Ducks Unlimited Credit Card

[NEWHunter]

Thought I’d try and post what I hope is a bit of a public service announcement. It appears that through DU you can get a Visa credit that offers 5% cash back on gas and sporting goods store purchases and 1% back on everything else. The card doesn’t appear to have an annual fee either and they will make a donation towards conservation. I’m going to be applying for this card this week.

 

[Schaaf]

DU fundraising in 17-18: $220 Million
DU fundraising since 1937: $5 Billion

DU firing a long time writer for speaking out in support of stream access:

Priceless.

 

[MThuntr]

While I like the idea of 5% back on fuel and sporting goods I'm definitely not going to support DU after that major FUBAR. I wonder what constitutes conservation in the case of DU...private wetland reserve for their staff?

 

[RedRaider13]

Pass, Now if RMEF had a card...

 

[406LIFE]

While I like the idea of 5% back on fuel and sporting goods I'm definitely not going to support DU after that major FUBAR. I wonder what constitutes conservation in the case of DU...private wetland reserve for their staff?

Agreed. There is also a pond at the HQ in Memphis, open only to employees.

 

[cgarner]

Thought I’d try and post what I hope is a bit of a public service announcement. It appears that through DU you can get a Visa credit that offers 5% cash back on gas and sporting goods store purchases and 1% back on everything else. The card doesn’t appear to have an annual fee either and they will make a donation towards conservation. I’m going to be applying for this card this week.

Thanks. Every penny helps. Wetlands serve more than just duck hunters. Without wetlands, society would be in trouble.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

https://www.pheasantsforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Pheasants-Forever/Swipe-for-Habitat.aspx

https://www.commercebank.com/personal/cards/credit-cards-ita/rmef

 

[NYSKIER]

https://www.pheasantsforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Pheasants-Forever/Swipe-for-Habitat.aspx

https://www.commercebank.com/personal/cards/credit-cards-ita/rmef

Thanks for the link minnesotahunter I had no idea you could get an rmef card

 

[NDGuy]

DU fundraising in 17-18: $220 Million
DU fundraising since 1937: $5 Billion

DU firing a long time writer for speaking out in support of stream access:

Priceless.

I had no idea about this. That's just terrible, course that's the way the world works.

 

[NDGuy]

https://www.pheasantsforever.org/BlogLanding/Blogs/Pheasants-Forever/Swipe-for-Habitat.aspx

https://www.commercebank.com/personal/cards/credit-cards-ita/rmef

5% cash back at Sporting Goods Stores and gas is pretty hard to pass up, neither of these cards holds up.

 

[icebreaker12]

I wonder what constitutes conservation in the case of DU...private wetland reserve for their staff?

I thought long and hard about whether or not to respond to this. But, frankly, I sick of the sentiment. Simply put, what you are talking about doesn't happen. I don't know very many DU employees that have the funds to buy up large amounts of wetlands for their own hunting areas. I can guarantee you if they do, they are enrolling them in things like CRP and WREP (if they have the funds), but DU isn't involved and doesn't need to be involved in that.

Do large donors see conservation on their properties? Yes. Do you know why? Because DU is really really good at obtaining NAWCA dollars. NAWCA requires 1:1 match, and lately to be competitive they need to have a 2:1 or more match. So when DU employees put in for a $1 million NAWCA they are looking for $2 million to match it. So they seek out wealthy land owners and foundations to find those funds. Guess what, many of those NAWCAs have work thats done on state and federal lands. And you CAN'T use federal dollars as match. Simply put without those wealthy land owners forking over monies and seeing work done on their lands work wouldn't be done on the state or federal lands.

DU fundraising in 17-18: $220 Million
DU fundraising since 1937: $5 Billion

DU firing a long time writer for speaking out in support of stream access:

Priceless.

I first, want to say that Kennedy is wrong here. What he is trying to do on the Ruby is stupid and out of line. I also wish DU went another way on this decision.

However, DU is a wetland conservation organization. Period. If any issue comes in between them and wetland conservation, they are going to side on the side of wetland conservation every time. That includes firing Thomas when he know exactly what would happen when he wrote the article. Kennedy is a large donor, and his funds are important to the organization. I have no clue exactly how much he has contributed to DU over the years but I can say this. In the last decade Kennedy has donated somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 million to endow 4 chairs of waterfowl research at 4 different universities (Mississippi State, Clemson, UW-Stevens Point, Colorado State). So I'm guess hes a pretty large donor to DU.

 

[2ski]

I thought long and hard about whether or not to respond to this. But, frankly, I sick of the sentiment. Simply put, what you are talking about doesn't happen. I don't know very many DU employees that have the funds to buy up large amounts of wetlands for their own hunting areas. I can guarantee you if they do, they are enrolling them in things like CRP and WREP (if they have the funds), but DU isn't involved and doesn't need to be involved in that.

Do large donors see conservation on their properties? Yes. Do you know why? Because DU is really really good at obtaining NAWCA dollars. NAWCA requires 1:1 match, and lately to be competitive they need to have a 2:1 or more match. So when DU employees put in for a $1 million NAWCA they are looking for $2 million to match it. So they seek out wealthy land owners and foundations to find those funds. Guess what, many of those NAWCAs have work thats done on state and federal lands. And you CAN'T use federal dollars as match. Simply put without those wealthy land owners forking over monies and seeing work done on their lands work wouldn't be done on the state or federal lands.




