Latest / Ducks Unlimited Podcast / Big Honker Podcast at DUX, the Duck Factory Fight & the Future of Conservation

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Big Honker Podcast at DUX, the Duck Factory Fight & the Future of Conservation · Ducks Unlimited Podcast

• 0:20
  VO: You're tuned in to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast. Conserving wetlands, restoring habitat, and working to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow, and forever. From field tested hunting insights to the biggest conservation wins across North America, this is your front row seat to wetlands conservation in action. The DU Podcast is proudly sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. Whether you're wrapping up a hunt with your best friend or kicking back with your crew, Bird Dog brings award winning flavor to every moment.
• 0:51
  Enjoy responsibly.
• 0:58
  Andy Stanfield: Alright, boys and girls. We are here with Adam Putnam, the CEO of Ducks Unlimited. We are excited to have you, sir. There's a lot going on. It has been a fantastic weekend here in Memphis.
• 1:10
  Adam Putnam: It it really has. I'm so proud of the turnout of the people who have driven in from, gosh, across the country. True. I ran into somebody yesterday who'd driven in from New York State. But, you know, this is it's central, strong, deep, rich, waterfowling traditions, and this is this show has just exceeded all of our expectations.
• 1:34
  Andy Stanfield: Yeah. Year one was incredible, and then seeing everything year two, that's always the thing. Right? It's like, how are we gonna top what we did this year? And I mean, this is just far and away exceeded anything that you guys that we had in our imagination.
• 1:49
  Adam Putnam: Well, it has. You know, last year, we had 20,000 people come through. This year, I'm confident we'll beat that number. And Ducks Unlimited does 6,000 events a year. This is by far the biggest.
• 2:02
  But like all the other 6,000 volunteers made this happen.
• 2:06
  Andy Stanfield: Right.
• 2:07
  Adam Putnam: You know, we've got a great core staff team that sort of executes, but the load in, the load out, making it all happen, a lot of that really comes down to the secret sauce of DU, which is our volunteers.
• 2:20
  Andy Stanfield: We were talking, excuse me, we were talking to Shoemaker yesterday, and, you know, he said that's just kinda it kinda seamlessly transitions, you know, our our volunteer staff, and and the amount of events that we run all over the nation all year long, it just kinda seamlessly falls into place for this amazing weekend of waterfowling.
• 2:40
  Adam Putnam: Seamless is a good word for it, and it, you know, it really boils down to the passion, right? Passion for being outdoors, the passion for waterfowling, the passion for leaving the world better than we found it, the passion for bringing our kids along so that they fall in love with this wonderful tradition and want, and have that same fire burning in their gut, And that passion is what has fueled Ducks Unlimited's success for ninety years.
• 3:06
  Jeff Stanfield: This is about American as you can get. You come in this morning, there's a church service here, there's people selling guns over here. Everybody has the same passion, everybody loves the same things.
• 3:16
  Adam Putnam: You're exactly right. I mean, it really is. When you think about America's two hundred and fiftieth birthday, I think our founders would be proud that the faith still guides us.
• 3:27
  Jeff Stanfield: Yes,
• 3:28
  Adam Putnam: amen. That people are are still committed to their communities, they're volunteering, they're they're giving back, they're doing something that's greater than themselves, they're active citizens, and and they're protecting those those core constitutional rights that were worth fighting a war over.
• 3:44
  Andy Stanfield: Speaking speaking of everything, so there is a lot that has happened in the last week. We we have ducks this weekend, but now all of a sudden, it bursts onto the landscape that some of the Prairie Pothole region that we thought was protected, now all of a sudden could be under attack. So explain this to everybody that has been living under a rock for the last three or four days.
• 4:06
  Adam Putnam: In workman's terms. Absolutely, absolutely. So here's the let's start at 40,000 feet. Duck hunters buy duck stamps.
• 4:15
  Andy Stanfield: Yes,
• 4:16
  Adam Putnam: sir. And that is a covenant with the future of duck hunting, because the proceeds from those duck stamps are used to purchase the most highly productive waterfowl nesting and breeding grounds in North America, which are in the Prairie Pothole region of The US and Canada. Those duck stamp dollars stay in The United States and they're used to buy from willing sellers. These are all voluntary. This is an eminent domain.
