Louisiana FY2019 – 2021 Proposal

The Manitoba Waterfowl Habitat Securement Project FY19 – FY21

May 2018 Executive Summary

Over a three-year period, an award of $300,000 will provide direct and long-term benefits to waterfowl in the Central and Mississippi Flyways. Using Louisiana funds, Delta will perpetually protect 685 acres of waterfowl breeding habitat in Manitoba’s Prairie Pothole Region. This funding will be matched with an additional $1.2 million in partner funding and result in an accrual of benefits to a minimum of 3,970 acres of wetland habitat in Manitoba, Canada. Project activities will be implemented within the most recent delivery framework developed by the Prairie Habitat Joint Venture, thereby realizing a coordinated and planned approach to waterfowl conservation across North America and waterfowl stakeholders. THE MANITOBA WATERFOWL HABITAT SECUREMENT PROJECT 2

Delta Waterfowl - “The Duck Hunters Organization”

Since 1911, Delta Waterfowl has been a leading advocate for waterfowl hunting, and a partner in waterfowl research and conservation. Founded on the shores of the famed Delta Marsh in Manitoba, Delta has since expanded throughout North America and has held true to its hunting base. Delta continues to support waterfowl hunting and production through a variety of research and the on-the- ground programming. Delta achieves this through four strategic pillars: 1. Waterfowl production, 2. Breeding habitat conservation, 3. Enhancement of hunting access, and 4. Protection of the duck hunting tradition.

OUR MISSION OUR VISION

To produce ducks and Abundant waterfowl and secure the future of endless opportunities waterfowl hunting for hunters. THE MANITOBA WATERFOWL HABITAT SECUREMENT PROJECT 3

Partners in Conservation The Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation (MHHC), is a provincial Crown Corporation with whom Delta partners to deliver its Adopt A Pothole program. MHHC was established in 1986 and is governed by a Board of Directors appointed by the provincial government. MHHC works at arm’s length from Manitoba’s natural resources department, the Department of Sustainable Development. MHHC’s mandate is to conserve, restore, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat in Manitoba with a focus on private land in Manitoba’s Prairie Pothole Region. With the passing of conservation easement (CE) legislation in Manitoba (1998), MHHC has become one of the top three holders of conservation easements in Canada with 755 agreements affecting 175,963 acres of habitat. MHHC also owns 14,590 acres of wildlife lands in Manitoba. Delta and MHHC have had a long-standing partnership in program delivery within Manitoba. MHHC initially served as a delivery body for Delta’s NAWCA applications, but since 2007, MHHC has taken over the primary role of management and delivery of NAWCA grants, with Delta providing the U.S.-sourced match funding, including states such as Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

A History of Success For two decades, Delta Waterfowl and the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation have operated one of the most effective conservation partnerships for waterfowl on the northern Great Plains. MHHC focuses its conservation delivery in Manitoba, but still ranks among the top three CE delivery agencies in Canada. Within Manitoba, it is the largest recipient of habitat land donations. Recently, it completed the largest CE in Canada – a package of CE donations on Manitoba’s iconic Big Grass Marsh that totaled 43,500 acres. Affecting more than 100,000 acres of waterfowl breeding-ground habitat, Delta and MHHC have delivered $15.6 million ($CAD) in conservation funding from U.S. sources1. Adding to this amount, MHHC provided an additional $15.1 million ($CAD) in contributions from Canadian sources and private donations. These conservation funds have achieved substantial benefits for duck production in the Central and Mississippi Flyways, including:

104,800 acres of 2,000 Hen Houses 1,050 acres of habitat permanently installed and wetlands restored protected maintained

NAWCA US State Other

120,000

es) 100,000

80,000

60,000 otected (acr 30,000 ea Pr 20,000 Ar

0 999 1 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Year

Figure 1 - Wetland and associated upland habitat protected by easements in Manitoba

1 The North American Wetlands Conservation Act and states of Louisiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Mississippi THE MANITOBA WATERFOWL HABITAT SECUREMENT PROJECT 4

Conservation Planning and Coordination

In 1986, a now world-renowned resource management plan was signed – The North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). Setting continental objectives for waterfowl, this plan was designed to coordinate partner activities around common targets. This led to the development of habitat and species Joint Ventures across North America, including two JVs in the Prairie Pothole Region, where the majority of North America’s waterfowl breed.

