By Alex Paul
Chronicle staff

     More than $7,000 was raised Dec. 5 at a banquet and auction for the newly revived Okanogan Valley chapter of Ducks Unlimited.
     The event was held at the Okanogan Inn and Suites, Okanogan. More than 50 people attended.
     Auctioneer was Mike Cusick, Okanogan, who donated his services for the event.
     Bernard Brown, Ducks Unlimited senior regional director based in Cashmere, said the chapter is rebuilding itself after being idle for a few years. Brown said had hoped the event would raise at least $5,000.
     “All net proceeds will be used for habitat improvement projects statewide,” Brown said.
     There are more than 43,000 acres of improvement projects in Washington, but none in Okanogan County at this time, Brown said.
     “We put the money where it will do the most good,” Brown said.
     He pointed to projects such as the Spokane area wetlands, Columbia Basin and the lower Columbia River.
     “The Columbia Basin projects serve pheasants by providing cattail cover in the winter, and quail as well, as all projects serve many species of neo-tropical birds as well as shore birds and raptors,” Brown said.
     Some of the many items auctioned or raffled were knives, rifles, shotguns, decoys, statues and original paintings.
     Okanogan Valley chapter officers include Cal Guyer, Omak; Chris Fisher, Omak; Mark Henderson, Bridgeport, and Nim Titcomb, Winthrop, district chairman.
     Ducks Unlimited was founded in 1937 during the Great Depression when the nation’s waterfowl populations had fallen to extremely low levels.
     According to its Web site, since its founding, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres of habitat in North America.
     In the last 71 years, it has raised more than $2.7 billion for habitat improvement programs.
     The Ducks Unlimited purpose is “to conserve, restore and manage wetlands and associated habitats for North America’s waterfowl,” according to the site.