• 4:41
  The best of the best of the Prairie potholes, those shallow wetland depressions made when the glaciers receded from North America and left behind prime duck nesting habitat. So, duck stamp dollars are used for that. For sixty years, that's been the case. That promise, that covenant between today's hunters and tomorrow's hunters is sacrosanct in my mind. Unfortunately, the US Fish and Wildlife Service is contemplating repealing a really important rule that is the core protection of those wetlands, the value of those wetlands.
• 5:18
  In other words, if implemented, it would allow the drainage of those wetlands by installing drain tile, which is a very common agricultural production practice, except when it's on an easement that we've bought and paid for. And so, you know, all these folks in here, they're private property rights owners, private property rights supporters. Ducks Unlimited is the go to partner for farmers and ranchers in America. We are we are absolutely shoulder to shoulder that we need food security in this country, we need national security, and that national security comes from being able to feed yourself. But ducks and agriculture coexist nicely.
• 6:01
  And so this fight, this issue that we're asking people to weigh in on, we're asking people to go to ducks.org and sign the petition, we're asking people to make their voice heard, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has issued what is called a request for information and we intend to give it to them. We intend to inform them of the importance of these wetland prairie potholes. We intend to inform them that duck hunters in Arkansas and Louisiana need those potholes to be productive if we're gonna have birds in front of our blind. And whether you duck hunt or not, if you love clean water, if you love spaces for wildlife, not just ducks and geese, but all the songbirds and shorebirds and deer and turkeys who benefit from those wetland habitats, that's why we need people to take action. That's why we need people to make their voice heard.
• 6:48
  Jeff Stanfield: When say tile, explain to people what the tile really is because a lot of people don't understand. When they think of tile, they're thinking of like kitchen floor.
• 6:56
  Adam Putnam: Great point.
• 6:56
  Andy Stanfield: Great
• 6:57
  Adam Putnam: point. So I'm a fifth generation farmer from Florida, and we grow citrus and raise beef cattle. We're in the ranching business. I mean, I was a ten year four H'er, was an FFA, I was ag commissioner, I am as pro agriculture as you can possibly be. And agriculture's a hard business.
• 7:21
  You got everything working against you. You got foreign markets, you got mother nature, you got people don't want to do it, it's only a percent and a half of the population who do it. Agricultural drain tile is a technique that hundreds of years old, but the modern version of it is that it is essentially a polyplastic tubing that's perforated and you bury it in a grid pattern on your fields so that when you have big rain events, you can quickly and evenly move the water rapidly off of your land and it's remarkably effective. That subsurface drainage infrastructure, which is what that tile is, and hundreds of years ago, it was made out of busted terra cotta tile, hence the name. Today, it's plastic.
• 8:18
  It works too good. It works so good that if you install that drain too close to a duck stamp easement that was purchased for the sole purpose of keeping it wet, it will pull that water out from that wetland and rapidly move it off the farmer's field. And so the issue is how close to that duck stamp easement are you allowed to install that drain tile? And we take the position that you cannot install it so close that it drains the integrity of the wetland for the reason for which it was purchased. We're all for farmers at being able to have high yields, high productivity, make a profit, pass their farm on to the next generation just like we want our kids to have the opportunity to hunt for the next generation.
• 9:14
  But in this case, what they're considering doing is upending sixty years of precedent for protecting those easements and the integrity of that wetland, which is the integrity of that wetland productivity for for wet for waterfowl. And that's why it's so important that duck hunters from across the country make their voices heard. This is not anti property rights. It's not anti ag. It's saying, hey, our property right is this easement that Ducks stamp dollars paid for.
• 9:47
  We're gonna be a good neighbor. Don't install that tile so close that it drains that wetland and undermines its value for ducks and geese.
• 9:56
  Jeff Stanfield: How many millions of acres do they think this is gonna affect?
• 9:59
  Adam Putnam: Well, this could have a profound effect on potentially a majority of the pothole easements that have been purchased over the last sixty years. We'll put it that way.
• 10:11
  Jeff Stanfield: And this is all in The United States, like North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana?
• 10:14
  Adam Putnam: That's correct. North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, pieces of Minnesota is still that remnant of the prairie pothole region left in The United States. That's the area that would be impacted by this potential rule change,
• 10:26
  VO: yes.
