Minnesota Waterfowl Association

To make a donation to the Minnesota Waterfowl Hall of Fame, please contact Brad Nylin at 952-767-0320 or email brad.nylin@mnwaterfowl.com

Robert (Bob) Bob Austin was the second president of the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, in the early 1970’s. In the early years of MWA, Bob worked with area manager John Idstrom from Owatonna, and Dr. John Komarek from Lonsdale, building waterfowl impoundment dikes and control structures in cooperation with the Minnesota DNR. Bob was instrumental in the 2005 and 2006 Capitol Duck Rallies, and has been active with the Sportsmen for Change group with the passage of the 2008 Legacy Amendment. Bob continues to be deeply involved with conservation issues.

Bob grew up chasing ducks and pheasants with his dad in the LeSueur area. After turning 14, Bob started hunting on his own. He continued to hunt ducks and pheasants throughout his school years. After graduation from high school, he attended Mankato State University and earned a degree in Wildlife Biology.

A job with North American Aviation took Bob to California , where he decided that Minnesota was the place for him. Bob moved back to Minnesota in 1965, and became active with the MWA in 1968 after returning from the Arctic Circle Lodge, where he worked with a variety of heavy equipment.

Leveraging that knowledge, Bob began a career using his biology background with his newfound heavy equipment skills. He started doing his own wetland impoundment work, restoring wetlands and installing water control structures on the land, working together with John Idstrom and “Doc” Komarek across southern Minnesota. Most of this work was done on private land – working on wetlands, creating dikes or plugging ditches. The three men showed farmers what was possible on their lands with a little work, and the work paid off. These projects produced real results and ducks in the air.

Bob continued his love of waterfowl, and came to the forefront of the scene again during the 2005 and 2006 duck rallies, and he hasn’t stopped there. Bob has used his time and talent to help promote the Legacy Funding that was passed in 2008, and continues to tend to the legislature and do the heavy lifting that is required to hold their feet to the fire and make them accountable for the future.

We are proud to honor Bob Austin this evening – for moving earth (literally and figuratively!) for Minnesota ducks.

Marvin (Marv) Bernet is a living legend. He has carved upwards of 2,000 decoys over the past 55 years. His skills are known throughout the Midwest and the entire country. Although most of Marv's decoys were designed for hunting, many are considered works of art.

Marv was born near Alma, Wisconsin, 1924. His father, a grocer, introduced Marv to hunting. Marv became enamored with nature and the lessons the outdoors had to teach. He lived only a block from the Mississippi River, and all the birds, animals, fish, snakes and plants which inhabited the backwater marshes, tributary streams and ponds.

By the time Marv was 15 years old, he could grab his single-shot 20-gauge shotgun after school, walk along the railroad tracks for 10 minutes and arrive in the heart of the Mississippi Flyway. One day he found a wooden decoy, chipped it out of the ice and brought it home. It was a Herter's Mallard.

In 1949, Marv made his fist decoys using cedar telephone poles for bodies and silhouette heads cut from board. They had no keels or dowels in the back. “They were pretty crude,” Marv says, but Joel Barber's book Wild Fowl Decoys inspired Marv to more artistic creations.

After four years of military service, Marv entered the University of Wisconsin in 1947. Aldo Leopold was his advisor. Marv graduated with a degree in soils and agronomy. He came to St. Paul in 1958, and the 1960s through 1980s were his most prolific decoy carving years. He used mostly white cedar, pine, hard balsa and basswood, and pine for the heads.

Marv blends form with function in these works of art. His decoys feature bold style with broad features that will both attract wildfowl and withstand the rigors of hard use. Marv's first of numerous awards was First Place at the International Decoy Contest, Puddle Duck Category, 1981.

Marv is a generous man whose good deeds go beyond the decoys he crafts. He willingly lends his knowledge to budding decoy carvers, is the annual guest carver at the Minnesota Decoy Collectors' Show, and has donated many decoys to conservation causes including the MWA, Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever.

We are proud to honor Marv Bernet this evening – for his place atop the list of Minnesota decoy makers, for his legendary carving career, and for his work which will endure to future generations.

With a youthful love of rivers, ducks and decoys, a distinguished career in waterfowl research, and a lifelong love of the waterfowling tradition, Harold Duebbert has displayed a permanent passion for waterfowl and wetlands.

