Connecting flights

We like to think that the paths of Amy and Laine Meyer were destined to cross. And that they have Ducks Unlimited to thank. As we work towards achieving the goals of an ambitious continent-wide campaign, DU organizations are thanking major donors like the Meyers, in return.

Before they met, Amy and Laine Meyer were both passionate waterfowlers who were well acquainted with Ducks Unlimited (DU) through the fundraising event system: Amy in Ohio and Laine in Wisconsin. A professional engineer, Amy’s career eventually landed her in Wisconsin in 2009. At a Fond du Lac DU spring event, she bid on and won a guided duck hunt in the nearby community of Beaver Dam. In November that year, she travelled to Beaver Dam to take part in the hunt, along with her Chesapeake Bay retriever and a neighbour’s son whom she was mentoring to be a waterfowler. Laine was their guide.

“When I first met Laine, he was in hip waders,” Amy laughs. “And he had a black Lab, but I didn’t let that bother me too much.”

Quibbles about the best hunting dog breed aside, Amy says “we discovered we both had an absolute passion for duck hunting and loved being outdoors.” Beaver Dam DU volunteer and fellow major donor Mike Ptaschinski was best man at their wedding.

A shared passion for ducks and wetland conservation took the Meyers to 15 to 20 DU banquets across Wisconsin and neighbouring states every year. This was an impressive commitment already, but Amy notes that they were soon talking about taking their support to another level, and across borders.

“We had always sponsored dinners but then we started talking about becoming Grand Slam donors and supporting all the DU organizations across the continent. We took a global view of conservation.”

The conservation work in Mexico is critical for significant percentages of North America’s migratory birds that winter there, including blue-winged teal, which migrate from Manitoba’s prairie potholes to winter in the mangroves.

“I had never seen a blue-winged teal in full bloom in their breeding plumage. It was magical to see,” says Amy.

The blue-winged teal is one example of wildlife that don’t recognize borders — and as the Meyers have come to understand through their own journey, when it comes to conservation, neither should we.

Now married nearly 10 years, the Meyers support all three DU organizations at the major donor level in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

“It’s critical to support one end of the migration flyway to the other,” notes Amy. “Focusing on continent-wide conservation has an impact throughout the calendar year. A passion for waterfowl, science and projects in all three countries has benefits beyond simply one plus one plus one equals three.”

In Wisconsin, the Meyers had enjoyed learning about DU’s application of science in local conservation programs from biologist Brian Glenzinski. Then, in 2018, the couple travelled to Manitoba to see Ducks Unlimited Canada’s work on the waterfowl breeding grounds and to visit the iconic Delta Marsh, which Amy says, “was a great step in our enlightenment.”

Recent travels to Mexico for DU’s Mangrove Experience have also helped level up the Meyer’s understanding of the value of continental conservation. “I was blown away with how much the DU team in Mexico could do on relative pennies,” says Amy. Laine says he was impressed with the “amazing help and co-operation DU receives from local residents.”

Ducks Unlimited de México: Five decades of conservation on waterfowl wintering grounds