By Peter Ziegler, WWA Project Director

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s February 2020 Newsletter edition.

As the first month of 2020 goes by I’m still hearing geese honking when I’m out shoveling.  It is also a good indication that that my 2 year old gets excited every time he hears or sees geese flying that we will have another waterfowl hunter.  I made sure my kids knew what ducks and geese were by trying to instill the same passion passed on to me by my family.

Thinking about the next generation of waterfowl hunters, it is good to know Wisconsin is leading the way when it comes to waterfowl habitat.  I mean this in the sense that our state just updated its habitat plan, called “Wisconsin Waterfowl Habitat Conservation Strategies (2020)” under the Upper Mississippi River Joint Venture which is ultimately guided by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan.  Wisconsin had not updated it since 1992, and now it is the best plan within the Upper Mississippi River Joint Venture (which consists of whole or parts of ten states).  WWA, and everyone that is interested in wetland restorations and waterfowl, will be able to use this for targeting best locations and competitiveness for grant funding sources.  As a breeding state for waterfowl, it is imperative that Wisconsin increase its wetland acres to sustain waterfowl populations at desired levels.  This plan outlines where, and how many of those acres, we should be putting on the ground over the next fifteen years.  WWA has, and will continue to, play an important role in meeting these wetland acreage goals set forth in the prior, and now this new, plan.

In addition, at the last Natrual Resources Board meeting, WDNR had their “Wisconsin Waterfowl Management Plan 2020-2030” approved.  This also updates an old plan under which WDNR manages waterfowl from the state perspective.  These are two different plans, but they work hand-in-hand.  WDNR is responsible for carrying out the objectives of their Waterfowl Management Plan while a host of partners, including state, federal and NGO’s, will be responsible for carrying out the Conservation Strategies Objectives.

Final versions of both plans will both be available online in the near future and the draft version of the Wisconsin Waterfowl Management Plan 2020-2030 is online now.  If you have any questions about these plans or want to view the habitat conservation strategies plan let WWA know [email]wwainfo@centurytel.net[/email] and we can send you the PDF links.