Born in 1929 in the small river town of Wellington, Missouri, Harold was introduced to the art of waterfowling by his father, uncles and “old time” river men. As a teenager, Harold plied the Missouri River in search of migrating ducks and geese with a 16 foot row boat he built.

In 1951, Harold earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Central Missouri State University with a major in biology and a minor in agriculture. Following military service, he attended the University of Missouri, and in 1958, received a Master of Arts degree in Wildlife Management.

In 1960, Harold joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was later recruited by Harvey Nelson to join the burgeoning team of waterfowl research scientists at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in North Dakota. During his 21-year tenure there, Harold and his colleagues conducted some of the continent’s most significant research on the ecology of prairie nesting waterfowl. While working in South Dakota during the 1960’s, Harold was a pioneer in the discovery that fields of cool-season grasses and legumes idled under USDA programs were highly attractive to nesting hens, and provided significant hatch success rates.

Based on his research, Harold authored or co-authored over 70 technical publications, helping lay the foundation for many of today’s waterfowl management practices including upland cover management, predator management, island management, and no-till / minimum till farming. Harold has received numerous conservation awards, including the prestigious “North Dakota Award” from the North Dakota Chapter of The Wildlife Society. He also maintains memberships with numerous conservation organizations.

It is no surprise that someone with Harold’s passion for waterfowl, who shoots a 1917 12 gauge L.C. Smith shotgun, hunts from a double-ended duck boat he built more than 40 years ago, and collects classic waterfowling books, would hunt ducks, geese and swans only over wooden decoys he has made himself. From his first rig of 100 roughhewn cedar decoys for the Missouri River, Harold continues his carving tradition of today.

We are proud to honor Harold Duebbert this evening – for helping us better understand waterfowl and their habitat needs, and devoting his life's vocation to waterfowl.

Bob Jessen was born in Fairmont, Minnesota in 1931. Bob was in his grandfather’s duck blind before he could hold a gun, and shot his first duck in 1937. Bob hunted and fished throughout his early years in southern Minnesota, and can still check his journals from hunts in the 1950s. After high school, Bob served two years in the U.S. Air Force .

Bob received his degree in Fish and Wildlife from the University of Minnesota in 1955. Then he started working for Minnesota Department of Conservation , now the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Bob quickly moved to the newly established Game Lake Survey program , and helped develop early techniques to sample characteristics of shallow lakes, many of which are still in use today.

Bob transferred to Waterfowl Research in 1960 and began work on a study of ducks and land use in Minnesota. In addition, he worked on lead shot concerns, waterfowl banding and surveys, and flyway issues. Bob helped design the current Waterfowl Breeding Ground Population and Habitat survey, initiated in 1968 and still in use to monitor waterfowl populations in Minnesota. He coauthored Ducks in Minnesota and Ducks and Land Use in Minnesota, two important Technical Bulletins. .

Bob became Group Leader of the DNR's Wetland Wildlife Populations and Research Group when it was established in Bemidji in 1970. Simultaneously he served as the state’s Waterfowl Staff Specialist. He represented the state on the Mississippi Flyway Council Technical Section for many years, and attended Flyway meetings from 1963 until his retirement from the DNR in 1986. The Flyway honored Bob’s many contributions with the Mississippi Flyway Waterfowl Conservation Award. He was the MWA Professional of the Year in 1982.

After retirement from Minnesota, Bob worked for the State of Texas as their Waterfowl Biologist. There he faced new issues in a waterfowl wintering state instead of a production state. He served on the Central Flyway Council Technical Section. Bob then moved to Maryland and worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for two years to help implement the Harvest Information Program (HIP). Bob and his wife Eadie now reside in Bemidji.

We are proud to honor Bob Jessen this evening – for his passion for using scientific data to manage duck populations, and for helping guide waterfowl management in Minnesota for over a quarter century.

John (Doc) Komarek was born in 1934. His father didn’t hunt, but his mother, father and uncles introduced him at an early age to hunting and trapping. Doc hunted throughout his school years in the woods, fields and marshes of southern Minnesota.

Doc knew in the 5th grade that he wanted to be a veterinarian. So after graduation from New Prague high School he enrolled at the University of Minnesota, earned his degree in 1958, and began a long career that lasted 46 years. While traveling around to farmers, Doc would talk to them about improving the land and making it better for ducks and wildlife.

