A Preview of the 2010 Activities of the Delta Waterfowl Foundation
Hello from the Breeding Grounds!
Delta reseachers continue their journey of discovery on waterfowl and their habitat.
As the breeding season is in full swing, it provides all of us at Delta time to take stock in our programming and again report to you, our most generous and dedicated supporters, on some of the key activities undertaken by Delta this coming year. I trust you will be as excited as we are to review the current breadth of Delta’s work and how your support is translating into key achievements across our myriad program activities.
We are certainly excited about Delta’s ongoing excellence in the research program, continued advancements across Canada with Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS), improving our understanding of predator management and significant gains in Hen Houses and Adopt a Pothole. These efforts on behalf of the ducks and Delta’s leadership in addressing waterfowl hunter’s issues, all of these programs in concert ensure that Delta continues to drive forward in finding new solutions to duck production, as well as ensuring the legacy of waterfowling continues.
These efforts are made possible by the generous support of our members, volunteers and donors. It is this investment in Delta that allows such great progress year over year in pursuing our lofty goals of securing the future of waterfowl and waterfowl hunting!
I. Research-The University of Ducks!
Delta researchers are in the field as of this writing in search of answers to the questions facing waterfowl managers across the continent! Delta students continue their historic legacy of contributing scientific solutions to the problems facing waterfowl and pioneering innovative conservation approaches. Delta’s research bolsters our knowledge and ability to manage North American waterfowl.
Below are snapshots and highlights of examples of research projects that Delta is supporting in 2010:
- Sarah Thompson (PhD candidate, Univ. of Minnesota) Sarah’s research is evaluating the practice of removing trees and other woody vegetation from Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA’s) in western Minnesota. Woody cover has been linked to increased predator abundance and many managers have been removing cover to decrease predation pressure. Sarah’s work focuses on measuring if removal efforts elevate nest success.
- Luke Laborde (PhD candidate, LSU) Delta and many others are concerned about declining participation in waterfowl hunting but little is known about why people are leaving the duck blind. Luke’s work is an important step in gathering information about hunter’s concerns and perception from across the Mississippi Flyway. This information will be very useful in addressing hunter’s concerns as well as guide Delta and it’s partners in formalizing actions to ensure a bright future for duck hunters.
- Beth Ross (PhD candidate, Utah State Univ.) Much angst has been generated in the waterfowl management community over the model the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) uses to establish annual scaup regulations. Delta and a broad range of population experts held a session in 2008 to make improvements to the USFWS models. Due to lack of action by the USFWS, former Delta student Dr. David Koons at Utah State and Beth Ross are developing a more rigorous population model to make suggestions about the potential cause of the scaup decline as well as provide a better working model based on known variables which could be helpful in the further refinement of the USFWS models.
- Bruce Davis (PhD candidate, LSU) Recently, the profile of mottled ducks has been raised, most notably with more restrictive regulations instituted in 2009. In comparison with other duck species, relatively little is know about mottled ducks and, as such, the causes for the recent decline are not well understood. Bruce Davis is part of a large multi-partner research endeavor across the Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast measuring habitat use, survival and inter-seasonal movements. Bruce’s work is a key step in understanding potential causes of the mottled duck decline and will be necessary to take management and conservation actions needed to bolster populations.
- Predator Management Delta is continuing research related to predator management in 2010 focusing on sites in North Dakota and Manitoba. The North Dakota sites will continue the second year of data collection on areas where nesting cover is extremely sparse. Preliminary data from 2009 yielded exciting results with significant increases in nest success documented.
In Manitoba, researchers will be collecting data for the second consecutive year. Several adjustments will be made to trapping methodology with the goal of increasing the intensity of the trapping effort. Also, cameras will be employed on the Manitoba sites to determine which predators are the cause of nest failure. Because of the abundant and diverse predator populations, it is important to know which species are the primary cause of nest loss.
Also, under the topic of predator management, Delta researchers are searching out more information on the movements and behavior of mink to determine if we can increase trapping efficiency on the top duckling predator.
