Habitat Conservation
Habitat Conservation is Waterfowl Conservation
Since 90 percent of duck production occurs on private land, Delta Waterfowl believes that working with landowners is the key to addressing large-scale habitat challenges on the breeding grounds. Delta has developed and pioneered new voluntary, incentive-based approaches to conserving the most essential and most threatened breeding duck habitat: small wetlands.
After years of demonstrating the capabilities of this wetland conservation habitat strategy working for both ducks and the agriculture community, the Delta model is being embraced at both the state and federal levels in the United States and, provincially, in Canada.
Working Wetlands
Working with agricultural and conservation leaders in North Dakota, Delta designed the Working Wetlands Program to provide fair compensation for farmers who conserve critical duck-producing ponds. Small, shallow ponds provide essential nutrition in the form of tiny invertebrates to nesting hens and ducklings and provide the necessary territorial spacing. However, these are also the wetlands at highest risk of drainage. More than 93,500 acres of these wetlands were lost from 1997 to 2009, and millions of wetland basins remain at risk within the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Delta Waterfowl’s Working Wetlands was designed to conserve small wetlands in cropland by providing voluntary, incentive-based annual payments to farmers and landowners in return for conserving these resources.
Delta and our partners worked aggressively to include Working Wetlands in the 2018 Farm Bill.
Prairie Pothole Water Quality and Wildlife Program and Migratory Bird Resurgence Initiative
Delta Waterfowl made an impressive and indelible mark on the waterfowl conservation community when, in April 2020, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that they would implement and roll out the Prairie Pothole Water Quality and Wildlife Habitat program a program based closely on Delta’s Working Wetlands pilot program-across the Prairie Pothole States. That work has now evolved into the Migratory Bird Resurgence Initiative (MBRI) has increased its impact through expanded investment in recent years. Delta’s goal is to leverage the new tool to conserve the majority of the PPR’s more than 1.5 million eligible wetlands.
Manitoba Growing Outcomes in Watersheds
Delta Waterfowl’s advocacy efforts have resulted in the Manitoba government's commitment to secure 90 percent of the province’s ephemeral and temporary wetlands—those most threatened and of highest importance to nesting ducks. Manitoba’s provincial government worked directly with Delta to create a new voluntary incentive-based program called Growing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW) to achieve this historic wetland conservation feat.
In late summer 2019, the Manitoba government doubled its investment in GROW, creating new incentives for landowners to conserve wetlands and providing stable, perpetual funding. GROW validates Delta’s long-standing work in finding new solutions to conserve small wetlands on working farms.
GROW is delivered by watershed districts in cooperation with producers and Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development.
Government Affairs
Delta's advocacy works for legislative change that benefits ducks and duck hunters at federal and state levels. Delta's policy team is working every day to ensure there are new tools to conserve small prairie wetlands.
The Duck Hunters Organization also vigilantly advocates for vital habitat programs to be included in every U.S. Farm Bill, which historically has created the Conservation Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Voluntary Public Access-Habitat Incentive Program, and others that positively impact duck habitat and enhanced hunting opportunities.
Further, in Canada, Delta’s conservation vision led to the SWIP program’s adoption in Manitoba and momentum toward its expansion into Alberta and Saskatchewan. SWIP incentivizes farmers to avoid draining shallow wetlands and is proving hugely popular both with the agriculture community and those interested in the conservation of waterfowl and wetlands.
Update: Working Wetlands is now called the Prairie Pothole Water Quality and Wildlife Program (PPWQWP.)
Center for Legislative Affairs
More information coming soon.