This was the beginning of his conservation efforts in southern Minnesota. He would identify landowners that wanted to create wetlands, then contact Bob Austin who did the contracting work. They would coordinate projects with John Idstrom, the local area wildlife manager.

Doc found out about the newly formed Minnesota Waterfowl Association in 1969, and that is where he met Bob Austin. They began their quest to leave things better than when they found them. Doc's work led the way for many private wetland restorations, and the creation of numerous Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). His own property was purchased to prevent wetland drainage, and the subsequent restoration of five wetlands is a showpiece that has inspired other landowners to do the same, and to sell important conservation areas to the DNR for WMAs.

“We must continue to preserve wetlands," Doc says. “Wetlands improve the forests, protect native prairie and grasslands, and provide habitat for ducks and other wildlife to flourish.”

Doc was a “Golden 50” Award Winner with the Minnesota DNR in 2001, and received the Rice County Wildlife Enhancement Award in 2006. He has been married to his wife Geraldine for 56 years, and they have four children.

We are proud to honor Doc Komarek this evening – for his will and commitment to making a difference on the landscape, and for being a tireless advocate for preserving and creating wetlands for future generations to enjoy.

As a young Minnesota boy, David Maass raised pigeons at his home in Rochester, where he was born on November 27, 1929. David's early love of everything wild expanded as he brought home orphaned birds and animals. His mother, Ora,was a former Minnesota trap shooting champion and his stepfather, Kelley, took him hunting. The Mississippi River bottoms were a frequent stomping ground. It all combined to create a love of wild things and wild paces in young David.

David started his art career without the help of any formal art education, but he was gifted with incredible talent. Aided by friends and driven by a strong will that helped him become one of the foremost wildlife artists of our day, David's work is renowned for its painstaking detail and attention to accuracy. He is one of today's foremost wildlife artists. A seasoned hunter once said of David Maass' work, “That's exactly how it is and if it isn't, it should be.”

An avid sportsman and ardent contributor to conservation organizations, David has been actively painting game birds for more than 40 years. He has designed more than 35 conservation stamps and prints, a distinction few artists can claim. In addition to his wins in the Federal Duck Stamp contest in 1974 (wood ducks) and 1982 (canvasbacks), David won the very first Minnesota State Duck Stamp, in 1977. Interestingly, this painting was of three mallard ducks taking flight, which happens to be the logo of the Minnesota Waterfowl Association. David was very instrumental when MWA was founded over 40 years ago. David was also selected by Ducks Unlimited as International Artist of the Year in 1988. He especially values this award, as it is a recognition of all his work.

Along with Minnesota, Texas, Arkansas, North Dakota and Maine have all featured duck stamps with David Maass artwork. Many conservation organizations have benefited from his creativity as well – the International Quail Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation, Delta Waterfowl Foundation, The Wildlife Legislative Fund of America, The Minnesota Waterfowl Association, and others. David's originals and limited edition prints have been exhibited in galleries and shows throughout the country, including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Collection of Fine Art in Washington DC, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin, and the annual Minnesota Wildlife Heritage Foundation Show.

We are proud to honor David Maass this evening – an artist who captures the thrill, essence and beauty of waterfowl and waterfowl hunting.

Bill Stevens was born on a small family farm in Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota where he earned received a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Management in 1961. While in the US Army, Bill served in the Game Conservation section at Fort Hood, Texas, managing the fish and wildlife on the post. Following his military service he worked on ruffed grouse research at the University of Minnesota and with the Minnesota DNR.

Stevens began employment at Federal Cartridge Company in 1965. For the first 20 years he coordinated the Federal-sponsored 4-H Conservation Camps that taught 4-H youth about conserving our natural resources. In addition, he developed educational and promotional materials for youth programs and consumers. He helped build a program so successful that today there are 4-H Shooting Sports Programs in 46 states with over 300,000 youth becoming involved with some kind of shooting sports activities annually.

