WASHINGTON, D.C. - The voice of America's sportsmen and women will be shared with Congress in regards to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill's impact on the Gulf Coast. Thursday, the House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, led by Del. Madeleine Z. Bordallo of Guam, will hold an oversight hearing on "Our Natural Resources at Risk: The Short and Long Term Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill."

The House committee has invited Capt. Ryan Lambert, a Ducks Unlimited member and member of the Louisiana Charter Boat Association, to testify at the oversight hearing. Lambert is from southeast Louisiana and makes his living guiding sportsmen in the bays and marshes of the Gulf Coast.

If the spill continues for additional weeks or months, numerous shorebirds, waterfowl and other wetland wildlife will be at serious risk. In addition, the oil spill threatens the fishing and tourism industries that rely on the waters of the Gulf as a primary means of income. Lambert's testimony will focus on the economic impacts to the Gulf Coast and regional industries stemming from the oil spill.

Lambert will also participate in an exclusive briefing being held by Ducks Unlimited in Room 2167 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Friday, June 11, 2010, at 10 a.m. Dr. Tom Moorman, director of conservation planning in Ducks Unlimited's Southern Region, will also provide a briefing on impacts of the oil spill on wetlands and waterfowl.

The Gulf Coast is one of Ducks Unlimited's five highest-priority habitats for conservation in North America. While the potential exists for the oil spill to have both short and long term consequences for habitat, waterfowl and other wildlife on the Gulf Coast, DU's focus remains on the long-term loss of Louisiana coastal marshes that has been under way for decades and threatens this vital ecosystem.

Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever.