{"id":55563,"date":"2024-07-01T16:29:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T21:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/?page_id=55563"},"modified":"2024-07-01T16:29:01","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T21:29:01","slug":"dont-tell-me-what-to-do","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/dont-tell-me-what-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t Tell Me What To Do!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Bruce-Ross.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-49001\" src=\"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Bruce-Ross-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>By Bruce Ross, Executive Director [email]bross@wisducks.org[\/email]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association\u2019s July, 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/newsletter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newsletter<\/a>\u00a0edition.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>There was an interesting phenomenon last month, when I titled this article \u201cDon\u2019t read this article, unless\u2026\u201d.\u00a0 It had one of the highest open rates ever.\u00a0 It frankly was a bit unintended that it would be picked up as the title of the overall newsletter &#8211; which also received one of the highest open rates ever.\u00a0 \u00a0Maybe it\u2019s a sign of the times &#8211; don\u2018t tell me what to do!\u00a0 If you were one of those contrarians, thank you.\u00a0 I hope you learned something helpful that keeps you coming back.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_55560\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-55560\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a ref=\"magnificPopup\" href=\"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Anna-Rzchowski-June-2024.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-55560\" src=\"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Anna-Rzchowski-June-2024-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-55560\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">WWA Ecologist Anna Rzchowski surveying a Waushara County site<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Your WWA is quite busy as the summer begins.\u00a0 Here are a few current initiatives:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sandhill Crane Legislative Study<\/strong>. We have successfully encouraged the legislature to undertake a hard look at the state\u2019s sandhill crane issues through what\u2019s termed a \u201cLegislative Council Study\u201d.\u00a0 This is a huge &#8211; and bi-partisan &#8211; step forward in getting past superficial talking points to deal with the real issues of a rapidly growing crane population.\u00a0 Learn more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/sandhill-crane-legislative-study-firmed-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wannabe golfers (and shooters) everywhere, UNITE! <\/strong>If you can swing a club, and occasionally hit the right ball, you can win guns, coolers, meat packages, optics, YETI gear and more at the upcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/event\/14th-annual-fox-valley-scramble-golf-outing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox Valley outing<\/a> help us out by bringing your buddies too! Fun shoots coming up, too! Check them all out <a href=\"http:\/\/wisducks.org\/events\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Habitat, Habitat and more Habitat.<\/strong> Restoration projects throughout the state are in full swing on both public and private lands &#8211; we\u2019ll be providing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/wwas-public-lands-ecologists-in-the-field\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">details throughout the process<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wild Rice Season Cometh<\/strong>. We are beginning to gear up an expanded wild rice restoration program. Check out B.J. Grassmann\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/calling-all-ricers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">article<\/a> on how you can play a role in re-establishing this culturally significant and waterfowl-important food source!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Out with the old\u2026.<\/strong> We just began the process to begin to update and upgrade our confused and antiquated website. This will take a couple of months, but the result will be a focused website that can be more easily navigated to find your particular interest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>2025-2030 Waterfowl zones?<\/strong> We want your perspective of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/if-you-are-a-duck-hunter-you-must-read-this\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">what the next five years of Wisconsin migratory bird zones look like<\/a>.\u00a0 Expect to see a survey next week, and make sure you provide input.\u00a0 WWA has an outsized voice in the process because of your multitude of voices.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mo\u2019 Raffles?<\/strong> More than any time in recent memory &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/class-a-raffles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">check them out<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Help, I need somebody<\/em><\/strong>. August 24<sup>th<\/sup>\u2019s <strong>Waterfowl Hunters EXPO<\/strong> is tracking to be one of the biggest ever with more to see and do. We&#8217;re always <a href=\"https:\/\/waterfowlhuntersexpo.com\/volunteer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">looking for volunteers<\/a>, from trash pick-up to organizing roles.\u00a0 \u00a0Bring your whole family, including your four-legged members.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/waterfowlhuntersexpo.com\/advanced-tickets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Special deal for WWA members<\/a>!<\/li>\n<li><strong>More Big, More Better.<\/strong> Expect to see WWA\u2019s hot off the presses 2025 calendar raffle soon.\u00a0 We doubled the prize value ($88,000 in prizes) with more great guns than ever before, while improving your odds by over 11%.\u00a0\u00a0 This may be Wisconsin\u2019s best and most affordable raffle that allows you to win a prize everyday in 2025. Stay tuned to get this great deal that will also help WWA afford to continue its work.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Looming DNR Budget Trouble<\/strong>. I met with DNR leadership two weeks ago to better understand the structural budget deficit the DNR faces, which would impact wildlife and fisheries management the most. I alluded to this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/dnrs-fish-and-wildlife-account-faces-looming-budget-cliff-in-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">last month<\/a>.\u00a0 There will be more of this ahead as solutions are proposed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What port, Captain?<\/strong> The Board is placing finishing touches on the WWA strategy that take us into the next decade.\u00a0 We\u2019ll outline that in next month\u2019s newsletter, while highlighting opportunities for you to play a role in our growth plan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Besides this WWA news, you\u2019ll also be able to read about the results of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisducks.org\/2024-spring-duck-breeding-survey-just-released\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DNR\u2019s spring bird and pond counts<\/a>, which falls into the category of \u201cIt\u2019s okay\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Bruce Ross, Executive Director [email]bross@wisducks.org[\/email] This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association\u2019s July, 2024 Newsletter\u00a0edition. There was an interesting phenomenon last month, when I titled this article \u201cDon\u2019t read this article, unless\u2026\u201d.\u00a0 It had one of the highest open rates ever.\u00a0 It frankly was a bit unintended that it would be picked up&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-55563","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/55563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/55563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}