The Middle Peninsula chapter of Ducks Unlimited will hold its annual Wetlands Conservation Dinner and Auction at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Abingdon Ruritan Club, Bena.

Ducks Unlimited was founded in 1937 to help improve habitat for waterfowl. In the past 85 years, Ducks Unlimited has preserved and protected over 15.5 million acres of wildlife habitat and gained over a million supporters.

In addition to preserving land for waterfowl, the protected habitat provides many other ecological benefits including habitat for fish and other wildlife that depend on wetlands (for example, wading birds, shorebirds, furbearers and reptiles and amphibians). The organization also helps protect water quality, providing for groundwater recharge and reducing the impacts of storm surges and flooding.

In Virginia, Ducks Unlimited has raised more than $19 million to help protect almost 75,000 acres of wildlife habitat. Locally, Ducks Unlimited helped provide funding for the acquisition an...