U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service employees and volunteers staff exhibit at the 2007 Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Taken by Gary Van Vreede

Visitors enjoy the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service exhibit at the 2007 Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Taken by Gary Van Vreede

The 9th Annual Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival was recently held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  The Festival is a hands-on event where attendees are able to experience outdoor products and activities in a real-world environment.  One of the largest events of its kind, the Festival attracts over 70,000 outdoor enthusiasts each year. Encompassing an area several hundred acres in size, the Festival is comprised of nine villages featuring displays, models, demonstrations and seminars in the areas of hunting, fishing, camping, biking, boating, sporting dogs, and conservation.   U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees and volunteers from the Madison Private Lands Office, Leopold Wetland Management District, Green Bay Field Office, Horicon, Necedah and Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuges staffed an exhibit within the conservation village.  The exhibit included various Service displays and several educational wildlife skins and mounts.  Here staff were able to answer questions and provide information to children and adults related to fish and wildlife and Service facilities and programs.