Conservation Campaign · 2026–2027
Where the Marsh
Still Speaks
Ohio has lost nine in ten acres of its original wetlands. What remains holds an entire world — and the Cincinnati Chapter of Ducks Unlimited is working to keep it.
Before dawn reaches the surface of a marsh pond — before the herons stir and the red-winged blackbirds announce the hour — there are wings. The sound comes first. Not the splash of a single bird but the chorus of hundreds descending through the Ohio sky, settling into the reeds with a collective sigh. It is one of the oldest sounds on this continent. And it is a sound that nearly fell silent.
Ohio was once home to more than five million acres of wetlands. Glaciers shaped them over millennia, leaving behind the Great Black Swamp of the northwest and thousands of smaller marshes, prairie potholes, river bottomlands, and backwater sloughs spread across the state. In fewer than two centuries, we drained, filled, and converted nearly ninety percent of it.
What remains — roughly 700,000 acres — carries a disproportionate share of Ohio's wildness, its water quality, and its wonder.
The Cincinnati Chapter of Ducks Unlimited was founded on the belief that what remains is worth fighting for, and that what has been lost can, acre by careful acre, be restored.
90%
Of Ohio's original wetlands lost since European settlement
5M+
Acres of wetlands that once covered the Ohio landscape
700K
Wetland acres remaining — home to hundreds of species
~7x
Of every dollar raised nationally came back to Ohio's landscape
“
Wetlands don't just matter to ducks. They filter our drinking water, absorb floodwaters that would otherwise destroy homes and farms, lock away carbon, and anchor biodiversity that no engineered system can replicate. Protecting a marsh is protecting everything downstream of it — including us.
Cincinnati Chapter · Ducks Unlimited
How Your Support Works
Ohio remains a focused conservation area for Ducks Unlimited, and last year over 7 times of the dollars raised in Ohio were directly invested into on-the-ground conservation work across Ohio. We partner with private landowners, state and federal agencies, and the national Ducks Unlimited network to make each dollar go further. Here is where your contribution goes.
01
Habitat Restoration
We fund water control structures, native plantings, and wetland reconstruction on private and public land — rebuilding the hydrology that makes a marsh come alive.
02
Conservation Easements
Permanent legal protections on working wetlands, ensuring that acres conserved today remain wild for every generation that follows ours.
03
Water Management
Seasonal water level management mimics natural flood cycles that migratory waterfowl and shorebirds depend on — the difference between a mudflat and a feeding ground.
04
Community & Science
Supporting landowner outreach, youth education, and ongoing biological monitoring so that the work is guided by data and embraced by the communities living alongside it.
Annual Fundraiser · Cincinnati Chapter
The Annual Stag
An evening of dinner, fellowship, and conservation — our largest fundraiser of the year.
- Date
- February 4, 2027
- Location
- Meshewa House at Turner Farm, 7550 Given Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45243
- Event Style
- Stag Format
On February 4th, 2027, the Cincinnati Chapter of Ducks Unlimited invites you to our annual Stag — a tradition of camaraderie built around our shared commitment to wild places. The evening features food, cocktails, live and silent auction items, and the company of people who believe that a healthy marsh is worth fighting for.
The Stag is our single largest fundraising event of the year. Every ticket purchased, every lot bid, every dollar raised flows directly into wetland conservation work across Ohio. You don't have to be a hunter to belong here. You only have to care about what's left.
Every Acre We Restore Is a Promise Kept
Support the Cincinnati Chapter today. Your gift stays in Ohio — funding the restoration and protection of wetland habitat that every species of this watershed depends on.
Donate to the Chapter