Ducks Unlimited’s 2003 Annual Report
For the year ending June 30, 2003
For 66 years, Ducks Unlimited has pursued its mission of conserving North America’s most important waterfowl habitats. Each year, DU conserves, restores, or enhances hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands and upland nesting habitat, and despite several challenges, fiscal year 2003 proved to be another year of remarkable achievements.
Midway through FY 2003, DU’s fund-raising efforts were clearly being affected by the shaky economy, the developing situation in Iraq, and other factors. At the same time, several unique conservation opportunities presented themselves, including millions of dollars in matching funds available through the newly reauthorized North American Wetlands Conservation Act. DU refused to watch these opportunities slip away, so in January of last year, DU President John Tomke and Executive Vice President Don Young issued a Call to Action, reaching out to each state organization and chapter with a new sense of urgency. Over the last six months, DU made a tremendous financial recovery and ended FY 2003 “in the black.”
DU maintained its commitment to spend its members’ donations efficiently and effectively. For every dollar donated last year, DU spent 84 cents on habitat conservation. As a result, DU was able to conserve nearly 250,000 acres—more than 10 percent over its annual goal—providing nearly a quarter of a million more acres for North America’s waterfowl and other wildlife, and for people to enjoy.
DU’s Western Regional Office
In the United States, DU continued to make great strides in conserving wetlands and waterfowl habitats through projects delivered by regional offices located in high-priority waterfowl habitat areas across the nation. With an ever-increasing human population and dwindling water supplies, wetlands and waterfowl habitats in the West are more threatened every year.
At the top of the Pacific Flyway, millions of waterfowl annually stage and breed in the western boreal forest of Canada and Alaska. Until recently, the western boreal forest remained a pristine wilderness, but increases in forestry, oil and gas production, mining, hydroelectric development, and agricultural activity in the region could jeapordize its wetlands and waterfowl populations. In response, DU and partners, including resource extraction industries, initiated the Western Boreal Forest Initiative to study and conserve wetland and wildlife habitat there. Through extensive satellite mapping programs, DU helped map more than 42 million acres of the boreal forest in 2003. This information will help DU and partners work with natural resource managers to ensure that future development in the western boreal forest will not adversely affect wetland systems and waterfowl populations.
The Pacific Northwest wetlands support 32 species of waterfowl and many other species of wildlife and fish. As in many areas of North America, the Pacific Northwest has suffered extensive wetland losses, and over the next decade stands to lose many of its remaining wetlands to urban sprawl. In 1996, DU launched its Pacific Northwest Initiative to protect and restore wetland and wildlife habitats on several focus areas in Washington and Oregon. Last year, DU completed restoration on the 270-acre wetland complex in the Skagit Wildlife Area, a popular waterfowl viewing and hunting area near Bellingham, Washington.
Although California has lost more than 96 percent of its original wetlands, up to 60 percent of Pacific Flyway waterfowl migrate through or winter in the state’s Central Valley. Through the Valley/Bay CARE program, DU is conserving wetlands in the Central Valley as well as coastal habitats in California’s Sacramento Valley, San Diego Bay, San Francisco Bay, and other high-priority areas. Last year, in the Sacramento River Valley, DU initiated the Lower Butte Creek Project, which will conserve more than 50,000 wetland acres.
Last year, in Hawaii, DU received the state’s first North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant. Thanks to this grant, nearly 1,500 acres of wetlands and associated uplands will be restored or enhanced, providing crucial habitat for a host of migratory birds and local wildlife.
Great Plains Region Report
DU’s greatest challenge in the Great Plains Region is to protect and conserve large tracts of upland cover for breeding waterfowl. To that end, DU’s primary focus in this region is the Grasslands for Tomorrow Initiative, which plans to conserve two million acres of the world’s most productive waterfowl habitat. As part of that effort, in 2003 DU launched its first Internet auction sale of conservation land purchased using DU’s Revolving Land Strategy. Once restored and protected, lands are resold to conservation buyers or agencies. To date, DU and partners have protected more than 332,000 grassland acres via perpetual conservation easements, and have restored and purchased an additional 23,787 acres of prime prairie habitat.
Every spring, millions of waterfowl funnel through Nebraska’s Rainwater Basin on their way to the breeding grounds. Unfortunately, the 8,000 Rainwater Basin wetlands that once existed have been reduced to fewer than 400 today, compressing waterfowl onto the few remaining areas. In Nebraska’s Rainwater Basin, DU is restoring drained, filled, or otherwise degraded wetlands in the basin and along the adjacent Platte River as part of the Habitat in the Heartland Initiative, which includes plans to purchase and restore four 3,000-acre complexes of Rainwater Basin wetlands and associated uplands.
