Current land management is affecting a very small percentage of available habitats, affecting 10% of the wild duck production at best. Many United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA’s) properties in the Prairie Pothole region (PPR) are classified as low priority. WPA’s are isolated semi-permanent wetland complexes located in prime habitats. They are of primary benefit to ducks during periods of drought and brood rearing, but they have become havens for predators. Left alone, without trapping and habitat enhancement many WPA’s, sadly actually account for a net loss of ducks each year.
While the USFWS is the largest single owner of land in the PPR, it controls less than 10% of breeding waterfowl habitat.
Landowners, who own 90% or more of PPR habitats, have no economic benefit in providing predator free nesting habitat for migratory birds. Most landowners in the PPR receive nothing for preserving the habitat that over 90% of our PPR breeding migratory birds depend on. Still, most of the ducks in the PPR are raised on privately farmed land. The fact is- Farmers on un-drained land produce more than a crop of grain or cattle; they provide us with breeding grounds essential to an abundant waterfowl population. On top of this, many PPR farmers lose thousands of dollars annually to duck depredation of their barley crops. Fortunately, large barley production is present only in the northern reaches of the PPR. This depredation needs to be addressed before large widespread duck production is accepted in these northern PPR communities.
The un-drained PPR farmers are providing the kind of duck flight that can be expected with little or no economic support. Just think what we and the landowners could do; The ducks, they could produce If they had our economic support?!
Un-drained Seasonal Wetland
Being un-drained means flooding out planted crop. This costs farmers lots of money. Money that neighbors on drained land do not lose. These temporary wetland systems are the driving force in waterfowl production. People need to understand the fluctuation in wetland numbers in the PPR between wet years and dry years is counted in the millions. And that most all of these variances occur on private property, not protected waterfowl habitats. Temporary seasonal wetlands are the single most important type of wetland for duck production. Due to the nature of their land, un-drained farmers lose money because of duck habitat. As a result, they need a program different from that of farmers who drain their land. The un-drained farmer is put into a position of competing with drained land farmers and this handicaps them so much that they just continue to find ways to drain and drained land stops duck production in its tracks.
I
n a perfect duck producing world, 40% of the PPR in grass would be the goal. While this would increase the migratory bird populations, economies on the prairie would crumble. Farming is the only tangible revenue source for the PPR landowner and the driving force of small town economies. Nearly all the businesses in the rural PPR are agriculturally based. Modern agricultural funds many who supply the fertilizer, seed, tractors, combines, seeders, tires, parts, fuel, and food required to support the farm industry. It is clear, therefore, that nesting landscapes that are 40% grass are not feasible in most farmed PPR habitats.
Even if landowners in the PPR (who have shown a decreasing willingness to sell their land to conservation organizations or the USFWS) did sell their land, operating costs of maintaining the land are prohibitive. As an example, the USFWS currently has properties classified as low-priority because they do not have the funding with which to maintain them.
It is imperative to the success of Save the Hens Foundation’s mission that we find a way to work with PPR landowners and not against them! And that gets us to the issue of predators.
North Dakota Farmstead
The Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Department said, “In the last decade raccoons have become an agricultural wildlife nuisance in Alberta. As raccoons become more abundant in Alberta, problems of bird depredation, disease transmission (rabies), and agricultural damage will increase”.
This has already proven to be the case in the United States’ portion of the PPR. Raccoons, which are not even native to a large part of the PPR, eat ducks, ducklings, duck eggs, farmers’ grain, and damage power lines and buildings. Save the Hens will work with landowners to bring the raccoon and skunk populations under control, thus benefiting the local communities and increasing migratory bird production.
Save the Hens targets skunks and raccoons through its trapping program. Our ability to release non-target animals by using live capture traps allows Save the Hens to benefit some relatively populous habitats. Farmsteads provide most of the habitat that raccoons depend on for survival. Trapping techniques used on these farmsteads must be accomplished in a way that is not threatening to all the inhabitants of the farmyard. Responsible predator control benefits both ducks and rural residents.
Bottom line we need to start working with the PPR landowners to successfully conserve our migratory waterfowl.
