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Ducks Unlimited Receives $1.5 Million For Shiawassee
Funding received for restoration work in Saginaw Bay Watershed.

Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge

Ducks Unlimited

Ann Arbor, Mich. --(Ammoland.com)- A $1.5 million grant will make an impressive impact on conservation in the Saginaw Bay region of Michigan with the help of Ducks Unlimited.

DU has been awarded funds to restore emergent wetlands to 940 acres of land currently in agricultural use at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.

The $1.5 million grant was formally awarded by Sustain Our Great Lakes at a ceremony that took place at Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge in Trenton, Mich. on Friday. SOGL awarded the funds through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the federal program designed to target the most significant problems in the Great Lakes ecosystem, including habitat conservation, invasive aquatic species, non-point source pollution and contaminated sediment.

The project lies within the Shiawassee Flats, a 40,000-acre floodplain wetland complex formed by the confluence of the Bad, Cass, Flint, Shiawassee, and Tittabawassee Rivers. The Flats include a diversity of natural and managed wetlands that have historically been a critical waterfowl and waterbird stopover area in the Great Lakes region. The Flats also provide many additional ecological and societal benefits, including habitat for other wetland-dependent fish and wildlife, flood control and abatement, water quality improvement, and areas for outdoor-based recreation and education.

This restoration has two important impacts. The restored wetlands will provide a key connection between other restored wetlands and the Shiawassee River, providing valuable habitat for fish, waterfowl, and other wetland-dependant species. It will also improve water quality as it moves downstream towards the Saginaw Bay.

Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network and Dow Chemical Company provided financial support. DU also received letters of support from several sources including U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Geological Survey, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Saginaw Bay WIN, and the Shiawassee Flats Citizens and Hunters Association. The grant was awarded through the Sustain Our Great Lakes, whose mission is to sustain, restore, and protect fish, wildlife, and habitat in the Great Lakes basin by leveraging funding, building conservation capacity, and focusing partners and resources toward key ecological issues.

“Restorations of this magnitude are difficult to come by not only in the Saginaw Bay watershed, but anywhere in the Great Lakes basin,” said Dane Cramer, regional biologist at DU’s Great Lakes/Atlantic Regional Office. “This project will make appreciable impacts to the thousands of waterfowl that migrate through Saginaw Bay and the Shiawassee Flats area every spring and autumn as well as important fish species and other wetland denizens.”

With more than a million supporters, Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest and most effective wetland and waterfowl conservation organization with more than 12 million acres conserved. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands − nature’s most productive ecosystem − and continues to lose more than 80,000 wetland acres each year.

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Louisiana Has Record Waterfowl Harvest
Abundant Harvest Emphasizes Importance of Louisiana to Waterfowl.

Louisiana Has Record Waterfowl Harvest

Ducks Unlimited

LAFAYETTE, LA --(Ammoland.com)- Waterfowl hunters harvested more than 2.7 million ducks in Louisiana during the 2010-11 waterfowl season, more than any other state, according to the recently released annual U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Migratory Bird Hunting Activity and Harvest report.

“Conserving waterfowl habitats in Louisiana has long been one of Ducks Unlimited’s highest priorities,” Bob Dew, DU manager of conservation programs, said.

“More ducks were harvested in Louisiana last season than in the entire Atlantic or Central Flyways! If that doesn’t convey the continental importance of Louisiana as wintering waterfowl habitat, I don’t know what does.”

Louisiana’s harvest accounts for 18 percent of the United States harvest. Arkansas had the second highest harvest in the Mississippi Flyway with 1.4 million ducks. Factoring in hunter numbers, Louisiana’s harvest equated to 30.6 ducks harvested per hunter for the season.

“That is a big increase in our hunter success from the year before,” Larry Reynolds, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Waterfowl Study Leader, said. “Last season provided some great duck hunting in Louisiana, and given the increased populations and wetland conditions on the breeding grounds, we are hoping for another excellent season.”

However, waterfowlers should remember there are a multitude of factors that influence migration patterns as well as individual hunting success. Weather patterns are often the greatest driving force for waterfowl, and last winter’s weather patterns pushed waterfowl south with hard freezes and snow cover to the north. Local habitat conditions, particularly local rainfall patterns that influence habitat availability, also play a critical role in hunter success.

Last fall and winter there were significant efforts related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster to provide habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds. The effort resulted in significant habitat in southwest Louisiana throughout fall and winter due to the Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative, while southeast Louisiana marshes were under the influence of a high river with open freshwater diversions.

“Ducks Unlimited’s partnership with private landowners, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Natural Resources Conservation Service put about 80,000 acres of water on the ground in drought-stricken southwest Louisiana in time for the fall flights,” Dew said. “And the freshwater pouring into southeast coastal marshes encouraged excellent submersed aquatic vegetation growth, an important food resource for waterfowl, in that portion of the state.”

Last year’s breeding populations were above long term averages for most species, so waterfowl production should have been very good. Add to that late fall and winter weather patterns that pushed ducks south where they were greeted by locally excellent habitat conditions, and you have great harvest potential. Additionally, USFWS data also suggest that Louisiana had an increase in hunter numbers last year – more than 9,000 more than the previous year – and an increase in hunter effort – more than 130,000 more days afield – and the result is a near perfect combination of factors leading to Louisiana’s record harvest.

The coming waterfowl season is shaping up to be promising as well. The breeding ground population surveys and wetland pond counts showed great breeding pair numbers and habitat conditions. Flooding along the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers has provided significant freshwater inputs, and river levels remain high so stands of submersed aquatic vegetation attractive to ducks should be developing nicely. Also, most of the habitat created through the MBHI program will be provided again for waterfowl in the rice prairie region.

“With the wet conditions on the breeding grounds, duck hunters should be excited about the upcoming season,” Dew said. “But some areas of Louisiana are very dry and very salty, which will have an effect on habitat conditions locally. Keep your fingers crossed for some rain and cold fall and winter weather up north.”

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.

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