Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Commissioners unanimously approved the Waterfowl Programs request for allocation of $872,395 in funding towards various projects last week. A majority of those funds will stay in state. 

Houston Havens, MDWFP Waterfowl Program Director, said in FY2024 52,672 state duck stamps were sold. Duck stamps help fund these projects.

According to the waterfowl program, $125,000 in funding would go to Ducks Unlimited and $125,000 would go to Delta Waterfowl for habitat restoration and improvement projects in duck breeding grounds in Canada. 

Delta Waterfowl

Jeff Howell with Delta Waterfowl said the group has had an epic relationship with Mississippi for the past 21 years. Much of Delta’s work with Mississippi is carried out in Manitoba. 

In Fiscal Year 2024, Funds from Mississippi went to support Delta Waterfowl’s Adopt a Pothole project. MDWFP’s investment secured 136.5 acres with additional matching funds securing 442.5 more acres of prime at-risk waterfowl breeding habitat. Five permanent conservation easements were identified for purchase using MDWFP and matching funds. 

Howell said complementing the work, 2,035 acres were enhanced through the installation of 100 hen houses and maintenance of 1,935 hen houses. Hen houses help nesting ducks avoid predation. 

Delta will use $125,000 from Mississippi to secure an additional $375,000 in matching funds from the North American Waterfowl Conservation Act, Delta and Canadian sources. Together, 393 acres of wetlands and associated uplands in perpetuity will be secured for waterfowl habitat. 

A further 1,026 acres of wetlands will be enhanced through the Delta Waterfowl’s hen house program with 200 new hen houses installed and maintenance done to 826 hen houses. Howell said typically one hen house enhances one acre of wetland habitat. He explained to commissioners the hen houses have an 80 percent hatch rate and a 75 percent survival rate. 

Ducks Unlimited 

Howie Stringer with Ducks Unlimited said the 48 contiguous states sent $5 million in funding to help waterfowl habitat work in FY2024. With matching funds, the $5 million became $20 million in funding for waterfowl conservation. 

Stringer said Ducks Unlimited’s partnership with Mississippi began in 1976. Mississippi sends money to Canada because studies show 31 percent of banded ducks harvested by Mississippi hunters came from Saskatchewan, 17 percent were from Manitoba, six percent from Ontario, seven percent from Wisconsin, 11 percent from North Dakota and nine from Minnesota. 

This year, the $125,000 in funding from Mississippi duck stamps would be matched with $125,000 in DU funds and $250,000 from the North American Waterfowl Conservation Act. 

“This will go to produce lots of birds where we deliver conservation work in Saskatchewan,” Stringer said. “Seventy Five Percent of funds go to priority areas and areas of high waterfowl production.”

Land acquisition, conservation easement and land leases in 10 or 30 year terms are ways DU protects vital wetlands and upland habitats in Canada. Ducks Unlimited repairs and restores non-functional drained wetlands and converts annual croplands to perennial pastures in uplands. 

“Birds are returning to restored wetlands. It is neat to see. We hope to see more habitat diversity down the road,” Stringer said. “We have a few projects under our control. 1.2 million acres are managed for waterfowl by us right now. It has to be done through us. There is no program like the Conservation Reserve Program in Canada.”

Stringer told the commission if groups do not protect habitat then duck populations will go down. 

Other projects receiving funding

Mississippi State University Extension Service will receive $30,000 in funding to help support a research project looking at the spatial habits of Mallards in Mississippi. The project hopes to answer a variety of questions using GPS transmitters. 

A bulk of the allocated funds will go right back into Mississippi. Havens said $475,000 will go towards Wildlife Management Area wetland projects which are spread out over the year on an as needed basis. 

Additionally, $40,000 will go towards the Private Land Wetland Infrastructure Assistance Program fund to help landowners with water control structures. Eligible landowners for this program can not be enrolled in another program, a site visit must be completed and a score given to the property to be ranked for priority of funding.

Havens reported $25,000 will go towards conducting Aerial Waterfowl Surveys, $9,000 will go to cover travel costs and dues for Waterfowl program staff to attend meetings and workshops. 

Waterfowl trapping and banding supplies will receive $5,000 in funding. Additionally, $33,393 will go towards the MS Flyway Council Annual Dues and Cooperative Projects. 

MDWFP reports $5,000 will go towards the annual Gunner Palmer Memorial Youth Waterfowl Hunting Camp.