I first, want to say that Kennedy is wrong here. What he is trying to do on the Ruby is stupid and out of line. I also wish DU went another way on this decision.

However, DU is a wetland conservation organization. Period. If any issue comes in between them and wetland conservation, they are going to side on the side of wetland conservation every time. That includes firing Thomas when he know exactly what would happen when he wrote the article. Kennedy is a large donor, and his funds are important to the organization. I have no clue exactly how much he has contributed to DU over the years but I can say this. In the last decade Kennedy has donated somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 million to endow 4 chairs of waterfowl research at 4 different universities (Mississippi State, Clemson, UW-Stevens Point, Colorado State). So I'm guess hes a pretty large donor to DU.

Saying this is an issue where they sided on wetland conservation is putting a pretty pink bow on a pile of sh!t.

I would love to join DU but refuse to because of this issue. If the Koch brothers were members of RMEF and something similar happened, would FMEF have any members?

 

[Nutrioso]

The OP likely had no idea he was opening up this old wound!

I was angry and dismayed when DU fired Don Thomas. He is a superb writer and has been a tireless advocate and educator for and about wildlife, hunting and public lands. His article about the Ruby river access fight was spot on. DU’s decision to let him go was lame, and I have written to them about that several times.

I still support them, though, for several reasons. First, the CEO who made the boneheaded call to fire Dr. Thomas is now gone. We don’t know if the new leadership will be better, but at least it is different.

Second and more importantly, the habitat preservation and improvement work our wildlife needs must happen at a landscape scale. To get that done effectively, conseration organizations have to cort big donors. There is no way to effectively do what DU, RMEF and others need to do relying only on our $50 or $100 or even $1,000 membership fees. They need millions to accomplish the mission and, as Icebreaker12 points out, to tie into matching funds. We ask too much of these organizations to secure habitat at a landscape level but still act like a grassroots organization, responsive only to its rank and file members.

Is DU perfect? Of course not. But neither is Delta Waterfowl or RMEF or any other organization getting big things done on the landscape. It is important to keep in mind that no organization in North America has done more for waterfowl habitat than DU. The great comeback in Waterfowl numbers in the last fifty years was led by DU. We have a seven bird limit this season, and that in big part due to DU.

I worry about them getting too close to corporate donors and straying from their mission, but in my view that is a reason to stay engaged with them, not to write them off.

If having a DU credit card helps DU help waterfowl, I am all for it. Thanks to the OP for letting us know about the option.

 

[406LIFE]

@Nutrioso

I would love to join DU but refuse to because of this issue. If the Koch brothers were members of RMEF and something similar happened, would FMEF have any members?

Agreed. Delta Waterfowl gets my money and time now. DU could issue a mea culpa, but hasn't. Access in MT is an issue and what Kennedy pursued is simply unacceptable. Using his influence as he is said to have done is unconscionable. At some point you have to make a value judgement if you are ok with what happened and continue to support DU; or you can hold them accountable and engage others about the issue when it arises.

I'd be willing to discuss this further with anyone via PM. Apologies for hijacking the thread. OP was just trying to do a solid but as Nutrioso said, probably didn't know how big an issue this is in MT.

 

[NEWHunter]

Appreciate the thoughts, but no worries on my end about a hijacked thread. I’m aware of some of the stuff surrounding DU, which is why I posted this thread in Money and Finances and not Sportsmen Issues or Public Land Issues. Although, I didn’t know it would cause this much consternation.

As a guy who manages his finances closely, credit card rewards are a great tool for assisting in that. Using this card will get my family around an extra $100 in cash rewards over the current cards we are using. In total now we’ll probably get around $900 in cash rewards this year.

I accomplished my goal of making folks aware of the option. If it works for folks and they want to save money great, if not, oh well. FWIW, it doesn’t appear to me that you have to be a DU member to get the card. And the extra $50-$150/yr most HTs would get back from this card over their current card is probably substantially more than DU will see from their purchases each year. That extra $50-$150/yr could then be donated to the organization of their choice in addition to what they already donate.

 

[Dieseldog]

DU can disappear as far as im concerned.

 

[High Desert]

If I disassociated myself from every organization that did something I disagree with, I’d probably not be affiliated with any. I try to look at the organization’s objective and how effective it is in reaching it. Wetland conservation is important to me and DU is the biggest player in that realm. Delta is great but has a much smaller footprint in the wetlands world. I am not suggesting the treatment of Thomas is in any way trivial but it seems like if you care about wetlands and waterfowl, leaving DU over that issue only hurts your own interests.

 

[NEWHunter]

DU can disappear as far as im concerned.

Yeah, I feel the same way about the Germans. Tens of thousands of them once spent years trying to kill my grandpa.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Dont go to Canada with a DU sticker on your truck. I know that for sure.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Funny that I found this card through googling for a new credit card option, and I landed on it because that gas reward is better than anything I have seen on the market honestly.

I see a lot of people have issues with DU, but at the end of the day, for me at least, this card makes financial sense and that fact that DU gets a small benefit is just icing on the cake. I would encourage everyone against this card(because it is related to DU) to go out and try to find a card with as good or better rewards, I think you'll be surprised what you find.


Either way, thanks OP for pointing this out to additional folks!