Saturday, Dec. 01, 2012

Ducks Unlimited sets fundraising goal

Ducks Unlimited is hoping to raise a lot of money at its annual fundraising dinner at the Los Banos Community Center tonight.

The 200-ticket event is sold out and, according to its organizer Derek Mynear, Ducks Unlimited is hoping to raise more than $30,000.

"Eighty three percent of the money goes right back in the ground," he said. "We're in the hub of one of the biggest waterfowl areas. Sixty percent of the waterfowl that goes through the Pacific Flyway for the winter come through here. It's important we keep the habitat up so they can get through the winter."

Mynear said the most important need for the grasslands in western Merced County is improvement of the water delivery system.

Tonight's 42nd annual dinner fundraiser includes a raffle and silent and live auctions. Prizes include raffles and other hunting equipment.

Mynear said, as a national organization, Ducks Unlimited's focus on the Central Valley is only second to the area in the Dakotas near Canada.

The wetland habitat in the Grasslands of Merced County encompasses 160,000 acres that provides a mosaic of habitat in a critically vital area for Pacific Flyway waterfowl. The wetland habitat was approximately 80 percent to 90 percent flooded for most areas last month at the start of the season.