In central Minnesota, DU is restoring wild rice lakes and other shallow lakes in the upper Mississippi River Valley. Historically, these lakes produced an abundance of wild rice that provided food and cover for breeding and migrating ducks. As water levels were altered through the years, however, wild rice production ceased. By restoring the hydrology of these important ecosystems, DU hopes to bring back the wild rice, and thus the waterfowl on Minnesota’s unique lakes.
DU is also protecting and restoring thousands of wetland acres in the Intermountain West, which boasts some of the highest nesting densities on the continent. DU’s Wings Over the Rockies Initiative is working to protect and restore wetland habitats along the Platte River and in the San Luis Valley.
Southern Region Report
DU’s southern region provides wintering and migration habitat for approximately two-thirds of North America’s waterfowl, harbors the majority of the continent’s breeding wood duck population, and supports its entire population of mottled ducks. However, some of the region’s most attractive waterfowl habitat is also prime land for farming and developing, making DU’s conservation work in the southern region more urgent every day.
Of five conservation priority areas identified by DU, two are located in the southern region: The Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) and the Gulf Coast.
Historically, the MAV spanned some 25 million acres of unbroken bottomland hardwood forests, from southern Illinois to southern Louisiana. Today, less than 20 percent of that habitat remains, and even less has retained its original hydrology, which makes it attractive to waterfowl and other wildlife. Despite such a dramatic loss of habitat, the MAV annually winters more than 40 percent of North America’s mallard population.
In order to meet the needs of migrating and wintering ducks in the MAV, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) set a goal of restoring approximately 600,000 acres of waterfowl habitat. In FY 2003, DU’s Southern Regional Office completed an analysis of its work in the MAV that indicated that DU and other conservationists have nearly reached the overall goal, and have achieved some area goals. DU’s challenge now is to enhance the quality of those wetlands and provide long-term protection of the lands already conserved.
One way to secure long-term protection is through conservation easements with private landowners. To date, DU has secured 115 easements covering approximately 170,000 acres of wetlands and waterfowl habitats in its southern region.
DU also works through the federal Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) to secure long-term protection of waterfowl habitats on prairie lands. Through WRP, DU has helped reforest 114,400 acres of bottomland hardwood forests and has restored hydrology on 43,186 of those acres.
Due to a combination of man-made and natural causes such as erosion, the U.S. Gulf Coast is losing 25 to 35 square miles of coastal habitat each year. Through the Gulf Coast Initiative, DU and partners are working to restore, enhance, and protect the region’s remaining coastal wetlands.
In 2003, DU conserved more than 10,000 acres on the Gulf Coast. In addition, DU received four grants totaling $3,618,896 from the North America Waterfowl Conservation Act (NAWCA) to help conserve nearly 58,000 acres of coastal wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico over the next two years.
That work is already under way on the coasts of Louisiana and Texas. In Louisiana, DU has constructed or planned the construction of 58 miles of marsh terraces that directly benefit approximately 4,705 acres of marsh. These terraces help reduce the rate of erosion for interior coastal marshes and provide suitable conditions for the growth of submersed aquatic vegetation, which is a prime food source for waterfowl wintering on the Gulf Coast.
In 2003, DU also completed a wetland project in Freeport, Texas, that restored 56 acres of freshwater habitat along the Gulf Coast. Over the next five years, DU plans to conserve at least an additional 31,200 acres of coastal habitat in Texas.
Great Lakes/Atlantic Regional Report
The Great Lakes are the largest source of freshwater on the continent, attracting more than 3 million migrating waterfowl and several breeding species each year. Last year, DU started the Great Lakes Ecosystems Initiative to restore critical wetlands and associated uplands in this area.
Increased pollution and degraded water quality have long plagued the Great Lakes region. In 2003, DU received a grant from the Ohio EPA’s Non-point Source Pollution control program to restore 100 acres of wetlands on private lands in the northern Sandusky River watershed.
Each year, millions of waterfowl rely on habitat along the Upper Mississippi River for breeding, migration, and foraging habitat. Through DU’s Upper Mississippi Ecosystem Initiative, GLARO recently acquired the 411-acre Spring Lake Bottoms property in Illinois and enrolled it into the Wetlands Reserve Program for long-term conservation.