• 10:27
  Jeff Stanfield: And so basically,
• 10:29
  Adam Putnam: lateral line. Exactly. It is a laterally installed plastic perforated tubing that mainlines that water off that field, and it's highly effective for agriculture. It would be highly effective for draining the wetlands, and that's what we can't have.
• 10:48
  Andy Stanfield: So who had an initial problem with the way that things were set up? Like, why is it all of a sudden that we're talking about installing lateral lines to drain ponds that were already we purchased them, like you said. This has already been purchased. So where did inception of this idea come from?
• 11:05
  Adam Putnam: I think over time, people forget that the reason People take for granted what's in abundance. Sure. And the pothole region has been so successful in working to drought proof duck season, right? Like the reason why we buy these easements, the reason why duck hunters spend more to protect this habitat is because, you know, droughts come and go.
• 11:34
  Jeff Stanfield: Heaven
• 11:35
  Adam Putnam: flow. But if you protect that habitat forever, then you are drought proofing the Prairies that when the rains come back, there will still be wetlands that will rapidly rebound and spike the population of waterfowl. That's why of all the birds in North America, waterfowl have been, have had the most successful recovery. But over time, I think people forget about that and they take for granted that there's always gonna be ducks. They forget about the Dust Bowl.
• 12:01
  They forget about the hard work of organizations like Ducks Unlimited and the dollars that duck hunters spend to make sure that that we don't have to worry about whether they go away, the way that big game almost disappeared in the early twentieth century. And so we sometimes we have to remind people of that, and it's really important for no other reason for duck hunters to make their voice heard, to remind everybody that while we may be a small portion of society, we're a mighty portion of society, and we vote, and we pay attention, and we care about the science, and we're willing to get involved, we're willing to write our congressman, we're willing to sign the petition, we're willing to write the secretary of the interior, the director of the fish and wildlife service to make our voices heard, that's the essence of this good citizenship model. And like I say, that's really where the rub comes, is you find like the next generation of the easement holder forgets why their grandfather sold it. Their grandfather sold it voluntarily, maybe because they believed in having waterfowl productivity forever also. They had the same values that the people here at this show have.
• 13:13
  Andy Stanfield: Right. How long do you think How long do you see this fight going on for? Is this going to be a quick resolution one way or the other, or is this going to be like everything else in government where it drags on? You know, are we still gonna be talking about this at next year's DUX event?
• 13:29
  Adam Putnam: Great question. We certainly hope that we're able to resolve this. In the context of what the battle right in front of us, we only have until next Friday for this, the window for comments.
• 13:44
  Jeff Stanfield: Oh, wow.
• 13:45
  Adam Putnam: They only gave us fourteen days. We're halfway through that period. So at midnight Saturday morning, 11:59 Friday night, we've gotta have all our comments in, and that's why we're at, that's why the, that's why we're ringing the bell here. That's why we need people to sign the petition and weigh in. We've only got a week to make our voice heard.
• 14:04
  The important thing here as well is that, you know, I've talked about we're pro ag, we're pro property rights. We're working, there is a legitimate subset of farmers who in the 60s and 70s sold those easements. Yep. And because the mapping technology was so poor back then, we didn't have, you know, we didn't have On X and we didn't have GPS, they gave up more than they were paid for because the maps were bad. We're working with those farmers, we're working with North Dakota elected officials to fix that problem because that's a legitimate problem.
• 14:44
  That's not fair to that landowner. And Ducks Unlimited has personally delivered the message that we will work with anybody that will resolve that difference of lost, what you gave up versus what you were paid for. That's a total legitimate fairness issue. But that's not what we're talking about with these petitions. And that's not what this issue is about, the potential for them to repeal the rule that protects the integrity of those duck stamp easements and it's so important for people to weigh in.
• 15:14
  It takes less than one minute, it's like three clicks and you're done to sign the petition. Ducks.org, you know, don't drain the duck factory. That's really what's at stake and if you want your children and your children's children to have the opportunities we've had, you need to sign the petition. If you're not a duck hunter but you care about clean water, sign the petition.
• 15:37
  Jeff Stanfield: This should be bipartisan too because the people that are anti hunters, how many how many animals are affected outside of ducks?
• 15:44
  Adam Putnam: Man, this is this is the primo habitat for ducks and geese, but it's also the primo habitat for red winged blackbirds. Yes. This is the habitat for pheasants. This is the habitat for big game like deer. This is the habitat for songbirds and shorebirds.
