conservative Field and Stream mag - Bush plan will kill waterfowl hunting as we know it

Ducks Out of Water?
The future of waterfowl hunting is down to its last defense.
by Bob Marshall

http://www.fieldandstream.com/fields...465391,00.html

Waterfowlers traditionally spend their summers wondering if the
upcoming duck season will bring more, or less: Will the bag limit be
higher or lower? Will the season be longer or shorter? Will there be
more greenheads or fewer?
But some of the nation's top waterfowl managers suggest that hunters
may soon be adding a sobering new factor to their summer equations:
Will there even be a next season?

What was once unthinkable—closed seasons—is now a valid consideration
due to a chain of legal and political decisions that has stripped
federal protection from the continent's most critical waterfowl
habitat: the prairie pothole nesting grounds of the northern plains.
This region is responsible for most of the ducks that keep seasons
open.

"We're not talking about slow seasons. We're talking about no
seasons," says Ron Reynolds, waterfowl habitat specialist for the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. "I'm not sure hunters appreciate the
seriousness of what has happened."

Clean Water Act "In Error"
The first event occurred in January 2001, when the Supreme Court ruled
5-4 that the Clean Water Act did not protect "small isolated
wetlands." Specifically, it said that the Army Corps of Engineers'
30-year-old interpretation that Congress intended to include such
habitat was in error. Conservationists were shaken by the ruling, yet
optimistic that President Bush would seek to remove the threat to duck
hunting by supporting the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act (see
sidebar at left), a bipartisan bill that would end the crisis by
simply stating that Congress wanted the potholes protected.

Then, in January of this year, the Bush administration not only failed
to seek such a remedy but also increased the threat by calling for a
new definition of wetlands—one that specifically excluded small,
isolated areas. The implication of those events shocked the
waterfowling community because the protection of these key
duck-breeding grounds now rests solely with a provision in the farm
bill that's known as "Swampbuster," an effective but voluntary program
that pays subsidies to farmers who don't drain wetlands.

"It means the future of duck hunting is down to its last line of
defense," says Reynolds. "If there is any break in protection now, we
could lose 50 percent of the potholes we have left."

Most Crucial Habitat
"A lot of hunters think most ducks are produced on large ponds and
lakes, but that's not the case," says Rob Olson, director of U.S.
operations for the Delta Waterfowl Foundation. "It's the shallow,
temporary wetlands that are the engines that really drive waterfowl
production."

Nature seems to have planned it that way. These small, ephemeral
wetlands appear in the spring, when rainwater and snowmelt collect in
low areas on the northern plains. When the potholes cover ground
vegetation and are heated by the sun, they become incubators for an
explosion of insects and other invertebrates—a protein-rich
smorgasbord for ducks that just happen to be arriving after a long,
taxing migration from southern wintering grounds.

The timing is especially critical because this is when ducks are ready
to begin nesting. Only small, shallow ponds provide enough food for
ducks to reach their reproductive potential. Larger bodies simply
can't provide all that's necessary, which is why the pothole region is
so important.

"There are about 3 million wetlands in North and South Dakota in the
prairie pothole region. Of those, probably 80 percent are less than an
acre in size, not connected to each other or to any navigable water,
and are temporary," says Reynolds. "But those are the most productive
wetlands for waterfowl production."

But to farmers, small potholes are not beautiful. Often little more
than large puddles, they can be expensive to plow around and keep out
of crop production. So when budgets allowed, they typically were
drained—a process accelerated during drought cycles. By 1970, 50
percent of the potholes that existed at the turn of the century had
been drained, according to the USFWS, and duck production was in a
tailspin.

That trend began to slow in 1972 when the Clean Water Act brought the
first mandatory protection to small, isolated wetlands. But the
habitat is so important that conservation groups devised a second
layer of protection. Since 1986, every farm bill has contained the
Swampbuster provision, which denies important subsidies to farmers who
choose to drain wetlands.

"This type of program is called a disincentive," says Olson. "It's
important for people to understand this is not a regulation. There is
no law forcing farmers to abide by Swampbuster. They can pull out
whenever they want."

And many want to, waterfowl managers say.

"A lot of farmers feel like this is being forced on them," says Jim
Ringleman, Ducks Unlimited's veteran biologist on the prairies. "If
commodity prices change, or there is an economic incentive to put more
acres into grain—or even into subdivisions—some would pull out pretty
quickly."

Other managers worry about the permanence of Swampbuster, which must
be re-funded every five years.

"A few years ago in South Dakota a local official changed the
definition of wetlands," says Olson. "It was reversed in a few months'
time, but while it was down, some farmers went out and drained
potholes because they knew it wouldn't cost them anything. There were
no penalties; they rejoined the program."

Reynolds has no doubt what would happen today if there were an
interruption in Swampbuster in the absence of protection through the
Clean Water Act. "If there is a break in Swampbuster for just a few
months...it could look like the Oklahoma land rush out here. They'll
be [draining] from western Minnesota to Montana."

Half the Ducks Gone
"We ran an analysis of what the impact would be on the potholes if
Congress doesn't do anything to bring back protection under the Clean
Water Act, and if Swampbuster ends," Reynolds says. "We would be
looking at a 50 percent loss of production." And the potential
repercussions go further than that.

"If you plug the losses of wetlands and ducks into [the formula used
for setting seasons], then we would be looking at restrictive
regulations more frequently than we ever have in the past," says
Reynolds. "And we'd be looking at closed seasons for the first time
ever."

Reynolds and other habitat advocates say they are not pressing the
panic button yet. The waterfowling community is placing its hopes in
the aforementioned Clean Water Authority Restoration Act, which is
gathering bipartisan support.

"As far as duck hunters are concerned, this is one of the most
important bills Congress will address in our lifetime," says Olson.
"We urge everyone—especially duck hunters—to contact their congressmen
to support this bill."

In the meantime they can only keep their fingers crossed that the
economics of the farming industry doesn't change.

"Swampbuster is our salvation, and it's good at least for another five
years," says Reynolds. "But what should worry every hunter out there
is that, if that goes for any reason, we'd be looking at a rapid loss
of the habitat that guarantees hunting. And we've never been this
vulnerable before."