Bill represented Federal during the changeover from lead to non-toxic shot for waterfowl hunting. This included the development and introduction of different gauges and shot sizes. In addition, he served on the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Non-toxic Shot Sub-committee, which recommended the nationwide requirement of steel shot for the entire United States by 1991. Stevens coordinated approval of Tungsten-Iron and Tungsten-Polymer as a non-toxic shot with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Bill has been a strong supporter of all the non-profit conservation organizations out there, and has generated funding for numerous habitat, educational and hunting heritage programs. Bill has received many awards, including the Wildlife Management Institute – George Bird Grinnell Distinguished Service Award; USDA Cooperative Extension Service/4-H – National Partner in 4-H; NWTF - Lynn Boykin Hunting Heritage Award; SCI - Educator of the Year Award; IWLA – Honor Roll; Minnesota Ducks Unlimited – Jimmy Robinson Award; and multiple others.

Bill is especially proud of his service on the Governor Perpich Hunting and Fishing Committee in 1983-84 that was the beginning of of the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) program. Bill and his wife Nila have one son, Andrew.

We are proud to honor Bill Stevens this evening – for his lifelong commitment to conservation and the shooting sports in Minnesota.

Arthur S. Hawkins (Art) was a pioneer and international leader in waterfowl research and management. Born in Batavia, New York, Art loved hunting, fishing and trapping as a boy, outdoor passions that led him to seek a career in natural resources management.

He completed undergraduate studies at Cornell University in 1934 and obtained his Master of Science degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1937, where he was one of the early students of Aldo Leopold. After college, Art began work with the Illinois Natural History Survey, where he was introduced to emerging waterfowl and wetland problems of that era by Frank Bellrose, who became a life-long professional colleague and personal friend. Together, they conducted initial studies on the development of artificial nesting structures for wood ducks and laid the groundwork for waterfowl population surveys and determination of annual hunter kill of ducks along the Mississippi River. Upon returning in 1945 from four years in the U. S. Army during World War II, Art continued his waterfowl work with the Illinois Natural History Survey.

In 1946 Art took a job with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as one of the first flyway biologists, where he became one of the pioneers who helped develop the concept for formation of the Flyway Council System. Beginning in 1948, he was instrumental in organizing the Mississippi Flyway Waterfowl Committee that subsequently led to the formation of the Mississippi Flyway Council in January 1952, followed by the Technical Section in January 1953. He became the Service's Mississippi Flyway Representative in 1953. He spent the next 10 years working seasonally on waterfowl production studies and wetland relationships in Manitoba, Canada. There, in cooperation with the Canadian Wildlife Service, Manitoba Wildlife Branch and the Delta Waterfowl Research Station, he worked with another Leopold student, H. Albert Hochbaum, then Director of the Delta Station. He retired in 1974.

He was a leader in attempts to improve harvest management of Canada goose populations in the Mississippi Flyway. He was a strong advocate of good sportsmanship and believed that hunters were a dimension of game management too often forgotten in professional circles. He continued to work as a re-employed annuitant for USFWS until the mid-1980s. In retirement he continued to be active in a variety of environmental and resource management issues in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and played a strong role in formation of the Wood Duck Society in 1985. The walls of his office and home were adorned with significant awards recognizing his many accomplishments.

Over a period of 65 years, he influenced the lives of many people working in the field of natural resources research and management. He was an inspiration and role model for young and old alike, and an important mentor to all who sought his advice and wisdom. He certainly earned his recognition as one of the pioneers in waterfowl management in North America and was a legend within the migratory bird fraternity. He was active in these circles until his death in 2006 at the age 92.

Head was one of the founders of the Minnesota Waterfowl Association. He, along with Dick Lindell, Ray Hangge and Tom Tubbs, got together in the mid 1960s to talk about ducks, and because they were all busy people, they were not going to just get together and talk, they were looking for solutions to the problems. These four individuals all worked very hard for a living, and worked even harder at their passion for helping the ducks.

Bob grew up in South Dakota and moved to LaCrosse, Wisconsin at a young age. In his later years of school, his family moved to Albert Lea, MN. He worked for a lumber company for over 40 years. Bob has two daughters and a loving supportive wife, Beverly. Bob loved to hunt pheasants and ducks. Bob always looked forward to the hunting season and was always thinking about hunting. He lived in Kansas when his company sent him there, and he was introduced to quail hunting. He loved it. Bob always had German Shorthair dogs and later had Golden Retrievers.

He designed a floating carp barrier for MWA on several lakes to keep the carp out. He was meticulous in his attention to detail, and that lent itself towards starting the MWA and setting the direction of habitat management for shallow lakes. Bob also wrote many letters to legislators to express his concern for what he saw happening.