The Prairie Habitat Joint Venture (PHJV) has become Prairie-Parkland a leader in conservation programming that benefits BTZ, AG BTZ, Forested waterfowl and wetlands in Prairie Canada. This has 60 Boreal been achieved through the development of decision Tundra support tools that inform and focus conservation Other delivery of all PHJV partners. With all partners working

aterfowl 50 within a common framework, the accrual of waterfowl benefits can be maximized. Delta remains engaged in the PHJV through its delivery partner, which allows Delta to 40 focus on research, hunter advocacy and the continuation of the waterfowling tradition. MHHC is actively involved in the PHJV Board and various committees, and has for 30 eeding Season W the past 30 years served as the Manitoba coordinator of NAWMP programming in its province.

otal Br 20 A Foundation on Science The Prairie Habitat Joint Venture (PHJV) covers the erm % T 10 Canadian portion of the pothole region, including the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Long T PHJV itself accounts for over 50% of North America’s 0 production of diving and dabbling ducks, making the PHJV non-PHJV habitat conservation actions occurring in the PHJV of Region continental significance (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - PHJV waterfowl production relative to other regions of North America (PHJV, 2014) THE MANITOBA WATERFOWL HABITAT SECUREMENT PROJECT 5

A Foundation on Science (con’t.) Effective and efficient conservation in Canada is being achieved through rigorous science-based planning in the Canadian Prairies. The PHJV partners have adopted a modeling approach to the identify the most important landscapes within the wider pothole region. These Target Landscapes contain waterfowl breeding densities of greater than 30 pairs per square mile. In Manitoba, four Target Landscapes have been identified in the southwest region of the province (Map 1). It is within these landscapes that Louisiana-funded activities will occur. While high moisture conditions in recent years have supported strong waterfowl populations relative to long-term averages (LTAs), with the notable exceptions of scaup and pintails, the carrying capacity of the landscape continues to be eroded with upland and wetland habitat loss. From 2001 – 2011, the Canadian prairies had a wetland basin loss rate of 3.7%, which resulted in 267,000 acres of lost wetlands. Unfortunately, some of the highest decadal loss rates were seen in Manitoba, where there was an estimated 6% decline in the total number of basins, and a 4.3% loss of total wetland area (Watmough, 2017).

Conservation Actions Delta and MHHC are focusing their habitat securement efforts in Manitoba to preserve this still highly productive region of Canada. This work is being done through both policy and practice but this proposal, and associated match, is specific to on-the-ground delivery of conservation programming as outlined in the current PHJV implementation plan for 2013 – 2020. Successful completion of implementation plan objectives will result in the elimination of the waterfowl nest deficit in Manitoba. This proposal will address habitat retention and restoration aspects of the plan.

Retention Activities: • Perpetual securement via conservation easement • Term securement via conservation agreement (≥10 yr) • Associated with wetland restorations

Enhancement Activities: • Wetland restoration • Hen House maintenance

Map 1 - The “Target Landscapes” of Manitoba THE MANITOBA WATERFOWL HABITAT SECUREMENT PROJECT 6

A Shared Resource

While the most recent estimates indicate that dabbling duck nesting success will continue to decline across most of the Canadian Prairies, the outlook in Manitoba is more positive. Decadal climatic fluctuations in the Prairies, combined with recent and ongoing investments in wetland protection, restoration, and enhancement have stabilized duck populations within Manitoba. Going forward, dabbling duck nest success in Manitoba is projected to remain relatively stable, thanks in part, to effective conservation program delivery. An important factor contributing to Manitoba’s success relative to overall trends is continued investment in waterfowl programming from states like Louisiana.

A Conservation Connection With the breeding grounds in the north and wintering in the south, there are well established annual migratory routes for waterfowl species. Banding data and other methods have long established links between prairie- raised ducks and those that winter in Louisiana (Map 2). Based on the most recent gamebird banding data (2017), 64% of waterfowl recovered in Louisiana originated from the Canadian Prairies and 36% from the U.S. pothole region. These statistics provide direct evidence of the return on investment when supporting breeding- ground conservation in Canada. Of the hatch-year ducks originating from Canada and harvested in Louisiana, 29% came from Manitoba. Further, 94% of the Canadian-hatched wood ducks – the 4th most harvested species in Louisiana in 2016 – hatched in Manitoba (Table 1). Map 2 - Band recoveries

Map 2 - Waterfowl banded in Manitoba and recovered in Louisiana THE MANITOBA WATERFOWL HABITAT SECUREMENT PROJECT 7

A Conservation Connection (Cont’d.)

