Delta Waterfowl Foundation

founded in 1911
Bismarck, North Dakota

 to put two ducks back for each one shot by hunters

 

• 1911 origins in James Bird Burnham’s American Game Protective Association; James Ford Bell’s involvement began in the 1930s

Delta Waterfowl Foundation
PO Box 3128
1412 Basin Ave.
Bismarck, North Dakota 58502

deltawaterfowl.org

About Delta Waterfowl Foundation

Delta Waterfowl calls itself The Duck Hunters Organization. It is a North American conservation group focused on producing more ducks and protecting the future of waterfowl hunting. The organization traces its roots to September 25, 1911, when James Bird Burnham founded the American Game Protective Association. That group helped secure the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Federal Duck Stamp. The name Delta comes from the Delta Marsh in Manitoba. In the 1930s, General Mills founder James Ford Bell bought about 5,000 acres there and ran a private duck hatchery. In 1938 Bell asked conservationist Aldo Leopold to help set up a research station on the marsh. Leopold brought in graduate student H. Albert Hochbaum, and the Delta Waterfowl Research Station went on to shape the science of breeding-duck ecology.

Today Delta Waterfowl has offices in Bismarck, North Dakota, and Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its work rests on four pillars: duck production, habitat conservation, research, and hunter recruitment, which it calls hunteR3. Its best-known field programs are Hen Houses, which are nesting structures for mallards, predator management, and a University Hunting Program that introduces college students to waterfowling.

Key Facts

• September 25, 1911: James Bird Burnham founds the American Game Protective Association, the group Delta counts as its first form.
• 1930s: James Ford Bell buys about 5,000 acres of Manitoba’s Delta Marsh.
• 1938: Bell and Aldo Leopold set up the Delta Waterfowl Research Station.
• 2021: Delta Waterfowl marks its 110th anniversary.

Learn More

• Delta Waterfowl (official site)

Sources

• Delta Waterfowl History (Delta Waterfowl)
• Delta Waterfowl Foundation (Wikipedia)
• The Duck Hunters Organization Celebrates 110th Birthday (Delta Waterfowl)

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