Ducks Increase

Waterfowl conservation

Years of conservation efforts and a second year of plentiful rains have brought record breeding populations of some ducks to the North American prairies this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says.

The overall breeding duck population is 35.9 million ducks, up more than 10 percent from 32.5 million last year and the highest since 1980, when a decade-long drought began on the prairies.

“We’re excited we’re going to see somewhere between 83 and 90 million waterfowl on the fall flight,” said Glenn Childs, spokesman for Ducks Unlimited. “Last year we had 71 million.”

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Mollie Beattie thanked hunters for their role.

“They were the vanguard who opened the way for this recovery, who continued to buy licenses and duck stamps even when seasons were shortened and bag limits lowered and who contributed their time and money to protect and restore waterfowl habitat,” Beattie said.

Contributing to the increases were “very good water conditions at key points in the prairies, years of conservation work on the prairies and the 36 million acres of habitat created by the Conservation Reserve Program,” Childs said.