No one at the Minnesota Waterfowl Association had ever heard of Bennett Johnsen, a longtime member of the conservation group.

They know about him now.

Johnsen, who died last April at age 72, named the waterfowl association beneficiary of his $400,000 retirement account. For the financially struggling group, dedicated to improving Minnesota's wetland and waterfowl habitat, the news came like a bolt of lightning over a dark slough.

"We were flabbergasted," said Brad Nylin, executive director. "We didn't know if it was real. We've never had anything like this happen before." The money will revitalize the group, Nylin said.

Family members say they're not surprised by Johnsen's generosity, nor the target of his good intentions, even though he wasn't actively involved with the waterfowl association and apparently wasn't even a waterfowl hunter. His love of nature was diverse and deep, they say, and his donation is a fitting legacy to a quiet, unassuming man.

Who he was Bennett Johnsen -- Ben to family and friends -- grew up on a farm near St. Nicholas, Minn., just southwest of St. Cloud, youngest of nine children. The family moved to St. Cloud when he was 10 or 12 years old, but growing up on a farm surrounded by nature might have sparked a lifelong interest in the outdoors, said Dan Nickols, 46, of Elk River, Ben's nephew.

"Anything to do with nature, he just loved it," Nickols said. "He liked hunting and fishing. He enjoyed archery. He was just mesmerized with how nature operated, and he enjoyed watching it. It was not just waterfowl or mammals, it was trees, grasses and flowers, too."

Johnsen graduated from high school and Dunwoody Institute, where he learned to weld. He traveled the U.S. and Canada, working on railroads as a welder for Loram Maintenance of Way Inc. in Hamel, Minn., for 45 years. He worked right up until his death by natural causes last April.

"A lot of his work was done in rural Canada, and he often talked about the moose and wolves and other animals he saw when he was doing his job," Nickols said.

"He used to pheasant and grouse hunt with my father," he said. "And he became an expert marksman with a bow. He taught my brother and me how to shoot. He hunted deer, though I don't know if he ever got one with the bow. But he never hunted ducks as far as I knew."

Said a niece, Therese Maurer, 52, of Maple Grove: "He was extremely intelligent. He knew every tree and bird known to man. He just had an overall love of the outdoors."

Johnsen never married. He lived alone in the same Minneapolis apartment for 35 years, where he died.

"He lived very simply," she said. "He wasn't wasteful and didn't have a lot of worldly things. That wasn't important to him. And he was very giving. He gave monthly to about 10 different charities."

How he discovered the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, or why he decided to donate his entire 401(k) retirement account to that group, is unknown.

"He didn't tell us," Maurer said. "He was very, very private." But he apparently made the group his beneficiary in the mid 1980s, Nylin said.

His bequest didn't surprise Maurer or Nickols.

"It made total sense," Maurer said, because the waterfowl association promotes preservation of wildlife habitat and waters. "And I think he saw an opportunity for children to maybe benefit [from that work]," she said. "He was so interested in kids and education. He would sit down and tell my kids about the outdoors. He was so into it."

Said Nickols: "He knew the benefits of wetlands -- all the wildlife that use wetlands and how important they are for clean water. He wasn't supporting the waterfowl association because he was a duck hunter, but because he felt it was the right thing to do. He probably felt that was how he could make an impact."

Johnsen would have been uncomfortable getting recognition for his donation, Nichols said. "But it's appropriate that he gets some now."

What it means For the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, the timing of the windfall was remarkable. Since it was formed in 1967, the group was a key player in the Minnesota conservation community; it was instrumental in initiating the state duck stamp, which has raised millions for waterfowl habitat.

But the group nearly collapsed because of a financial calamity in 2003: A Legislative auditor issued a report saying the group improperly administered some state grants and used questionable accounting practices.

That led the nonprofit group into debt, membership slipped from a peak of about 8,500 to 4,000, and it nearly folded.

In 2005, an 11th-hour infusion of donations kept the group afloat and it reorganized and downsized. Since then, it has been slowly reestablishing itself and getting back to the business at hand: preserving and restoring wetland habitat and encouraging kids to get hooked on the outdoors.

Each summer, the group sends 48 teenagers to Woodie Camp, a weeklong waterfowling and environmental learning camp near Fergus Falls.

A committee has been formed to determine how to spend Johnsen's money, Nylin said. It could be used for wetland, grassland or shallow lake improvement projects, or youth programs. It also could generate matching dollars for some projects, expanding the scope of Johnsen's gift, Nylin said.

Most importantly, the cash infusion re- establishes the group's credibility and ability to impact the landscape -- and should help the group to grow its membership, Nylin said. He said the goal is to get 10,000 members.

Ben Johnsen's donation is "a miracle," Nylin said.

"It gives us some backbone we didn't have," he said. "It's really a new beginning. We feel we can make a difference locally out there.

"And it means we are going to be here for a hell of a long time."

Doug Smith • dsmith@startribune.com

• For more information on the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, go to www.mnwaterfowl.com.