Bob remained involved in waterfowl circles until his death in August of 2004.

James Ford Bell was an inveterate outdoorsman, an early conservationist, a lifelong scientist and a leading philanthropist.

Bell was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1879, and at the age of 9 moved with his family to Minneapolis. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota in 1901.

Bell was a leading figure in the American flour milling industry and founder of General Mills, Inc. He was on the Board of Regents for the University of Minnesota from 1939 until his death in 1961.

Mr. Bell was a driving force in the building and development of the Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota, renamed in his honor in 1966. The James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History is dedicated to the gathering of information about the natural world and passing it on to others in an inspiring way. Another manifestation of Mr. Bell's interest in natural history and conservation was his work at Delta Manitoba beginning in 1931 with authority from the Canadian government to raise and release wild ducklings to more than offset annual hunting harvests. In 1938, after consultation with Aldo Leopold of the University of Wisconsin and the renowned Dr. William R. Rowan of the University of Alberta, James Ford Bell established the American Wildlife Foundation, now the Delta Waterfowl Foundation. Delta's mission is to expand upon the knowledge of the needs of waterfowl and wetlands.

Helmeke was born in Minneapolis and grew up near Victoria. His father was a hunter who introduced young Don to the joys of chasing ducks and pheasants.

His love of tinkering and waterfowl intersected many times in his life. He is best known for perfecting a design for wood duck nesting boxes that made the structures longer lasting and easier to attach to trees.

He later invented his own camouflage, Dukoflage, which used dark and light waterfowl figures. He acquired the patent for a duck call named the Dual Call that could make 24 different sounds. With the duck call, his camouflage pattern, and designs for a new duck-decoy bag, he launched the Duckman line of waterfowl products in 1980.

In the late 1980s, Helmeke advocated that duck hunters voluntarily reduce their bag limits and shoot only drake ducks to protect waterfowl populations. The effort, known as the Voluntary Restraint Program, became a national project. He also founded Operation Canvasback with the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, which produced signs and publicity to protect canvasback ducks during closed seasons.

Helmeke helped organize Woodie Camp in 1988 and served as the first director of this outdoor camp for children which is still operated by MWA.

In 2005, he was among a group of hunters who organized the Rally for Ducks, Clean Water and Wetlands at the state Capitol. The rally drew 5,000 hunters and outdoor enthusiasts. A second Duck Rally was held the following year. Helmeke was also part of a group of outdoorsmen known as the Orange Hats that lobbied lawmakers to pass the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. Don passed away in 2009.

Dick got started in his love of waterfowling back in the 1940s. His dad and uncle helped him get the bug. Back in those days they had just gone through the big drought, Ducks Unlimited was just getting started and there was hope!

Dick's dad gave him his first shotgun, an Ithaca pump, as well as a dozen Mason mallard decoys. In the late 40s, Dick traded the pump for a Browning auto 5; in the mid 50s he ruined the Mason decoys. He ruined the decoys by going to Herters and buying real mallard wings. He then proceeded to saw grooves in the sides of the decoys to wire on the wings. He thought he was going to have real decoys! He said he never smelled anything so bad.

Most of Dick's duck hunting in the 40s, 50s and 60s was in Freeborn county at Bear Lake, Freeborn Lake or Lake Geneva. Dick Hunted Manitoba and Saskatchewan in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Dick said that by 1964 the hunting wasn't so good, and he had a slipped disc in his back so he couldn't hunt that fall. Dick started talking to a lot of old timer hunters and found that some of them took it upon themselves to adjust the water level on Bear Lake by removing the planks at the outlet. That seemed to freeze out the rough fish and stimulate aquatic plant growth. So that prompted Dick to write to Bob Jesson with the DNR to see if something could be done to help clean up these lakes.

Dick mentioned what Ray Hangge said all those years ago, we've lost almost all of our wetlands and all we have left are the shallow lakes of which there are about 2,000. In February of 1965, the then called Conservation Department of MN came down for a meeting. They had a good meeting, but they felt like nothing was happening. The group called for another meeting in February of 1966, and Dick mentioned that the farmers really showed up. The farmers said ain't doing nothing on my lake. Dick was frustrated and gave up at that time. Then Ray Hangge called a meeting at his house in February of 1967, and that is how the MWA was formed. It actually was originally called the Southern Minnesota Waterfowl Lake Improvement Association.

