Conservation

For more than 50 years, Waterfowl Festival, Inc. has supported wildlife and habitat conservation, environmental education, and research throughout the Chesapeake region. Through the support of Festival visitors, donors, sponsors, exhibitors, and volunteers, millions of dollars have been invested in projects that protect wildlife, restore habitat, advance research, and connect communities with conservation.

The landscapes and waterways of the Chesapeake region provide critical habitat for waterfowl and countless other species. Waterfowl Festival is committed to helping create, restore, and conserve healthy habitats while supporting education, research, and community programs that help ensure their future.

Every Festival ticket, contribution, sponsorship, and act of support helps advance that mission.

• Conservation for a Continent
• Pickering Creek Environmental Center - Youth Wood Duck Box Project
• ShoreRivers - Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit
• Ducks Unlimited Delaware Ducks Unlimited Greenwing Conservation Festival for Youth

• ShoreRivers - Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit
• Ducks Unlimited - Delaware Ducks Unlimited Greenwing Conservation Festival for Youth
• Ducks Unlimited - Wye Island NRMA Wetland Restoration
• Phillips Wharf Envirnomental Center - Fishmobile Educational Display

The 400-acre Wellington Wildlife Management Area is part of one of the largest forested tracts on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, providing important habitat for waterfowl, migratory songbirds, and other wildlife.

Following the acquisition of additional former agricultural land, approximately 40 acres were identified for restoration to managed moist-soil wetlands. Waterfowl Festival contributed $25,000 to the project, joining Maryland DNR, Ducks Unlimited, and other funding partners in restoring native wetland habitat that benefits migratory waterfowl and wildlife.

Read the interim report here.

Funds from the Waterfowl Festival are being used to support the sixth grade Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) at Pickering Creek with Curriculum Supervisor Bill Keswick. During these exciting field trips, students work with Pickering Creek to plan and implement a planting project to reclaim wetlands on their property. “Hands-on environmental field experiences provide students with the unique opportunity to combine lessons learned in the classroom and the ability to take action to create positive change in their local environment, said Keswick. “This, plus the level of engagement provided by the change in location assist in making this a memorable aspect of their educational experience.”

MWEE projects provide student learning within the context of life-relevant, real-world problems or phenomena. They typically culminate in student action projects, which can take many forms, including environmental restoration or protection, everyday choices, community engagement, and civic action.

The Eastern Shore is such a unique environment right in our back yard. The Board of Director’s is committed to continue to support and promote conservation at every age.

Every year, the Waterfowl Festival chooses to support the TCPS Education Foundation with funds that promote their mission to create communities in which present and future generations cherish the beauty and abundant waterfowl thriving in their habitat throughout the Chesapeake and Coastal Bay regions.

Conservation has been part of the Waterfowl Festival's purpose for more than five decades. Your support helps continue that legacy through habitat restoration, environmental education, research, and community conservation projects throughout the region.