• 15:59
  These are migratory bird. This is the stopover for all the migratory birds, not just waterfowl. And so it's essential and it is bipartisan. You're right. I am pleased to have seen the, you know, Ducks Unlimited's prided ourselves on being bipartisan.
• 16:17
  And I'm proud to see the industry partners like the ones in this room who have spoken out, emailed their customers. Johnny Morris and Bass Pro Shops are joining our effort to inform their lists, and we've seen Dive Bomb do that, and we've seen Alps do that. We've seen a whole host of the outdoor industry. We've got bipartisan US senators who have weighed in on this. We've got the support of the chairman of the House Ag Committee and the Senate Ag Committee.
• 16:45
  It's hard to say it's anti ag when the two chairman of the ag committees are are supporting the conservation element of this of this argument. Yeah. And so, it's really been heartening to see that conservation is a bipartisan issue and guaranteeing outdoor experiences for future generations is also bipartisan. It seems to me
• 17:06
  Jeff Stanfield: that with all that support, that this should this should give me a roadblock that won't go forward. I mean, would think the supreme court would get involved if we have to even, but it shouldn't have to go that far because people are going against their word. They're taking them they're talking about what used to be an inch to a foot. Is it something like that? Is that correct?
• 17:23
  Adam Putnam: That's exactly right. I mean, it gets it gets real complicated real fast, but the bottom line is if you can install those lateral lines, if you can install that drain tile, it will bring down the water levels of those wetlands, which are already shallow. That's what makes them so productive is that they are shallow wetlands supporting that nesting and breeding habitat, supporting those invertebrates, which are so important to egg development and nesting success. You don't have to train it much to destroy value of that wetland, and that's why this matters. It shouldn't have to go to the Supreme Court.
• 17:57
  It should be an easy decision, but it's Washington, man. Let's not assume that common sense will prevail. Let's guarantee that common sense will prevail by making our voice heard.
• 18:08
  Jeff Stanfield: Is this gonna go to vote? Like, is this gonna go to an actual vote or is this gonna be just the Department of the Interior's decision?
• 18:14
  Adam Putnam: This is a Department of This is a US Fish and Wildlife Service decision, and we are strongly encouraging everybody to lean on the Fish and Wildlife Service for them to do the right thing. The reason for their existence is protection of fish and wildlife. Yes. Let's get on it, fellas.
• 18:32
  Jeff Stanfield: When will this all come down?
• 18:34
  Adam Putnam: Well, like I say, the window for comment closes midnight on Friday, and that's why we need everybody to make that final push. Three clicks and you're done, man. Come on. Come on. You can do it in your bunny slippers.
• 18:45
  Let's get it done.
• 18:45
  Andy Stanfield: So what does that mean that the the time for comment is over? Like, if enough people have, let's say, raids enough cane, that this, is that what it means? Like like, I don't understand what Friday, just to see how much stink they raised.
• 19:00
  Adam Putnam: It's let's let's look at it like this. We we need everybody to raise a little cane
• 19:07
  Andy Stanfield: Yeah.
• 19:07
  Adam Putnam: In a thoughtful way, in a productive way to point out the value of these wetlands that duck stamp dollars paid for, that were purchased by a willing from a willing seller. And then you get past Friday, and I'd like to see it be like, you know, 90% on our side of this issue. And then what gives us, who support this side of the equation, a seat at the table with Fish and Wildlife to say, alright, now you've heard from the duck hunters. Yep. You poked the bear.
• 19:38
  Yep. Let's sit down and talk about the right way to fix legitimate concerns with landowners that were unfairly treated in the nineteen sixties, but let's protect the integrity of this easement program. Right. And we get a lot stronger bargaining power if we have thousands of people who've made their voice heard.
• 19:56
  Jeff Stanfield: I think there's 3,000,000 waterfowl hunters in America or 300,000. I'm getting my zeros mixed one way or other.
• 20:01
  Adam Putnam: 1,200,000 duck stamps sold every year.
• 20:03
  Jeff Stanfield: Okay, 1.2. So we're saying 900,000, 1,000,000 duck hunters probably because some people buy them just they buy a super combo in Texas and they Absolutely. May not So let's say million people. So if 1,000,000 people in America sign this order, it should
• 20:16
  Adam Putnam: be easy. It should be, but 1,000,000 haven't signed it yet. We need to, you know, we need we need to stir the pot and get everybody involved.