- Kevin Ringleman (PhD candidate UC Davis) While all in the conservation community acknowledge the impact of predators on nest success, there is little information as to the patterns of nest failure related to nest site selection amongst hens. Kevin’s work is taking place in high density breeding areas of California’s Central Valley where he is monitoring nests, building a model of nest sites and overlapping information related to predator foraging behavior. This information will be helpful in more fully understanding the interplay between predators and nesting ducks.
- Dr. Frank Rohwer and Bruce Davis (LSU) Much speculation has been tossed as to whether or not a marked change in duck distribution has occurred in recent years. Delta’s Scientific Director Dr. Frank Rohwer and Bruce Davis are using harvest data provided by the USFWS to determine if there are any patterns to ducks remaining north longer than they have historically. Frank and Bruce will use long term data sets from a diversity of duck species to determine if there is evidence to support the hypotheses that ducks are “shortstopping.”
II. ALUS-Creating a Canadian CRP!
Blue-winged teal on the nest on the breeding grounds.
Delta’s efforts on the Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) policy proposal are focused on achieving the sweeping habitat conservation and restoration actions necessary to improve the landscape across Canada. ALUS is a pioneering enterprise because it capitalizes the knowledge of the individual famer and rancher, agricultural groups and rural communities in achieving real measurable habitat gains and environmental values from private lands.
Over the last year, the Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) policy vision has continued to gain momentum across Canada. With a tremendously effective pilot project in southern Ontario where producers are restoring wetlands and re-establishing the historic stands of tall grass prairie, to Prince Edward Island where the Provincial Government continues to attribute marked environmental improvement to its investments in ALUS, to the County of Vermilion River, Alberta, the site of the new Alberta ALUS pilot project.
ALUS continues to be at the forefront of policy discussions related to increasing the conservation outcomes from the Canadian agricultural landscape. It is this progress in terms of recognition amongst policy makers and elected officials that ultimately will make ALUS happen, providing the large scale habitat conservation and restoration necessary for ducks to flourish in Canada.
Below are highlights from the pilot project areas across Canada.
Ontario
The Norfolk County ALUS pilot project has been a key cornerstone in Delta’s efforts to make ALUS a cross Canada policy initiative. Located in southern Ontario, the site is in close proximity to Toronto, Canada’s largest urban center and national capital, Ottawa. This location makes it a ready-made site for touring policy makers and other interested parties to illustrate the application of ALUS, its “buy-in” from farmers and ranchers as well as demonstrate its conservation outcomes.
Since the pilot was launched in 2007, the Norfolk County pilot has engendered remarkable endorsement from a diversity of groups, the most striking of which is the Ontario ALUS Alliance—a diverse array of more than 50 groups who have joined the partnership with the goal of advancing ALUS as provincial and national policy. The pilot has accomplished a broad array of conservation services including wetland and grassland restorations, establishment of riparian buffers to preserve water quality and re-established native oak savannah habitats. In association with the demonstration of ALUS occurring on farms throughout Norfolk County, Delta is partnering with students and faculty at the University of Guelph to evaluate the impact of ALUS as well as help chart a course for larger scale delivery.
Alberta
January 20, 2010 was a milestone for Delta and its partners when the Alberta ALUS pilot project was formally announced. Located in the County of Vermilion River along the Saskatchewan border, the area contains some of the highest breeding duck densities in the province, but like so many areas of the Canadian breeding grounds, it is not without its share of challenges. Like its predecessors, the goal of the Alberta pilot is to demonstrate the virtue of ALUS on the ground and by engagement of local farmers and communities. A host of conservation practices are being employed including restoration of wetlands and grasslands as well as the conservation and enhancement of existing habitat features. An eager team of local interests is guiding program delivery in Alberta and contracts with local farmers and ranchers are being executed daily. Look for more exciting news from Alberta in the months to come!
Prince Edward Island
The Government of Prince Edward Island showed remarkable leadership when they became the first province to adopt ALUS as official provincial programming in 2008. Over the past couple of years, ALUS programming, which in the context of Prince Edward Island is largely riparian buffers (streamside cover plantings) to mitigate agriculture’s impacts of rivers, has generated substantial conservation outcomes. Because of the measurable improvements as a result of ALUS, the PEI government increased provincial funding to $1,000,000 (despite major cutbacks to a variety of other programs) and recently the Canadian government announced that it will match the provincial investment dollar for dollar.
