November 18, 2005
Great News for Duck Hunters: Manitoba Announces Launch of Three-Year ALUS Pilot

(Left to right) Delta Waterfowl Executive Vice-President Jonathan Scarth, KAP Vice President Ian Wishart, Minister Rosann Wowchuk and RM of Blanchard Reeve Richard Heapy after Friday's annoucement at the Manitoba Legislature. Delta Waterfowl Executive Vice-President Jonathan Scarth speaks about the importance of ALUS in the Rotunda of the Manitoba Legislature. Jonathan Scarth shakes hands with Member of Parliament Anita Neville (Winnipeg South Centre) after the announcment. KAP Vice President Ian Wishart answers reporters questions.

The Ecological Goods and Services (EG&S) pilot projects support farmers in their efforts to maintain wetlands and riparian areas and to provide permanent cover on fragile cultivated lands.

The project will be funded under the environment chapter of the Agricultural Policy Framework (APF), which Thursday announced $75,000 in transition funding this fiscal year.

Known to many as Alternate Land Use Services (ALUS), the project has the potential to reverse declining duck production on the Canadian breeding grounds, according to Delta President Rob Olson.

“This is the best news for duck hunters since Congress authorized the Conservation Reserve Program back in the ‘80s,” says Olson.  “I’m extremely proud of Delta’s team of Jonathan Scarth, Robert Sopuck and Dr. Robert Bailey, and their farm partners, especially Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP).  It took five years of hard work by those folks to make this moment a reality.”

The initial pilot will be in the Rural Municipality of Blanshard, which provided $40,000 (Canadian) for the project. Also contributing, through Delta, were (all figures Canadian dollars) the Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Commission ($60,000) and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission ($25,000).

Total funding for Manitoba projects is expected to be $1.8 million over three years.

“The ALUS pilot project has been a top priority with us,” says Sopuck, Delta’s vice-president of policy for prairie Canada.  “The pilot project will provide important information to allow the design of an efficient and farmer-friendly national landscape conservation program.”

“This project empowers farmers and rural communities to take the lead in environmental stewardship, and is the first of its kind in Canada,” says KAP Vice President Ian Wishart.  “By recognizing the important environmental contributions of farmers, this pilot project is truly a new direction for agriculture and conservation in Manitoba.”

Delta Executive Vice President Scarth says the announcement couldn’t have come at a better time.  “Duck production on the Canadian prairie has fallen off dramatically,” Scarth says.  “The 330,000 acres of permanently protected waterfowl habitat in prairie Canada is dwarfed by the amount of habitat provided by the duck stamp and CRP on the US side of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). 

“Delta believes policy reform is the key to the future of duck production in Canada, and that’s why the development of ALUS and the EG&S policy are such huge steps for waterfowl conservation.”

 Sopuck says work is already underway to secure pilot projects in Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Bailey, Delta’s vice president of policy for Canada, says an ALUS pilot is being planned for Prince Edward Island and a pilot has already begun in Ontario.   

Thursday’s announcement was made on behalf of Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Andy Mitchell, and Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South Centre Anita Neville, who was representing the government of Canada.

“The health of the agriculture industry is closely tied to the health of the environment,” said Neville. “Manitoba producers are working with governments and the industry to strengthen their longstanding tradition of carefully managing their farmland.  Pilots such as this are powerful instruments exploring different thinking, and the federal government will follow its progress attentively.”

“Under this innovative project, farmers in the RM of Blanshard will receive a financial incentive to develop and maintain natural environments on their land, integrated with their agricultural lands,” said Wowchuk. “This program complements the environmental goals of Manitoba’s new Water Protection Act.”

“This is a very exciting time for us and we would like to congratulate Keystone Agricultural Producers and Delta Waterfowl in having the foresight for this innovative project,” said Richard Heapy, reeve of the RM of Blanshard.

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