• 20:23
  Jeff Stanfield: Every booth here has got a sticker on it.
• 20:25
  Adam Putnam: Every booth here has got a QR code. They've been so good. Gosh, this this this community, the conservation community, the outdoor industry, they've rallied behind it. But, you know, we're small but we're mighty. We just need to make our voice heard.
• 20:38
  We need to get loud.
• 20:39
  Jeff Stanfield: It's gonna come down to hopefully, we don't have to come to Congress over this. Hopefully, we can override if the interior goes the wrong way, but congress could get involved hopefully if we had to. We cut off funding or whatever we need to do.
• 20:53
  Adam Putnam: That is correct. Like I say, we don't we don't we're not really interested in a protracted war. Let's it's so obvious. Let's let's protect the easements and go on and save some more habitat and put some more ducks in the air. It's such a waste of energy that we've gotta have this fight, but we've gotta have this fight.
• 21:10
  Andy Stanfield: Well, and duck hunters are all over. You know, everybody is concerned about the duck population and if that is on the forefront of your mind, you should be signing this ASAP.
• 21:19
  Adam Putnam: You know, we're we're now in a, what, our fourth year of a prairie drought.
• 21:25
  Andy Stanfield: Right.
• 21:26
  Adam Putnam: Everybody's seen fewer ducks in front of their blind because of that prairie drought. But what they need to remember is the habitat that we protect through these duck stamp easements means that when that drought cycle breaks, and it will break, it always does, they will rapidly rebound. If you don't have those easements and they are drained and plowed over, they never come back. That's what our scientists would call a permanent drought.
• 21:51
  Andy Stanfield: And,
• 21:52
  Adam Putnam: you know, the last couple years, we've been on the ragged edge of a restricted season. We feel better about this season. We've had a little better rains, had a little spring moisture. I think we're gonna see a slight increase from what we had last year, but it's still very much drought conditions. This habitat guarantees that when the rains come back, the ducks come back.
• 22:13
  If you lose the habitat, you lose the ducks forever.
• 22:16
  Jeff Stanfield: What's scary about this is is if we can't win the battle in The United States, if this goes to Canada, what kind of foothold do we have?
• 22:23
  Adam Putnam: Well, you know, that's a whole another kettle of fish. But you know, Canada actually is producing more of our birds for North America Of course. Than The US is. And we've got a really, you know, Ducks Unlimited was founded to be a continental organization. Until 1984, every dollar raised in The United States went to protect Canadian habitat because it's productive, it was under less threat until recently.
• 22:49
  Now that Canadian habitat is being converted at basically the same rate as US habitat. And so, both US and Canadian prairies are are are under threat. But for this particular issue with the petition, it only affects The United States habitat.
• 23:03
  Andy Stanfield: Right. Deal with what you have to deal with.
• 23:06
  Adam Putnam: Yeah. Let's put this one fight
• 23:07
  Andy Stanfield: at a time
• 23:08
  Adam Putnam: boys. One fight at a time.
• 23:09
  Andy Stanfield: We'll, we'll worry about that if if that shoe drops.
• 23:19
  VO: Stay tuned to the Ducks Unlimited Podcast sponsored by Bird Dog Whiskey after these messages.
• 23:34
  Jeff Stanfield: What direction do you see do you go in forward toward the next decade?
• 23:38
  Adam Putnam: You know, Ducks Unlimited is a magical organization because of our volunteers. In world where fewer and fewer people are joining, right, fewer Rotarians, fewer people, you know, being scout leaders, fewer people being four H leaders. DU continues to attract concerned, great American citizens who volunteer. 33,000 volunteers make the magic happen for Ducks Unlimited. I see that continuing to grow over the next decade.
• 24:08
  It has grown dramatically over the last decade. We've defied all the odds. We continue to grow. The event system, you know, in a world where people are impersonal and they're attached to their devices, people still seek out their local DU event, particularly in small towns, as a way of connecting with one another over a lifestyle. There might be turkey hunters, there might be pheasant hunters, there might be deer hunters, but it's the outdoor lifestyle that we want our kids to be a part of.
