Grant from Mathwig Trust to Launch Breeding Duck Habitat Initiative

A generous $200,000 grant from the Mathwig Family Charitable Trust will boost the conservation of small wetlands in the prairie pothole region. The award supports Delta in hiring a habitat extension coordinator to strengthen landowner relationships and help them enroll key breeding duck habitat into conservation programs.

“We are grateful for the support from the Mathwig Family Charitable Trust, which will allow Delta to serve as a trusted liaison to landowners in the PPR,” said Eric Lindstrom, Delta’s chief development officer. “We are looking forward to fostering these new relationships to work toward Delta’s mission of producing ducks, conserving critical breeding habitat, and ensuring the future of waterfowl hunting in North America.”

Up to 70% of North America’s ducks are hatched each year in the PPR in the northern Great Plains. About 90% of the PPR breeding grounds is privately owned, with much of this land consisting of crop production. Small, shallow ponds in this region provide essential nutrition to nesting hens and ducklings, including necessary territorial spacing. These landscapes, however, are vanishing. More than 93,500 wetland acres have been lost in the PPR from 1997 to 2009, while millions of wetland basins across the U.S. prairies remain at risk.

Delta Waterfowl has worked for decades to develop voluntary, incentive-based programs that benefit both agricultural producers and breeding ducks. Notably, Delta pioneered Working Wetlands in the United States and the Shallow Wetlands Incentive Program in Canada. Partnering with the Mathwig Trust builds on Delta’s investment to conserve vital breeding duck habitat in the Dakotas.

The Mathwig Family Charitable Trust works with organizations to find innovative solutions to support waterfowl habitat conservation, breeding, nesting, and migration. Through this collaboration with Delta, more landowners are poised to serve as stewards to conserve crucial duck habitat on their properties.

“It’s best when we can remove as many barriers as possible for landowners to interact with conservation programs,” said Mike Szymanski, executive vice president and director of conservation programs for the Mathwig Family Charitable Trust. “Having someone from Delta in the field who is able to interact with landowners will be an incredible asset for the future of duck production in the prairie pothole region.”

Delta's habitat extension coordinator will help landowners across the U.S. PPR to navigate and enroll in conservation programs and habitat restoration initiatives available through federal, state, and NGO partners. In particular, the coordinator will focus on increasing enrollment in programs under the Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative. Through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program in the U.S. Farm Bill, the MBHI provides fair compensation for landowners who conserve critical duck-producing ponds with the goal of reversing the decline of migratory bird populations in North America.

“This new position will allow Delta to leverage the shared interest of duck hunters and landowners to conserve the most important breeding habitat in North America,” said Joel Brice, Delta’s chief conservation officer. “With the rate of wetland losses we’ve seen in the prairies in the past two decades, it’s imperative that we work with landowners on solutions to slow drainage, incentivize conservation, and maintain breeding duck carrying capacity.” — Jonathan Olivier