They figured if the Conservation Department (now the DNR) would flush the toilet on 20 lakes a year and keep managing them from then on, it would take 100 years to clean up the mess ditching and tiling had done. Their thought was that by all the draining that was going on had an impact on the natural sponges that they provide for drinking water, clean water, shallow lakes for waterfowl, plus all of the wetlands.

So they started trying to bring them back. They passed the Lake Designation Law. They got the State Duck Stamp Bill passed to pay for the management of the Game Lakes, and still found problems on going.

Dick Lindell is a retired postal worker living in Albert Lea. In Dick's home there are over 200 mounted birds, a wonderful testimate to his love of waterfowl.

Jimmy Robinson was born Aug. 27, 1896 in Minnesota, moving to Manitoba as a youth. At the age of 75, he was reporting his 50th Grand American Tournament as the dean of the world's trapshooting writers. His fantastic memory, his indefatigable work and irrepressible personality have promoted trapshooting for 50 years and endeared him to the world and to trap shooters.

Renowned as a hunter, fisherman and conservationist, his writing career spanned 45 years. He wrote fourteen books on shooting and hunting.

He was one of the world's most famous hunting writers and sportsmen. He was editor for Sports Afield magazine, and the hunting partner of some of the biggest names in entertainment, politics, and business.

Jimmy founded his first lodge at Delta Marsh in 1935 in a farmhouse near Portage Creek. Its more luxurious successor, dubbed the Sports Afield Lodge in honor of Jimmy's long-time employer, was built in 1958 on the east side of the marsh, south of St. Ambroise.

Jimmy Robinson passed away in June of 1986, leaving a legacy of sportsmanship that is still widely admired today.

Paul Englund is the consummate waterfowler, whose resume includes hunter, guide, call maker, historian, mentor and activist. Possibly most well known for his line of hand-made world class duck and goose calls, Paul's Calls and in particular his Pit-Boss goose calls are sought by both hunters and collectors alike. Paul's calls have won over 35 state and regional duck and goose calling competitions, and his calls have garnered him first place at the prestigious Callmakers & Collectors Association of America's contest in St. Charles, Illinois. Paul cut his teeth duck hunting at the historic Grey Hound duck camp on famed Lake Christina where his father guided and cooked. Later in life, Paul too would guide. Paul's skills and understanding of waterfowl and their habits led him to mentor and inspire countless numbers of aspiring hunters, particularly youngsters, in the arts of decoying and calling to the birds he so admired. Paul has also shared freely of his knowledge and inspired and mentored others to take up the art of callmaking. His dedication to the science and sport led him to help preserve the history of callmakers when he served as president and vice-president to the fledgling Callmakers & Collectors Association of America (CCAA) where he penned several articles documenting some of the most influential callmakers in Minnesota. Paul continues to be a draw at the Minnesota Decoy Collectors Association's annual show where he is the ambassador of calls, callmaking and its rich history. Paul is also an active member in the Minnesota Waterfowl Association (MWA), Minnesota Duck & Goose Callers, Fur Fin & Feathers Club, Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited (DU), Trout Unlimited (TU) and the National Rifle Association (NRA) where he has donated countless numbers of his calls and raising many thousands of bucks-for-ducks. Dr. Quack, as he is known to his friends, is truly a waterfowler's waterfowler.

Harvey was born January 29, 1925, in Barrett, Minnesota. He developed an early interest in wildlife while hunting and trapping in the vicinity of his home town, and became indoctrinated in hunting canvasbacks on the famous Lake Christina nearby. This stimulated his interest in waterfowl and wetlands.

He served in the US Navy in the South Pacific during World War II, 1943-1945. He returned to the University of Minnesota where he received a BS degree in Zoology and Fish and Wildlife Management in 1950. He received an MS degree in Natural Resources Conservation from Michigan State University in 1957. In 1992, he was awarded a Doctor of Science degree by North Dakota State University. He also participated in two Senior Management Training Programs under the Department of the Interior in Washington, DC, with scholarships in public administration at George Washington University, and is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute at Charlottesville, VA.