• 24:35
  Hunting and fishing and being outside and watching the world wake up. That's the lifestyle element that Ducks Unlimited creates and sustains through that event system. At the same time, we're better positioned because of the strength of our science program and our engineering and doing wetlands restoration that companies that are not here at Ducks, companies that are in financial services, companies that are in manufacturing, companies that are in technology that are impacting our water resources are now seeking out Ducks Unlimited to say, hey, can you help us recharge the aquifer? Can you help us remove nutrients from the water? Can you help us do coastal resilience in the Chesapeake or on the Louisiana Gulf Coast at massive scale?
• 25:20
  And so an organization that used to have Winchester and YETI and Bass Pro as our corporate partners now have all of those corporate partners, the 300 vendors you see here and Microsoft and Coca Cola and Pepsi and Frito Lay because we're the water solutions provider. We are the proud partner and the preferred partner of American agriculture, farmers and ranchers. And so, DU has really fueled its growth by being best in class at providing bipartisan solutions that are common sense, science based, fixing America's water problems. And America's water problems will be a bigger issue sooner than America's carbon problems.
• 26:07
  Jeff Stanfield: Oh, there's a 100% living in West Texas, the data centers and the water issue is that's all they talk about right now.
• 26:14
  Adam Putnam: Water is the biggest issue. I mean, water is the number one issue in America. We went through kind of a decade where everybody was talking about carbon, nobody was talking about water. The next decade will be defined by water.
• 26:25
  Jeff Stanfield: Yes. I agree a 100%.
• 26:27
  Andy Stanfield: I've you know, we've talked about it a lot before. It if you're a college kid going off to college, you know nobody, join Ducks Unlimited. Go to an event. You're gonna meet like minded people, abundance, and then you have you have a place to go. You know, you have a sense of purpose, and then you can, like you said, I mean, you can you can start as a volunteer, and then you can work your way up, and there there's no telling what the future could hold for you.
• 26:52
  Adam Putnam: That's such a good point. One one of the big drivers of our growth has been the college chapters. Yeah. You find your people, right? Yeah.
• 26:59
  You grow up, you go off to school, you're you're in this huge school, it's intimidating, you don't know who your friends are. You find your people at Ducks Unlimited. You're a volunteer, you run that collegiate chapter, you stand out when you graduate because you've got something on your resume line that employers are looking for. You've organized an event, you gave back to your community, you sold tables, you managed a budget. You worked with a team.
• 27:25
  You were successful in raising those dollars and so, yeah, we just had our third term a couple of weeks ago here in Memphis. You know, three fifty of our collegiate leaders, the best of the best, you know, they they're putting on events that are larger than the some of the adult events. North Carolina State does an event that has almost 2,000 people. Wow. They do two events a year.
• 27:48
  The second one only has a thousand people. I mean, college kids are the future of the conservation movement, but they're the future of our country. They're gonna be voters, they're gonna be taxpayers, they're gonna be elected officials, and they've all got this sense of the conservation DNA that runs through Ducks Unlimited and this whole conservation community. It's pretty special.
• 28:08
  Jeff Stanfield: Ducks Unlimited's very diverse, and I've noticed that. I've been in the hunting business for over thirty years. Back thirty years ago, it was the same 35 to 55 year old white man that hunted, and that was it. Women, people of color, they've embraced hunting, and they've taken over big roles in every place, and that's so refreshing to see because that's where our country is.
• 28:29
  Adam Putnam: That's exactly right. You know, is inspiring like that third term program, our collegiate program that was here. You know, it's 35% female leaders. They're running these chapters. They're managing these events.
• 28:43
  They're raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for the conservation movement. And they're going to then enter the workforce and enter society better informed about hunting, absolutely supportive of hunting. That bleeds into Second Amendment issues and support for responsible firearms. It bleeds into the conversations at the PTA. It blends into everything.
• 29:08
  If you care about the future of this great outdoor tradition, hunting and angling, then we better get smart about being good recruiters and being a welcoming element to new people and introducing them to these wonderful traditions. And and that's what these collegiate chapters are doing. It's really remarkable.
• 29:28
  Jeff Stanfield: Y'all are great stewards of the land, and we're passing that tradition on to younger people who will hopefully push that onto their younger people down the road, and that's where we're gonna have to go. So do you get actually I'm gonna make it a little personal. Do you get a hunt munch yourself?
