August 25, 2003

Waterfowl Populations Increase This Year
by James L. Cummins

We have all been holding our breath. For the past three years waterfowl populations have been declining and we have been bracing for a change to a shorter season. For once, I am glad I was wrong. Instead, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced an increase in the spring breeding population and greatly improved conditions on the breeding grounds of the northern United States and Canada.

Not only did the 2003 estimate (36.2 million) of ducks indicate a 16% increase over 1998, but the estimate was approximately 30% higher than the 1955-03 average. The annual breeding duck survey covers 1.3 million square miles across the middle-central United States, western and northern Canada and Alaska.

Breeding mallard populations rose 6 percent over 2003. Blue-winged teal rose 31 percent over last year and green-winged teal rose 15 percent. Northern pintail were up 43 percent over 2002. Redheads rose 13 percent, gadwalls were up 14 percent and canvasbacks were up 15 percent. Wigeon rose 9 percent. Shovelers were up a whopping 56 percent and scaup rose by 6 percent.

Intensive conservation efforts fueled by a tremendous partnership among government, conservation and private landowners have yielded one of the largest duck populations in almost 25 years.

Heavy rain and snow combined with the Conservation Reserve Program created very wet conditions in many parts of the prairie. An early, warm spring and abundant cover resulted in good nesting habitat in the Dakotas, northwest Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and western Ontario.

In the wintering areas, the Mississippi Partners Program, Conservation Reserve Program, Wetland Reserve Program and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program contributed to this increase in the waterfowl population. Wildlife Mississippi worked extensively with landowners to develop winter waterfowl habitat throughout the state.

With these great conservation programs in place and the cooperation of the agricultural sector, the foundation was laid. All we had to do was watch and Mother Nature has finally come through. If we and others had not worked toward developing this habitat, the rains would not have helped waterfowl very much.

One of the objectives of Wildlife Mississippi is to maximize hunting opportunities in a manner that is consistent with the status of waterfowl populations. When we have good habitat conditions and a high waterfowl population like we are experiencing at this time, we will have quality hunting opportunities.

Despite increases in the breeding population and good water conditions, waterfowl still have tough times ahead. They need large areas of nesting cover and an abundance of temporary and seasonal wetlands. According to Delta Waterfowl, we're actually losing grassland acres, and small wetlands are at a greater risk than they've been in 30 years because of a Supreme Court ruling that eliminated protection under the Clean Water Act.

James L. Cummins is Executive Director of the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation in Stoneville, Mississippi. Known as "Wildlife Mississippi," the Foundation is a non-profit, conservation organization founded to conserve, restore and enhance fish, wildlife and plant resources throughout Mississippi