A mallard dropping through flooded timber is a pretty good argument for getting out of bed at four in the morning. So is a Labrador trembling beside you, convinced that you are the only thing standing between her and the greatest day of her life. In those moments, I’m rarely thinking about conservation policy or fundraising dinners. But somebody had to think about them. Somebody I’ll never meet helped keep water on a landscape a thousand miles away so that duck could find its way to mine.