented at the National Convention each year. To be considered for recognition in this program your chapter had a minimum of $5,000 Grassroots Income and 50 adult members for In addition your chapter met the following criteria: an increase in Grassroots Chapter Income over prior year of 5%, an increase in adult members over prior year of 5%, a net/net to gross on the main event of 60%, event tickets were received within 10 days of the event, and the financial sheet and balance of proceeds were received within 30 days of event. There are three Presidential Citation Levels Bronze Qualify for 1 year Silver Qualify for 2 consecutive years Gold Qualify for 3 or more consecutive years Ducks Unlimited pleased to present the banner to your chapter. Display it with pride at your next event. This is a prestigious award. Only180 chapters qualified for the Presidential Citation in As President of Ducks Unlimited I applaud your exemplary efforts and thank you for your dedication to wetlands conservation. Good luck with your efforts to achieve a silver citation for Sincerely, Bruce Lewis President, Ducks Unlimited Indiana DU is now in a new region, called the Heartland Region. Which includes the following states: Illinois Indiana Iowa Kentucky Missouri Tennessee Walter Brooks has been promoted. Please congratulate Walter in his new endeavors with DU. Please welcome our new contact at national: Stephen Walker Volunteer Service Representative/Coordinator swalker@ducks.org

4 Comments from Curt (continued): Being one of the top states in the nation in Grassroots growth set a pretty high standard for Indiana Ducks Unlimited. As we begin the fall banquet season, I would like to challenge every chapter to raise the bar another notch and set a goal for chapter growth. A good place to start in developing goals is the Presidential Citation Award. A copy of the Presidential Citation Award letter to the Purdue Chapter has been included in the newsletter. A copy of the Presidential Citation brochure was included with the newsletter Please take some time to look over this letter and brochure to help develop a strategy for your chapter to meet the award criteria. For many of you earning the Presidential Citation may be as easy as making sure that every event attendee is recorded on a ticket; getting one or two people at your banquet to become a Bronze Sponsors, or upgrade their Sponsor level; or improving event efficiency by the careful selection of merchandise or increasing the amount of prizes donated by local business. The best tool you have available for reaching the Presidential Citation goals are to just ask someone to come to your event or help as a volunteer. I am very excited about the future of Indiana Ducks Unlimited and look forward to meeting many of you in the coming months, and personally thanking you for all you do for the Ducks. Curt The 73rd National Convention will be held in Dallas, Texas on May 26-30, The Decoy Bag DU's Online Event Merchandise Order System Over the past several months a new tool has been developed that is now available to you. We can process event merchandise orders by using The Decoy Bag. The Decoy Bag allows event merchandise orders to be placed via the Internet and directly interfaces with our current inventory system. Some of the benefits: Ability to track shipped orders Reduce number of incorrect items ordered No paperwork delay Immediate access to special offers A few things to note that will help online ordering run smoothly: To get started, work with your regional director to learn and become familiar with the process. The Web address:

5 Indiana Conservation Highlights By Michael Sertle, Regional Biologist Over the past months of May and June, I have worked on numerous old and new projects throughout Indiana. In early May, I inspected the site conditions of former DU projects at Place Trail Marsh and Kingsbury Fish and Wildlife Area (FWA) that were funded by the Indiana Grand Kankakee Marsh Restoration Project (IGKMRP) through a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant. Both of these wetland projects were maintaining good water levels and holding many ducks. DU also contributed herbicide from Dow Agrosciences to our conservation partners for their use at Kankakee Sands Preserve, Goose Pond FWA, and Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge to improve hundreds of acres of nesting and brood-rearing habitat for waterfowl. DU reached an agreement with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to cost-share on the acquisition and protection of approximately 700 acres of wetlands adjacent to the Wabash River. DU s funding contribution was made possible by the 2008 Duke Energy Foundation grant. DU also will be working with the IDNR and National Wild Turkey Federation to restore an additional 200 acres of shallow wetlands at Goose Pond FWA within the upcoming year. This Field B engineering project was also made possible by funding from Duke Energy. Through the month of June, DU agreed to partner with the IDNR, IGKMRP, and NiSource to secure funding to conduct further improvements at Aukiki Wetland Conservation Area. While this funding is not yet secured, DU is hopeful that we will be able to move forward with this project by the fall. DU in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and IDNR completed an additional 32 acres of pothole and grassland projects through the Northeast Potholes Initiative with partner and NAWCA funding, providing important breeding habitat for Indiana s waterfowl. The largest project which DU is currently involved with includes the potential acquisition of over 5,000 acres of wetlands along the Wabash River outside of Terre Haute to create a brand new FWA. DU has partnered with multiple organizations to submit a one-million dollar NAWCA proposal to acquire the identified properties over the next 5 years. DU s funding contribution was made possible on behalf of grants received form Duke Energy. If awarded, this NAWCA grant will allow DU and its partners to protect and restore thousands of acres of waterfowl habitat. We are hopeful for the future success of this proposal. Finally, DU has also agree to partner with the FWS on a 22-acre wetland restoration in western Indiana with funding made available through the Indiana PRIDE program. DU continues to work on additional projects in Lake, Pike, and Posey Counties. There are many projects which are brought to our attention, but require funding which we do not have available. Unfortunately, DU had to turn down wetland projects which will produce quality waterfowl habitat at Salamonie Reservoir, in White and Porter Counties, at Summit Lake State Park, and others. This unfortunate situation has arisen from a lack of funds restricted for use within Indiana which are made available through the Indiana PRIDE program. To get an article in the newsletter, please contact Jean Prough at jimjeanprough@yahoo.com.