Conservation Achievements

Since its establishment in 1971, the Waterfowl Festival event has raised nearly $5.7 million for wildlife and habitat conservation, education and research. To date, the organization has invested nearly $4 million in habitat conservation, more than $1.2 million in environmental education, and more than $26,000 in wildlife research initiatives.

The following is a partial summary of projects supported, and partners with which we have collaborated, over the last decade:

Adkins Arboretum

  • Native Plant Restoration and Wetland Habitat Enhancement
  • Environmental Studies Internship Program
  • Expansion of Native Landscape Education for Middle School Students
  • Construction of Accessible Wetlands Viewing Boardwalk and Platform
  • Arboretum Orientation and Outdoor Education for Children

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

  • Restoration of Interpretive Center Waterfowl Wetland Habitat
  • Construction of Hiking Trails to Expand Wildlife Viewing for Refuge Visitors

Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center

  • Waterfowl Conservation Education Programs for Visitors and Students
  • Multi-Phase Lake Knapp Restoration Project
  • Construction of Wildfowl Care Facility

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

  • On-the-Water Field Trips for Local Elementary Students Aboard Skipjack Sailboat

Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage

  • Chesapeake Wetlands and Buffer Restoration Projects
  • Support for Sanctuaries in Non-Hunted Areas for Wintering Canada Geese
  • Wood Duck Nesting Box Construction and Maintenance

Ducks Unlimited

  • Delmarva Peninsula Habitat Landowner Stewardship Projects
  • Multi-Phase Wetland Restoration at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy

  • Landowner Stewardship Initiatives for Critical Farm and Habitat Properties

Echo Hill Outdoor School

  • Estuarine Ecology Multi-Day Field Experience for Middle School Students

Environmental Concern

  • Schoolyard Habitat Installation Projects for Teachers and Students
  • ‘Wetlands on Wheels’ Mobile Nature Experience for Elementary School Students
  • Environmentally Sensitive Erosion Control and Wetland Demonstration Project

Fair Hill Environmental Center

  • Elementary School Environmental Education Programs

Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

  • Research Fellowship on Ecological Issues Facing Submerged Aquatic Vegetation
  • Wetlands Workshops for High School Science Teachers

Jean duPont Shehan Audubon Sanctuary

  • Wetlands Installation and Habitat Restoration

Living Shoreline Educational Programming at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Pickering Creek Audubon Environmental Center

  • Conservation Education Field Trip Experience for Elementary School Students
  • Birding and Fishing Watershed Ecology Program for High School Biology Students
  • Lifetime of Stewardship Youth Educational Programming

Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art

  • Chesapeake Bay Headwaters Ecosystem Studies for Students and Teachers