III. Delta Duck Production
Trapping on low grass sites in North Dakota.
Delta continues to press forward with the entire suite of Delta Duck Production tools. From more acres under perpetual easement in Manitoba via Adopt a Pothole, growth in Hen House numbers and the ongoing research to determine the optimal place and manner for predator management, DDP continues to pursue new and innovative strategies for conserving habitat and increasing duck production. Below are the detailed reports on DDP!
Predator Management
Delta is focusing predator management this year in low grass sites in North Dakota and again testing the tool in the parklands near Minnedosa, Manitoba. The North Dakota work yielded impressive results a year ago with nest success averaging 35.6% on predator removal sites and 4.9% on non-trapped sites. This seven-fold increase in nest success is one of the largest net gains in nest success demonstrated in the history of our research and it certainly demonstrates the potential for predator management to significantly aid duck production in areas of the Dakotas where nesting cover is sparse (<10% grass per township).
In Manitoba, last year’s initial evaluation noted a modest increase in nest success (13.25% trapped vs. 7.18% non-trapped), but far below our expectations for the tool. In response to this rather marginal result, we will be shrinking treatment size to sixteen square miles in the hope of increasing trapping efficiency and utilizing cameras at nest sites to determine the type of predators responsible for nest failure. Obviously, Delta is committed to seeing through the evaluation of predator management in the parklands as it may be one of the only tools available to managers to deal with shockingly low nest success rates in the region.
Adopt a Pothole
As it was at the inception of the program, the goal of Adopt a Pothole continues to be that of emphasizing the conservation of small temporary and seasonal wetlands so crucial for duck production. Since Delta helped bring permanent easements to Prairie Canada in partnership with the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation in 1999, 30,232 acres of wetlands and associated upland nesting cover in Manitoba are under perpetual protection. Adopt a Pothole continues today as being the sole easement program in Canada targeted towards conserving the most at risk wetlands.
Hen Houses
Delta’s Hen House program continues to grow with nesting structures installed and maintained across a broad swath of the mallard breeding range in both Canada and the U.S. They continue to garner the attention of waterfowl managers struggling with low mallard production. Most notably, partnerships with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Iowa Department of Natural Resources are bearing fruit in terms of increased usage rates, high nest success and resultant incremental mallard production. In all, nearly 9,000 nesting structures are in place across the continent as a result of Delta’s partnership efforts!
IV. Waterfowling Initiative-First Hunt
Delta is helping to recruit a new generation of hunters across North America.
As a supporter, you recognize that Delta is involved both in the conservation of our flocks as well as preserving the future of waterfowl hunting. Delta has made marked progress in the past years in recruiting new hunters across the U.S. and Canada as well as representing the needs of hunters on access, regulations and a host of other issues where Delta’s leadership led the way in ensuring waterfowlers can enjoy days afield. Delta is certainly staking leadership ground in this realm, being the only waterfowl organization to have full time staff dedicated to the recruitment of new waterfowlers.
Delta is pleased to announce that veteran Delta Regional Director Scott Terning has assumed the post of Director of Waterfowler Recruitment and Education. Scott’s passion for waterfowling, his background in education, curriculum development and his experience in hosting first-rate mentored hunts made him a natural for the position.
Delta is eager to build upon its past success in the delivery of recruitment hunts for youngsters, women and young adults, which Delta began ten years ago. This past year, Delta chapters put on over 100 activities aimed at introducing new waterfowlers to the duck blind. Scott’s primary task over the summer is to craft a curriculum, standard operating procedures guide, and assemble the resources needed to assist our local chapters in hosting recruitment hunts for the coming fall.
THANK YOU!
Again from all of us at Delta Waterfowl, we appreciate those of you who have contributed so much! It is your trust, support and leadership that is providing for this exciting work. We look forward to keeping you apprised of our progress in the months ahead and are eager to share each milestone with you.