Ducks Unlimited hires new CEO Adam Putnam

Ducks Unlimited has hired a new CEO to direct the international wildfowl habit restoration group as it wraps up a $2 billion fundraiser.

Adam H. Putnam will lead the largest nonprofit based in Memphis after St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Putnam, a well-known Florida Republican, was widely expected to become Florida governor until U.S. Rep. Ron Desantis leaped ahead of him in last August’s primary following President Donald Trump’s ringing endorsement.

On April 1, Putnam will succeed Dale Hall as Ducks Unlimited chief executive. Hall is the former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director who has served as DU’S top executive since 2010.

Ducks Unlimited announced Putnam’s hiring on March 13 and said Hall will continue to work until June 30 to help with the transition.

Considered one of the nation’s largest conservation philanthropies, DU relies on donations and grants to fund its $220 million annual budget. Donations are collected in part through 2,600 chapters that enlist about 700,000 members in North America. The bulk of the money is spent on wildfowl habitat in areas ranging from Alaska and Canada to the Mississippi flyway and the Gulf Coast.

Ducks Unlimited launched a fundraiser in 2015 named Rescue our Wetlands. DU’S Canadian arm described it as the largest conservation campaign in