New program adds 12,000 acres of Arkansas wetlands for waterfowl

BY Randy Zellers

LITTLE ROCK — Nearly 12,000 additional acres of wetlands will greet waterfowl in The Natural State this winter, thanks to the successful implementation of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Conservation Incentive Program.

The program was funded through special set-aside funds by the Arkansas General Assembly. Throughout spring and summer, AGFC staff worked with private landowners to offer $3.5 million in incentives to help improve wildlife habitat on their property. The initiative was developed similar to many cost-share conservation incentives provided through Farm Bill programs, but is targeted specifically at wildlife and fisheries needs in Arkansas on a state level.

Two of the nine practices comprising the initiative focused on open wetland habitat, and another incentivized forest management on private greentree reservoirs.

According to Randy Brents, Assistant Chief of the AGFC Private Lands Habitat Division, roughly 11,871 acres of land has been placed under contracts to enhance habitat for waterfowl this winter. Many of these acres may have been tilled early or left dry during the migration if not for the incentive.

“We have contracted with farmers to flood 10,961 acres of rice fields using surface water sources during a 90-day portion of the waterfowl wintering period, and none of those acres will be tilled, leaving as much waste grain as possible for ducks and geese,” Brents said. “Another 910 acres of native wetland plants will be flooded that can offer even more benefit to waterfowl and other migratory species.”

According to Brents, 127 landowners signed up to implement the flooded rice and wetland practices.

“Those are all acres that are above and beyond what normally would be contracted by other programs,” Brents said. “One of our requirements was that the land couldn’t be enrolled in another cost-share or incentive that paid for flooding.”

Brents said this boom in additional acreage is only a portion of the wetlands being provided by the AGFC and other agencies. The AGFC will fund nearly 16,000 acres of wetlands on private land this season.

“We have another 4,000-plus acres in the Waterfowl Rice Incentive Conservation Enhancement Program this winter that promotes flooded rice fields with an additional caveat that landowners allow some limited public hunting through a permit-based draw system,” Brents said. “And this year, thanks to the federal Migratory Bird Resurgence Initiative, an additional 29,946 acres are enrolled in federal programs to promote wetlands in the state for wildlife benefits. Our private lands biologists have been working hard with landowners to apply for these incentives as well.”

Garrick Dugger, Private Lands Habitat Division Chief, says the vision of this new initiative is simple: “You don’t manage wildlife in a bubble. Whether it’s private or public land, the success of wildlife habitat management depends on the land surrounding you, not just what you control. Even if we manage the public land absolutely perfect, we’re only affecting 10 percent of Arkansas’s land, the rest is up to private landowners, so we want to help with their efforts as well.”

Dugger said the connection between private and public land management is most obvious in migrating birds like waterfowl.

“We know that it takes wetland habitat on a landscape level to provide energy for migrating ducks and geese,” Dugger said. “Even if all of the public land in Arkansas is flooded and full of food, it’s only a fraction of the habitat needed to draw ducks to Arkansas and give them the nutrition they need during and after migration. Private land accounts for so much more of our state’s landmass, and it’s the actions of those landowners that play a pivotal role in wildlife management for us all. If rice fields aren’t wet, hunters everywhere notice it in empty skies and empty game straps.”

The Conservation Incentive Program is an undertaking by the AGFC’s Private Lands Habitat Division and is made possible by Greenway Equipment, an AGFC cultivating partner. Visit www.agfc.com/habitat for more information.

Breeding ground surveys for mallards show 8 percent jump

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas waterfowlers received some good news recently. Mallards showed an increase of 8 percent in the May breeding population survey over last year’s count in the northern U.S. and Canada breeding areas, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey released late last month. Before everyone gets too excited, though, the count of 6.6 million mallards in the breeding grounds was still 16 percent below the long-term average, and dry conditions early in the waterfowl breeding season led to many birds overshooting the traditional pothole breeding grounds, where most mallards nest.

“Overall it was good news compared to what a lot of people are expecting for how dry the prairies were. But luckily we did get some rain, particularly on the southern part of the prairie pothole region, which definitely helped out,” Brett Leach, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s waterfowl program coordinator, said. “(The rainfall) was somewhere about average in the north-central U.S., and then up in Canada it’s still pretty dry up there when they were doing their surveys.”

Overall total duck numbers remain down from their long-term average, but the total estimate jumped 5 percent over last year’s count. The nearly 34 million ducks estimated is 4 percent below the long term average. Some individual species such as pintails and blue-wing teal took a dip in numbers. But American widgeons soared by 55 percent over last year’s numbers, and green-winged teal were 20 percent higher than 2023 and 33 percent above the long-term average.

The survey, according to the USFWS, has a 90 percent confidence factor.

The federal agency has collected data on waterfowl populations through annual surveys for nearly 80 years. The annual Waterfowl Population Status Report summarizes the most current data and estimates on the breeding population and habitat conditions of most North American duck species, several populations of geese, tundra swans and the American coot. Aerial crews operating transect surveys — similar to what the AGFC uses three times a year in its in-season waterfowl surveys of the state — and ground crews backing up those aerial counts, survey about 2 million square miles of the U.S. and Canada.