He joined the US Fish and Wildlife Service at the Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge, SD in 1950. Initially assigned to work on early wetland studies and waterfowl surveys, he later worked on several national wildlife refuges in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Michigan. In 1957, he transferred to the Regional Office in Minneapolis where he served as Assistant Regional Refuge Supervisor. Following an assignment with the Division of Wildlife Research in Washington, DC in 1963, he was appointed Director of the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center then being established at Jamestown, North Dakota. He held that position until 1974, when he transferred to Washington, DC, to serve as Associate Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. As Associate Director for Fish and Wildlife Resources, he supervised the operation of some of the Service's major programs, including the national wildlife refuge system, national fish hatcheries, wildlife law enforcement, migratory bird management and animal damage control. In 1980, he was appointed Regional Director for the North Central Region, with offices in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. He was responsible for administering agency programs in Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. In December 1987, he was appointed to the newly established position of Executive Director for the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, starting in Minnesota and. then in Washington, DC. He was responsible for coordinating the organization and implementation of the Plan in the United States, Canada and Mexico during the first five years of the program. He retired from that position in February 1992, with 42 years of service.

Harvey held appointments as adjunct professor of zoology at the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University. He has been an active member of The Wildlife Society and is a Certified Wildlife Biologist. He is an Elected Member of the American Ornithologists Union, and has held various offices in several professional, fraternal and civic organizations. He is the author or co?author of more than 90 technical publications in his field.

Following retirement, Harvey established a private consulting business and continued to work with natural resource agencies, organizations and private corporations. For three years he conducted research and evaluation of bird mortality for the wind power industry. He also serves as a Special Consultant to the Minnesota Waterfowl Association. He continues to serve on the board of directors for The Trumpeter Swan Society (President 1999-2003), Wood Duck Society, Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Alliance, and the Deep Portage Conservation Foundation, an Environmental Learning Center near Hackensack, Minnesota. He chaired the Predation Avian Recruitment Task Force established by the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies under the Berryman Institute at Utah State University during 1995-2001.

He received the Department of the Interior's Meritorious Service Award in 1980 for his leadership of Service programs. In 1986, he received the Department's Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor bestowed on employees by the Secretary of Interior. In 1987, he received the President's Award as a Meritorious Senior Executive. He was presented the Professional Award of Merit by the North Central Section of The Wildlife Society in 1987. In 1992 he received the Minnesota Award from the Minnesota Chapter of The Wildlife Society for outstanding contributions to the wildlife management profession. In 1992, he also received an Award of Appreciation from the Canadian Wildlife Service for his dedication to international cooperation. He was presented the Silver Beaver Award by the Boy Scouts of America for his work with the Red River Valley Council, and in 1991 received the William T. Hornaday Gold Medal Award for contributions to scouting and national conservation programs. In 1994, he was presented the International Canvasback Award by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan Committee for his leadership in development and implementation of that international program. During September 1996, a 600 acre wetland/grassland tract near his home town of Evansville, Minnesota was dedicated in his honor for his lifelong work with waterfowl and wetlands. He was the second recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Minnesota Waterfowl Association in 1997. He was named Man of the Year for 2000 by Minnesota Outdoor News.

Leslie C. Kouba, dean of Minnesota's wildlife artists, is a self-made man who described himself as 52 percent businessman and 48 percent artist. I've made my way in this world by following three principles: First, pick the thing you like to do best; then, learn everything you can about it; and finally, be willing to work harder than anyone else in that field. Kouba's secret to success: work. It's that simple."

My father, continues Kouba, contributed to my early appreciation of nature. He taught me a lot of the little tricks in hunting, trapping, and later, fishing. He instilled in me, at an early age, the sheer enjoyment of being outdoors. Back when I was a kid, it was really something to go hunting. Those were the days when the ducks and geese were so plentiful that the sky turned black when the flocks passed by overhead. These experiences were so exciting to me that I started to portray these happenings on bits of paper that I always carried with me. Consequently, I drew my impressions of birds, game animals, big game and fish-everything across the board. Because I actually hunted, I developed an early understanding of all the background skills necessary to be successful at my future career as a wildlife artist.

Kouba decided early in life that farming wasn't for him. I knew I could draw when I was about 8 years old. I think I made up my mind about then that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. In fact, says Kouba, many of the buildings on the farm still show traces of my early enthusiastic attempts at painting. And I was quite convinced I was on the right track when I sold my first painting at age 11 to a prosperous German farmer who lived near Hutchinson.