• 29:40
  Adam Putnam: I do. That is definitely a perk of the job. I get to hunt, and it's an honor. You think about the people who, you know, the fall, say September through February, is when people are thinking about Ducks Unlimited the most. They're most excited to show off their property, their habitat, what they're doing that's working, what's not working.
• 30:04
  It's when they wanna know where are the ducks, why aren't they here yet, when are they gonna get here, why are there more gadwalls and fewer petio, why are there more of this and less of that. They're interested in the science, and the best place to answer those questions and keep them passionate about DU is in a blind. And so I do get to spend a lot of time afield. It's wonderful.
• 30:22
  Jeff Stanfield: Isn't it great when you get to go with a first time hunter out and they get to experience?
• 30:26
  Adam Putnam: Oh, it makes makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. It it there's nothing more special. Aldo Leopold talks about, you know, kind of the evolution of a hunter. You know, when you're a kid, you're just, you know, you're horn hunting, right? Like, how many points?
• 30:39
  How many points? And and then you reach a certain era in your life when you're like, you know, I'm just gonna go sit and see what I and see what happens. And and then you reach a point where the most special thing in the world to me is bringing a first time hunter, bringing a kid along, bringing a colleague who doesn't really understand it but they wanna know more. That's that evolution. That's like that highest order of the hunting tradition, right, bringing out a first timer.
• 31:05
  Jeff Stanfield: Has it been a big change going from a Floridian duck hunting to Memphis, Tennessee hunting?
• 31:11
  Adam Putnam: Yeah, man. I had to buy some new clothes. It gets cold up here compared to Florida. Yeah, I don't need as much mosquito spray when I hunt up here. That's been a big change and and you know, the nice thing about Ducks Unlimited being a continental organization, you know, you get to see, you get to, you know, follow the flight, right, and start off in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and Alberta and and, you know, really see what that that Prairie Pothole region looks like, you know, in September, and then finish in the South, in Louisiana or Arkansas in January, and really understand the different cultures, the different traditions, the different, you know, different, you know, whether people are mallard snobs or spoony snobs, you know, who thinks they all taste, they're all good, and somebody's like, oh, I can't believe that you did that.
• 32:05
  A really fun part of the magic of hunting different regions of the country. You go to California, man, and they're all eating rice and they all taste good. They're all just delicious. So it's a really neat way of understanding the subtle differences, but at the end of the day, the common passion about habitat and leaving it better than we found it, and bringing new people in to to support and enjoy this wonderful tradition.
• 32:34
  Andy Stanfield: What's your favorite duck that's not a mallard? I know the green head is kind of the king of everything. It's on the top of everybody's list.
• 32:41
  Adam Putnam: What what use? It's funny. I I'm not a mallard snob.
• 32:44
  Andy Stanfield: You're not a mallard snob?
• 32:44
  Adam Putnam: I am not a mallard snob. I I think a pintail is pretty
• 32:48
  Andy Stanfield: special. Pintail. And and
• 32:50
  Adam Putnam: I mean, they're just gorgeous birds. But They're tricky like, sporting sportiness though, teal. I mean, like, who doesn't love to try to even the little jet fighters come buzz you.
• 33:01
  Andy Stanfield: And it's always the first it's always September. You know, it's always, like, the first time taking out the waiters, busting out the decoys, and
• 33:08
  Adam Putnam: That's that's exactly right.
• 33:09
  Andy Stanfield: And then you get to see how bad of a shot you actually are because these things are buzzing by
• 33:13
  Adam Putnam: and Very humbling.
• 33:14
  Andy Stanfield: Very humbling, and then people start making fun of you, and it gets a a little bit more complicated.
• 33:18
  Adam Putnam: And you know what? The water don't lie. No. The water don't lie. When they buzz by and everybody sees your shot pattern about three feet behind, the water don't lie.
• 33:25
  Jeff Stanfield: Put your bucket list there.
• 33:27
  Andy Stanfield: Three feet's generous.
• 33:28
  Adam Putnam: Oh, if I had let me flip that around a little bit and say, if you told me you've got one hunt left in your life, it's leaning up against a tree in flooded timber.
• 33:40
  Jeff Stanfield: I've never experienced that. Ain't a of trees in I West
• 33:44
  Adam Putnam: know a guy. I bet we can fix that.
