PART III - THE FUTURE OF DUCK HUNTING
Interviews with Delta Waterfowl Foundation and Ducks Unlimited Canada

By Bob Bailey

Delta Waterfowl Foundation

Editor’s comment: Jonathan Scarth is the President of the Delta Waterfowl Foundation.

"The Delta Waterfowl Foundation began as one duck hunter’s vision to put back more ducks than he took from the Delta Marsh" says Jonathan Scarth. "For over 50 years, Delta has provided research to improve waterfowl management, trained young biologists and communicated new knowledge". But Jonathan Scarth says that "without waterfowl hunting, there is no reason for Delta to exist".

Scarth is alarmed at the decline because "Delta recognizes the connection between hunters and wise management, and the passion that is uniquely expressed by hunters for conservation. For this reason, the foundation adopted a strategic objective to help Canada build its waterfowl hunting and conservation legacy, in Delta’s official plan". Scarth believes "hunters raise the habitat conservation bar by their requirement for abundant wildlife on the landscape".

With the possibility that no one under the age of 35 may purchase a duck hunting permit in 5 years, Scarth says "it is now essential to give waterfowl hunting a top priority and Delta has zeroed in on the need to ensure the future of hunting". "Given the passion waterfowl hunters have", Scarth says he is "optimistic that the trend in hunter numbers can be reversed". Delta will develop a strong advocacy presence in Ottawa and across Canada, to support waterfowl hunters. Scarth points to Delta’s successful lobbying, which resulted in the Youth Waterfowler Heritage Day launched in Manitoba last fall, as an example of what can be achieved for hunting. He says "the 17 new, young hunters that resulted from the special program at Delta, is an indication of the Foundation’s commitment to the future of waterfowl hunting".

Scarth says "supporting hunting is not a choice, but an obligation for the Delta Waterfowl Foundation. Just as hunters feel they need to give back to nature for what they have taken, Delta should give back to hunters for the support they have received over the past 50 years".

Ducks Unlimited Canada

Editor’s Comment: Rod Fowler is the Executive Vice President of Ducks Unlimited Canada. For more on Ducks Unlimited Canada, visit the DUC website at www.ducks.ca.

Rod Fowler says "Ducks Unlimited has been aware of a sharp decline in waterfowl hunter numbers for several years. However, if there has been an impact on Ducks Unlimited Canada, it is not noticeable. Memberships and volunteer numbers continue to grow. As waterfowl hunter numbers drop in the organization, the gap has been filled by people who did hunt, but no longer do so, and by people who have never hunted, but do not object to hunting".

Fowler says "DU recognizes the role of the hunter in habitat conservation, but adds that the fear of losing the passion and enthusiasm for conservation as non-hunters become more prevalent in the organization, has not materialized. Ducks Unlimited plays a role in bringing together hunters and non-hunters in habitat conservation".

Ducks Unlimited Canada’s support for hunting as a legitimate and acceptable use of a renewable resource was confirmed in a recent Board of Directors meeting. This support will include acknowledging the contributions of hunters to conservation.

Fowler says, "Ducks Unlimited is a habitat conservation organization. Ducks Unlimited will not serve as an advocate for waterfowl hunting. DU may consider including youth waterfowl hunting skills and ethics training in its education plan, or may look to cooperating with other groups who are better positioned to deliver hunter education".

Looking Ahead

It is not too late for waterfowl hunters to act. But to act, hunters need leadership with clarity, commitment to hunting, corporate focus and a new set of professional skills including strategic marketing, communications and advocacy, to add to their traditional conservation tools. Above all, there is a need to fully recognize the threats to waterfowl hunting and the conservation legacy that hunters have established through their continent-wide efforts.

For the individual duck hunter, there is so much more at stake than organizational positioning and conservation blabber. As I ponder a lifetime committed to conservation, I realize that much of my passion for ducks and wetlands has come through the trigger. From a thirteen year-old’s first blue-winged teal, to an old man’s final mallard last December, it is the hunt that has made me part of nature’s design for these birds.

I wonder what the spring flights of bluebills will look like if I cannot imagine their wavering lines turning to the call and slicing over the decoys? And what of the passion that fires conservation, can this spirit really find life in any other form? Experiences, memories, connections, values, reach deeper and deeper. More than a sport, richer than passion, stretching back beyond legacy or tradition, waterfowl hunting is the human condition, it is who we are, anchored in eternity.