The North Atlantic coast is the most densely populated region in North America. As a result, many coastal marshes have been lost to impounding, dredging, and filling projects. Under the Atlantic Coast/Ecosystem Initiative, DU is restoring and protecting estuaries and coastal wetlands for wintering waterfowl such as black ducks, canvasbacks, greater scaup, and tundra swans.
The Chesapeake Bay watershed drains a 64,000-square-mile area in the mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern Seaboard, and includes some of the most important migration and wintering habitat in the Atlantic Flyway. Like the rest of the Great Lakes/Atlantic region, the Chesapeake Bay area has been adversely affected by industrial, commercial, and agricultural developments. DU has joined a coalition of conservation groups under the Habitat Stewardship Program to improve water quality and food resources for waterfowl in the Chesapeake Bay by restoring wetlands and riparian areas, which filter contaminants from agricultural runoff.
Continental Conservation
Ducks Unlimited has long recognized that maintaining North America’s waterfowl populations requires conservation well beyond U.S. borders. Indeed, the continentwide nature of migratory birds presents one of the greatest conservation challenges on earth. Responsible stewardship of these species often requires conservation of habitats from the boreal forest of Canada to the tropical mangrove swamps of Mexico and numerous points between and beyond.
In FY 2003, DU secured 244,691 acres of new habitat across Canada and continued developing and promoting a nationwide Conservation Cover Incentive Program (CCIP), much like CRP in the U.S. CCIP would offer financial incentives for Canadian landowners to restore or protect degraded riparian areas and convert cultivated marginal land to grassland habitat.
In the Pacific Region, DU’s operations in western Canada are working with DU’s Western Regional Office in the U.S. and other partners to gather science-based information that will guide future conservation efforts in the western boreal forest.
In southern Alberta, DU’s largest restoration project is currently under way on the prairies of the Jefferson Moraine. This area supports waterfowl densities as high as 85 birds per square mile, making it a key site for protecting habitat-rich lands. Through partnerships with the Alberta Conservation Association and The Nature Conservancy of Canada, more than 3,000 acres have been secured.
In Quebec and Canada’s Atlantic Region, DU completed a three-year program to conserve habitat threatened by development along the Ottawa River. The program included wetland restoration, habitat purchases, and private landowners planning to conserve upland habitats. In addition, DU signed an agreement with the Quebec Ministry of the Environment that will provide $1.2 million for DU conservation work over the next two years. The funds will be matched by DU and used in 15 habitat securement projects along the St. Lawrence River, where most of the province’s waterfowl are found.
In the Eastern Region, DU is conserving habitat around Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, an area that has lost more than 90 percent of its wetlands. Thanks to a partnership between DU and private landowners, 64 acres of agricultural land around the shores of Lake Erie will be flooded in the spring to accommodate migrating shorebirds.
Each year, Mexico supports an estimated 15 percent of North America’s wintering waterfowl. During FY 2003, Ducks Unlimited de Mexico (DUMAC) restored wetlands in the San Fernando River Delta and the El Hermalbo wetlands along the Gulf Coast. DUMAC has nearly completed a Mexican Shorebird Conservation Plan. Because waterfowl and shorebirds share the same wetlands during the winter, this plan should raise an interest in wetlands conservation among potential partners in Mexico.
DUMAC has also nearly completed an inventory of Mexico’s 23 most important wetlands for waterfowl. Funds to complete the last wetlands in Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and the Central Highlands have been secured and the work is under way.
The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service continue to support DUMAC’s training program for Latin American professionals, known as RESERVA. The 22nd course was held in 2003. More than 200 professionals have received this training, and many of them are now in key conservation leadership positions in countries that host some of North America’s waterfowl in the winter.
Perhaps the most significant accomplishment in Mexico last year was the completion of the country’s first comprehensive management plan for waterfowl and wetlands by a special subcommittee of the federal government, which was chaired by DUMAC Executive Director Eduardo Carrera.
Through carefully targeted conservation projects and involvement in public policy, DUMAC is conserving Mexico’s vital wetland habitats.
Focus on the Future
Ducks Unlimited has come a long way since its founding in 1937. The U.S. was once losing 400,000 to 500,000 wetland acres every year. Today, more people are working to reverse wetland loss, and DU is making great progress towards that goal. With nearly 11 million acres conserved for North America’s waterfowl, DU should be proud of its accomplishments. However, for all the wetlands, grasslands, and forests DU conserves, waterfowl habitats are still being lost at an alarming rate. The United States alone has lost more than half of its original wetlands, and continues to lose more than 100,000 acres of wetlands every year. As DU celebrates its achievements of the past, it’s important that we focus on the future and determine to do more in the name of habitat conservation.