Table 1 - Proportion of Louisiana’s Top 10 harvested species (for 2016) hatched in Manitoba relative to other Canadian provinces

Species Louisiana Harvest 1 Harvest Rank Manitoba Contribution 2

Gadwall 206,801 1 14% Green-winged Teal 203,352 2 20% Blue-winged 102,090 3 22% Wood Duck 84,017 4 94% Mallard 70,773 5 27% Northern Shoveler 48,286 6 39% Ring-necked Duck 42,491 7 33% Northern Pintail 27,316 8 20% Wigeon 16,279 9 12% Canvasback 11,589 10 35%

1 Based on 2016 harvest data. (Raftovich, R.V., S.C. Chandler, and K.K. Fleming. 2017. Migratory bird hunting activity during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 hunting seasons. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, Maryland, USA.) 2 Hatch-year band recoveries only – data not corrected for banding effort

Proposal Objectives

All activities conducted under this project will contribute to the realization of the revised NAWMP habitat and population goals. The delivery, including activity type and location, will be directed by the PHJV 2013 – 2020 implementation plan for the Prairie Parklands. As such, Delta is ensuring the maximum benefit to waterfowl through the coordinated delivery of conservation in Canada. This proposal will focus on the delivery of wetland habitat retention, restoration and enhancement. Over a three-year period, a minimum of 3,970 acres will be directly influenced through project activities. Under this proposal, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries funds will be used for the implementation of perpetual protection of breeding habitat in Manitoba via conservation easements. With an annual award of $100,000, a minimum of 685 acres of high quality waterfowl habitat in Manitoba’s NAWMP Target Landscapes will be directly secured with LA dollars after three years. The Target Landscapes of Manitoba are characterized by waterfowl breeding pair densities in excess of 30 pairs per square mile. Protecting waterfowl breeding habitat in these high priority areas will directly benefit nest success and population levels of waterfowl in the Mississippi Flyway, including those wintering in Louisiana. Match funding will be used to support additional work under this proposal. These will include the restoration and term securement of 130 acres of wetlands, the perpetual protection of an additional 605 acres of wetland and associated upland habitat, and the annual maintenance of 1,700 Hen Houses, which are estimated to enhance 2,550 acres of wetlands. The combined activities of this proposal will provide substantial benefit to waterfowl in the Mississippi flyway. THE MANITOBA WATERFOWL HABITAT SECUREMENT PROJECT 8

Budget

Revenues

Table 2 – Annual project revenues and funding status

Source Status Total

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Pending $300,000 North American Wetlands Conservation Act Confirmed/Pending $600,000 Environment and Climate Change Canada Pending $300,000 Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation Confirmed $300,000 Total $1,500,000 THE MANITOBA WATERFOWL HABITAT SECUREMENT PROJECT 9

Budget

Expenses

Table 3 – Total project expenses by activity category

Category Grant Funds Match Funds Total

Personnel $54,000 $406,000 $460,000 Travel $6,000 $116,000 $122,000 Overhead $ - $58,000 $58,000 Contractual Services $ - $92,000 $92,000 Landowner Payments Easements $240,000 $360,000 $600,000 Agreements $ - $168,000 $168,000 Total $300,000 $1,200,000 $1,500,000

Louisiana funds will be used to secure perpetual conservation easements with landowner payments averaging $350/acre.

PROJECT EXPENDITURES LOUISIANA EXPENDITURES

Landowner Payments

Salaries and Wages

Travel

Contractual Services THE MANITOBA WATERFOWL HABITAT SECUREMENT PROJECT 10

Budget

Louisiana $1

MHHC Waterfowl Canadian $1 Conservation Match $1

NAWCA $2

Figure 3 - Match funding elements for waterfowl program delivery in Manitoba

Match Funding State contributions to waterfowl conservation work of Delta serve as keystone contributions to waterfowl programming in Canada. With key funding from Louisiana, Delta, via its partner MHHC, can leverage additional sources and funding opportunities. A $1 investment from Louisiana in perpetual habitat protection in Manitoba, Canada, will result in an additional $4 in match funding. With every dollar of U.S. non-federal match, Delta and MHHC can access $2 from NAWCA, provided a minimum of $1 in Canadian match is in place. MHHC can exceed this minimum need through NAWMP funding it receives from the Canadian federal government and internal sources. Therefore, achieving a 1:4 match leverage ultimately hinges on state contributions, including those of Louisiana. In addition to the funds that are direct match, Delta and MHHC leverage additional funds that support habitat conservation in Manitoba, and across North America, but are not direct match to this proposal.

An investment in waterfowl conservation in Manitoba, is an investment in the future of waterfowl and the waterfowling tradition of Louisiana. THE MANITOBA WATERFOWL HABITAT SECUREMENT PROJECT 11

Contact Information

Joel Brice Jim Fisher VP of Waterfowl Programs Director of Conservation Policy and Hunter Recruitment

Tel 701-222-8857 Tel 204-956-7766 [email protected] [email protected]

Delta Waterfowl Foundation PO Box 3128 1312 Basin Ave. Bismark, ND 58504 Tel 701-222-8857 Fax 701-224-1924 www.deltawaterfowl.org