Making Waves in the Waterfowl Community

California chapter uses Waterfowl Heritage Fund to enhance local hunting access

The East Bay Chapter of Delta Waterfowl—located near San Francisco, California—is not just improving their local community, they’re transforming it, reinvesting in their region with a clear focus on expanding waterfowl hunting access for the public land hunter and providing mentorship opportunities for youth.

After a successful inaugural banquet in 2024, the chapter eagerly discussed how to direct their Waterfowl Heritage Fund to initiatives that would most benefit their local waterfowling community and found a way to address some of the most pressing needs for hunters in the region.

The chapter rallied behind a vision from Billy Roark, a member of the East Bay Delta Waterfowl Chapter and native of South Bay, to improve the hunting experience for public land hunters at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Via collaboration with local refuge managers and planning and preparation done by chapter members, the East Bay crew built two new blinds on the refuge and refurbished five others, including an ADA-accessible blind that had fallen into disrepair.

“The problem is that the refuge lacks funds, and many of the blinds are dilapidated,” Roark said. He explained that before the Delta chapter’s efforts, the blinds were maintained with only small, temporary fixes, leaving them barely functional.

Their waterfowling community came together even further to ensure the ADA-blind would be fully stocked for any hunters that wanted to use it. Through a community Facebook page created by Roark—‘California Junior Hunters’—waterfowlers collaborated to donate several dozen decoys to the blind, ensuring that any disabled hunters who arrived would be prepared to hunt with no hassle.

“One guy posted asking if anyone had the molds, and another asked about weights,” Roark explained. “The next thing I know, those guys connected and drove to each other’s houses to drop them off. The guy who molded them lives two-and-a-half hours away from me, and he drove all the way out to my house just so we could set up the decoys for the disabled blind.”

The ADA-blind, along with many of the new and refurbished blinds to which the chapter’s WHF dollars and volunteer efforts contributed, have all been eagerly put to use this season by local hunters, including for mentored hunts.

“I’ve lived in a lot of different states and hunted in a lot of different areas, and I have never met anybody like Billy, he’s one-of-a-kind,” said Eric Cooper, a fellow member of the East Bay Delta Chapter. “Just the amount of his time and effort that he dedicates to youth exposure—not only getting them out hunting but teaching them how to do it the right way from both an etiquette and ethics perspective—it’s pretty incredible.”

The whole of the East Bay Chapter has plans to continue this trend of reinvesting in their local hunting community as they continue to grow the community’s recognition of Delta Waterfowl and the work it does. Chairman Brock Gardner explained that moving forward, the chapter wants to prioritize the refurbishment of more public blinds, exploring options for improving boating access, hosting a youth clay shooting day at their local gun club, and pushing on with the planning of their upcoming May banquet.

“It’s quite remarkable what this chapter has accomplished already in such a short period of time. Billy’s suggestion of working at Don Edwards not only helped improve access for local hunters but also strengthened the committee itself and with their leadership in Brock Gardner as Chair, and Greg Olivera as Co-Chair, it’s a one-two punch,” said Delta’s California regional director Nicholas Metrick. “This chapter is truly driven towards Delta’s mission. They make things happen, and they are easy to catch a laugh with in the blind or otherwise. I am excited to watch them continue to grow and support the Golden State’s ducks and duck hunters.”—Christy Sweigart