• 33:46
  Jeff Stanfield: My problem is time.
• 33:48
  Adam Putnam: But, oh my goodness, just the it's just raw. It's just primal. It's the way it's supposed to be. You're just looking down at the reflection in the water, leaning against a tree, not nearly as much equipment, and when they start dropping down, it just stirs something in your soul.
• 34:12
  Jeff Stanfield: Turns everybody into Nash Buckingham.
• 34:14
  Adam Putnam: Well, we all we all we all pretend like we're Nash Buckingham Kinda like growing up in Florida water skiing, you know, we all thought we were good enough to be on the Cypress Garden ski team, but we're not. I'm not good enough to be Nash Buckingham, but I just like to pretend like I am when I'm leaning behind that tree with a double barrel.
• 34:31
  Andy Stanfield: Now, next year is ninety years of conservation. What do we have looking forward? And not just for Ducks Unlimited, but it's gonna be year three of this event, so what are we looking forward to for Ducks Unlimited in the next year?
• 34:45
  Adam Putnam: So next year's gonna be all about celebrating, you know, ninety years of habitat conservation restoration success. It's gonna be about celebrating those volunteers that made that ninety years possible. I mean, think how ambitious it was in the depths of the Dust Bowl for a handful of guys to say, you know what, I think we can turn around the continental populations of a migratory bird species. I mean, that's pretty Right. Like, how many drinks
• 35:13
  Jeff Stanfield: in Pretty bold.
• 35:14
  Adam Putnam: How many drinks in were they when they're like, you know, my God, hold my beer, watch this.
• 35:18
  Andy Stanfield: I think we can do it.
• 35:19
  Adam Putnam: I think we can do it and they did.
• 35:21
  Jeff Stanfield: It was in New York, wasn't it?
• 35:23
  Adam Putnam: It was. It one of the better ideas to ever come out of New York. Amen. So, you know, ninety years ago, the audacity of duck hunters to think that they could change the direction of the population of a North American species, and they did it. And we've still got work to do.
• 35:44
  We still lose wetlands every day despite all the progress and despite how good we are at what we do. We're still falling behind. And so, you're gonna see a lot of celebrations. You're gonna have a big ninetieth celebration on the Intrepid in New York City to celebrate that ninety years. You're gonna see regional celebrations all around the country.
• 36:03
  You're gonna see people recommitting to do projects in their backyard and recommitting to the duck factory itself, and gosh, I'd sure like for that ninetieth year not to be playing defense, which is what we're playing for the next week, which is why we need everybody to sign that petition. I'd love for it to be playing offense, doing more faster at a continental scale.
• 36:26
  Jeff Stanfield: Very good. Very good. An honor to have you on, and it's an honor to get to talk to the talk about this with you and look forward to the future for Ducks Unlimited.
• 36:35
  Adam Putnam: Well, man, I can't thank y'all enough for the partnership you have, helping us get the word out. Y'all are just tremendous advocates for waterfowling. The ethics of it, the heritage of it, the family traditions of it, the stewardship ethic of it. You you you've got a wonderful audience, and you're just so helpful in in getting the message out. Thank you for all you do for duck hunting and and for conservation across North America.
• 37:01
  Jeff Stanfield: Thank you and and God bless you, and God bless the Ducks Unlimited. Go ducks.org.
• 37:05
  Adam Putnam: Ducks.org. Absolutely. Sign petition. Sign the petition. Go to ducks.org.
• 37:09
  Andy Stanfield: We got we have until Friday, ladies and gentlemen. Get out there and save the Duck Factory, boys and girls. Alright. Thank you very much, Adam.
• 37:16
  Adam Putnam: Thank you, guys.
• 37:16
  Jeff Stanfield: Bye, everybody.
• 37:17
  VO: That's a wrap for today's episode of the Ducks Unlimited Podcast brought to you by Bird Dog Whiskey and Cocktails. From post hunt unwinds to celebrations back at camp, Bird Dog delivers award winning flavor to every moment. Enjoy responsibly. Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe, and check out ducks.org/dupodcast for more stories, science, and all things waterfowl. Guest opinions are their own and don't necessarily reflect those of Ducks Unlimited.
• 37:44
  Until next time, stay fired up, stay focused, and stay tuned to the Ducks. Hi.