That first painting was of a deer at the water's edge with some pine trees in the background, remembers Kouba. It was something that I had created completely myself. I had hardly any materials-just junk-whatever I was able to pick up on the farm. I used a two-foot wide piece of upson board for my canvas. At that time, upson board was used for attic insulation. I did it in oil paints, and 'oil' in those days meant anything that wasn't watercolor. I used just about any kind of pigment I could lay my hands on-house paint, implement paint, and enamels-you name it.

I sold that painting for eight dollars, a king's ransom in those days" says Kouba. It doesn't seem like much by today's standards, but keep in mind that was in 1928, 'when a dime was as big as a wagon wheel.' To put it into perspective, my father's total income from his dairy business was $22 for the month.

That early sale went a long way in convincing Kouba's parents that his artistic skills were worth developing. Kouba's parents supported Les's interest in art by enrolling him at age 14 in a correspondence course sponsored by the Federal Schools in Minneapolis. The name has been changed since I went there, says Kouba. It's now known as Art Instruction, the 'Draw-Me' school. It offers all the basics but it doesn't overly influence technique. You don't end up painting like your instructor. I really learned a lot from that school. I will always be thankful that I had the opportunity to take the course.

Many artists I've found today, says Kouba, could benefit from some of those early lessons. Less passed away in 1998.

This information was taken from Kouba's book, The Legacy of Les C. Kouba, p 11-12.

Ray, a founder of the MWA, is a very passionate individual that not only had ideas on how to bring ducks back but actually went out and got his hands dirty and did the work when no one would listen.

Ray, considered one of the founders of the MWA, is the type of person that was not going to just sit by and watch the habitat conditions deteriorate. Ray is a man of action. Ray spearheaded the Save the Game Lakes initiative for MWA. Ray figured that there wasn't a lot of habitat left that hadn't been ruined, so he focused on the shallow lakes of Minnesota. There are over 2,000 shallow lakes in Minnesota, and Ray wanted them managed and wanted the ability to lower those lakes to take care of the rough fish and regenerate the growth of aquatic life. Ray and the rest set forward a plan to start the Lake Designation Law that would give the authority to designate these shallow lakes to the DNR. To help pay for this, the MWA put forth an idea of starting a state duck stamp. Finally, in 1977 Minnesota passed into law the requirement that every waterfowl hunter had to purchase a duck stamp. The monies raised would help fund the management of the Game Lakes Program.

Ray has always said that no matter the crisis, the ducks need you. This is true today as it was back in the mid 60s. Ray is a believer that preserving the shallow wetlands and lakes will return the duck numbers to where they used to be. Clean water is the key. People need to realize that one of the main functions of clean water is healthy wetlands. These wetlands act as natural filters to clean water.

Tom is one of the four individuals that we consider the founders of the Minnesota Waterfowl Association. Tom worked tirelessly on wetland issues facing Minnesota, starting in the 60s. He had a vision along with the other founders that said that Minnesota needed to focus on shallow lakes in Minnesota. So they made it a point of heading in that direction. They called this the Save the Game Lakes program. They also pushed for the first state duck stamp in Minnesota to provide funding for the Game Lake program.

Tom was a President of MWA and served on the Board in other capacities. Tom was elected to two terms on the Freeborn County Soil and Water Conservation District. He has won many awards for his efforts in conservation over the years, such as the Dr. Robert G. Green award by the MPLS Jaycees for outstanding conservation efforts, as well as the Conservationist of the Year award by the MWA. He was also named one of the Golden 50 by the MN DNR.

He created the Tom Tubbs Wood Nesting Box. All the proceeds from the sale of these houses went to MWA. Tom made national radio and TV ads for Phillips Petroleum to promote the wood duck houses. The Tom Tubbs Wood Duck House is even in the Smithsonian Museum.

His concern for road side ditches and their nesting habitat for birds were instrumental in getting him appointed to a task force by the Governor. As a result of that, the State changed how it manages roadsides for habitat.

He also received the WCCO Good Neighbor Award twice for various city and county projects with school children and natural resources.

Tom is a member of most conservation organizations. He also has served on various committees at his church, schools and other civic organizations.