The historic Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey is also referred to as the B-Pop, or Breeding Population Survey, or May Survey (though surveying continues into June). The USFWS, which coordinates the survey in collaboration with the Canadian Wildlife Service, says it has evolved into the largest and longest-running survey in the world.

How that count of ducks and geese will matter for Arkansas hunters beginning with the nine-day late October/early November white-fronted and lesser goose hunting season and the 60-day duck season opening Nov. 23 depends on many regional factors.

“Obviously this last year, it started off very dry here and for most of the duck season, so it’s really going to depend on habitat we’re seeing down here for the number of birds we end up seeing,” Leach said. “And the (B-Pop) itself, it’s only looking at the breeding population.”

The upper U.S. received significant late spring rainfall to give migrating ducks some actual wetlands in which to settle and breed. Leach says that this led to good renesting numbers that helped boost the overall count and it aids in brood survival. Migrating birds that saw dry conditions and overshot the traditional breeding grounds and flew further into the Boreal Forest region, he added, may have nested or didn’t attempt to nest this year, however. About 50-80 percent of ducks are produced in the prairie pothole region, especially mallards, pintails, blue-winged teal and gadwalls.

“We’ve just seen a cycle up there of being on the drier side the last couple of years,” Leach said. “We can expect that, though; we had been in a wet cycle. So, it’s expected. It’s not always a bad thing when they do go dry because that ends up making those wetlands even more productive once we start getting water back on the landscape.”

The drier conditions across the landscape definitely have been felt in Arkansas the past three duck seasons, too. Ducks need good habitat — water coverage across the landscape — as a reason to stop here on their migration. Leach is keeping his fingers crossed for perhaps a wetter late fall.

“If I had to guess, it’s going to really depend on what habitat conditions are looking like down here and what we get for rain. Obviously it’s been pretty dry for a little while now this year. If we get water across our landscape down here, I would expect to see more birds overall. Populations did increase from last year, so if we can get some of that habitat a little bit earlier, I think we’ll see a decent number of birds.”

Why Arkansas’ best duck hunting woods are drowning

KUAR | By Ariana Remmel

Wildlife management areas are protected public land set aside by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to conserve The Natural State’s wildlife and promote outdoor recreation. Hurricane Lake WMA is best known for its greentree reservoirs, human-made wetland structures that attract ducks — and duck hunters — from miles around.

Levees built around the forest are designed to hold water on the forest floor, imitating the seasonal flooding that occurred naturally in bottomland hardwood forests across the Mississippi Delta before dams and levees tamed the major rivers. Most of those ancient bottomland woods were long ago cleared for timber and to make way for agriculture.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2022-03-08/why-arkansas-best-duck-hunting-woods-are-drowning

Arkansas Game And Fish Commission

DUCK CAPITAL: More mallards spend their winter in Arkansas than any other state in the country.

AUDIO: Governor Hutchinson’s Weekly Address | Duck Hunting: An Arkansas Tradition

LITTLE ROCK – Duck hunting is one of the great cultural traditions of Arkansas, and it also pumps a lot of money into our economy.

Stuttgart and Arkansas County are known as the duck-hunting capital of the world. Every Thanksgiving, Stuttgart hosts the Wings Over the Prairie Festival and the World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest, which attract thousands of duck hunters. But duck hunting is special in hundreds of camps and bayous across the state, from Alicia to Des Arc to Dumas.

The late Pat Peacock of Stuttgart, the first woman to serve on the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission when she was appointed to fill an unexpired term, was an avid duck hunter. She is the only woman to win the duck-calling contest twice.

Ann Marie Doramus, whom I appointed as the first woman to a full term on the Game and Fish Commission, was eight when she killed her first duck.

I come from the hill country of Arkansas. I love the hills. But there is a certain beauty of a cold-morning sunrise over flooded timber in the Delta as ducks are flying in that you don’t see in other parts of the state. When you see that greenhead mallard coming in, pulling its webbed feet up, ready to land, the beauty of that moment is unmatched.

One of my greatest joys as a father and grandfather has been to pass that tradition along to my sons, my son-in-law, and my grandchildren. My grandson had the thrill of taking his first banded duck last season.

My daughter loves to watch the dogs work. The beauty of those black labs as they retrieve the ducks is a scene you won’t see in the mountains.

Of course, you’ve got to follow up with the duck recipes. My family and friends love the jalapeno duck poppers that I make for the holidays.

Bryan Hendricks, the outdoors writer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, captured the essence of duck hunting in a column he wrote in November.

“Stars mottle a moonless sky as a squad of duck hunters count the minutes to dawn. The temperature is in the low 40s, but the edge of a sharp breeze seeps through insulated layers of modern fabrics. It stings the cheeks, but it feels different in the dark woods than it does in a parking lot. It's a sensation that I have associated with duck hunting since I first felt it as a child.

“There's much huffing as over-clad bodies squeeze into neoprene waders. Shotgun actions open and close with metallic clanks. Duck calls on neck lanyards sound like plastic wind chimes as they collide with every move. It is the sound of duck season in Arkansas.”

Thanks, Bryan Hendricks, for sharing that memory with us.

One of the missions of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is to spread the word about the joys of duck hunting. We want a new generation of hunters to experience the thrill and learn to love the outdoors. Today, I’m doing my part.