"The most significant step toward effective waterfowl conservation in 1997 could be the reauthorization of the Conservation Reserve Program," says Audubon's West Central Regional Vice-President, Ron Klataske. "Last year Audubon helped persuade Congress to include provisions for making farmed and cropped wetlands eligible for the program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has made the northern prairie pothole country a high priority region for signing up farmers. The new CRP provisions will help save millions of wetland acres."

Nearly two decades ago, the National Audubon Society became the first national organization to focus on the environmental impacts of agriculture. A permanent office, headed by Maureen Kuwano Hinkle, monitors all agricultural developments in Congress or federal agencies. This focus is an increasingly indispensable tool in protecting wetlands and waterfowl. No matter who's in charge at the White House or on Capitol Hill, Audubon is on the alert.

"CRP has been highest on our conservation agenda since 1985," Hinkle says. "We were instrumental in getting John Block, who was then Secretary of Agriculture, to introduce this program to the public from Indiana Senator Richard Lugar's farm; in getting the eligible acreage increased to 45 million acres by Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia; and in getting mandatory funding for reauthorization in 1996."

Redhead, Ruddy Duck and Scaup
by Tupper Blake

Hinkle has been especially active in fighting attempts in Congress to exempt "wet spots" and "nuisance wetlands" under the Farm Act. These small and often isolated units are of major importance to breeding waterfowl. (In Minnesota and the Dakotas they total some six to 11 million acres.) Small potholes provide the relative isolation some species of ducks need, as well as a protein-rich soup from those first-to-thaw shallow waters in early spring, just as nesting begins. Tall vegetation around the isolated potholes also provides necessary cover when hens move their broods to more permanent wetlands and open water.

As habitat shrinks, waterfowl need all the help they can get. Audubon's Alkali Lake Sanctuary in North Dakota remains a model for wildlife-conscious landowners in pothole country. Plantings there provide cover, while small dams along sanctuary streams create new pint-sized wetlands. In late winter, bales of straw are put out on the ice at Alkali Lake. As the ice melts, they slip into the water and become instant nesting "islands," for arriving ducks and geese, safe from the omnipresent raccoons and foxes.

For several years, staff at the sanctuary have worked closely with federal biologists, as well as other private waterfowl groups, on ways to cut the losses of the region's nesting ducks to mammalian predators. Now Audubon's new state office in North Dakota will provide much-needed lobbying in the legislature, agency contacts, landowner outreach, and fundraising skills to help spread the word about waterfowl conservation.

Pintails
by Tupper Blake

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