Ducks Unlimited conservation dinner postponed

Among other contagions making the rounds these days is disappointment.

The list of postponements tied to COVID-19 and associated social distancing recommendations includes the conservation dinner held each year by Kootenai Valley Ducks Unlimited. The annual fund-raising event is important both to the chapter and to supporters of Ducks Unlimited’s conservation mission.

Originally scheduled for April 25, the dinner has been rescheduled for July 25 at the Ponderosa Room in Libby.

Jon Jeresek of Kootenai Valley Ducks Unlimited said the decision to cancel the April 25 event followed recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and President Donald Trump to avoid gatherings.

“Who knows? By July 25 we may still be running the same recommendations [for social distancing],” Jeresek said.

If that reality looms, Kootenai Valley Ducks Unlimited will shoot for a dinner date in September, he said.

Jeresek said the annual dinner includes raffles, as well as a live auction and silent auction, to raise money to help pay for waterfowl habitat conservation projects in the region.

One example is the Schrieber Meadows wetlands mitigation project along U.S. 2 in Lincoln County. Jeresek said Kootenai Valley Ducks Unlimited played a role in the Montana Department of Transportation’s wetlands project.