Ducks Unlimited has named 160 acres of marsh and prairie grasses in honour of conservationist Glenn Babee, who helped restore the land in the 1990s.
“When you’re in the field every day, you see how much habitat is being lost. That always pushed me to work even harder to save the natural landscape,” said Babee, who worked for Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) for 36 years.
In September, DUC unveiled a plaque at the site, south of Riding Mountain National Park, to commemorate Babee’s retirement, DUC said in a Sept. 24 news release.
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Babee worked out of Dauphin, Minnedosa and Brandon and contributed to conservation projects across Manitoba.
He grew up on a farm near Dauphin and worked with DUC as a summer student in the 1980s, DUC said in an article on its website.
“I was always in awe of the fall migration,” Babee said in the article. “The sight of all those ducks and geese flying over. And the sounds!”
He joined DUC full time in 1985 and helped landowners conserve, restore and manage wetlands and grasslands to benefit waterfowl, wildlife and people.
“I love working outdoors,” Babee said. “It’s not just about the ducks but about the upland critters, too. You don’t get to see those kinds of results when you’re working at a desk job.”
Babee said his favourite project is the carp exclusion at Delta Marsh near Portage la Prairie.
In partnership with the Manitoba government, DUC created dikes and screens to prevent invasive carp from entering Delta Marsh from Lake Manitoba, where they disrupt aquatic vegetation vital to waterfowl and marsh biodiversity, DUC said.
“To see all those carp in the channels… so many you could almost walk across the water,” Babee recalled. “To keep them out has made a big impact on the health of Delta Marsh.”
In the mid-1990s, Babee began work on a quarter section of land southwest of Riding Mountain National Park, near Erickson. The land, which DUC obtained through a dispersal sale, had been drained and overfarmed but Babee cultivated 120 acres of prairie grasses and restored 40 acres of wetlands.
“We knew the waterfowl would come back,” he said.
Twenty-five years later, ducks and pelicans have made the marsh home, DUC wrote on its website. Prairie grasses are waist-high in some spots.
The commemorative plaque on the land reads, in part, “This wetland project reflects the integrity, innovation and commitment Glenn showed during a career devoted to conserving and enhancing our precious wetlands.”
