By Bruce Ross, Executive Director bruceross@wi.rr.com

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s April, 2021 Newsletter edition.

Wow, the Association’s habitat committee, chaired by Board Director Jim Freck, has been busy gearing up this winter.  New members have joined, the committee is seeking additional folks in certain areas, and new initiatives are beginning to take shape.  Here’s a very brief outline of just some of the initiatives…

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  Wild Rice can be a low-cost way to improve migration habitat in waters where it can be (re-) established.  We are looking for folks who might be able to play a role in identifying possible locations and shepherding such an effort on waters near their home, and it would be great to find someone with the time and inclination to coordinate the overall effort – lots of potential impact!

• Not very exciting, but pretty important to demonstrating WWA’s habitat impact, is a project to develop a habitat database that captures all the relevant project information for Peter’s projects.  If we design and implement it right, it will help us manage the process to get from idea to finished project, too!  We’re working with a software designer who is volunteering his time to help us scope out the database statement of work, and then help us launch the effort.  Probably take us the better part of a year, it will help us share the WWA story better, stay in touch with landowners, and collect/display information that will keep future projects moving smoothly forward.
• The database project my ultimately lead us to a more comprehensive approach to managing all WWA habitat-related projects, like:
  • Adopt A Wildlife Area (AWA) efforts and accomplishments;
  • Wood duck box placements around the state and their results;
  • Capture the frequent work we do with partners like USF&WS, counties, PF and others.
• It’s always a challenge to find new project sites, so when a volunteer like BJ Grassman raised his hand to help us find more in his area, we accepted his offer.  He’s begun reaching out to potential partners who have visibility of projects that might be good candidates, and making the important first connections.
• “How can we use technology to help us find such potential restoration sites?” has been the subject of several discussions with a PhDs at UWSP and with GIS professionals.  We are hoping recent advances in this field will help us quickly locate potential projects sites so we can then approach the landowner to solicit their interest in a restoration.  A GIS company has volunteered some time to help us move forward – wow!!  Stay tuned.

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  And AWA project opportunities are continuing to open up…. One volunteer on the Habitat Committee is exploring the concept of establishing a wood duck nesting project at White River Marsh; already such a great woodie factory, but losing nesting cavities as logging ramps up there.  This may be a great way to get local waterfowlers engaged in an off-season project. Want to help?

• Or maybe, start a nesting program in your area?  Follow the lead of the Fox Valley committee that doesn’t have a handy state property nearby, so they found willing landowners and are installing boxes on their property, and then maintaining them in subsequent years.  They’ll have put up nearly 110 boxes in just 2 years!  Think of the ducklings!

Lots more opportunities – just to find them and invest a little energy.   If you’d like to invest in one of these initiatives (time or dollars) we can use your help! We’re on a roll!!!