Waterfowl Identification Guide Comprehensive Conservation Plan Phone: 218-8474431 |
History of District Establishment,
Acquisition, and Management
The Wetland Management Districts of Minnesota are set in a landscape that was once a mosaic of prairie and wetlands. From north to south the land varied between woodland, sandy ridges and hills covered with prairie flowers, dotted with small, blue wetlands and oak savannah. It was beautiful, rolling country teaming with waterfowl and other wildlife. Early explorers from Europe described its park-like quality with wonder. The combination of prairie grasslands and small wetlands made it among the most biologically productive landscapes in the world; supporting many people and an abundance of wildlife.
The prairie harbored bison herds estimated at 50 to 60 million. From Alexander Henry's January 14, 1801, journal reporting from the Red River Valley, "...At daybreak I was awakened by the bellowing of buffaloes...I dressed and climbed my oak for a better view. I had seen almost incredible numbers of buffalo in the fall, but nothing in comparison to what I now beheld. The ground was covered at every point of the compass, as far as the eye could reach, and every animal was in motion."
Only 100 years after this entry, the myth of the prairies' unlimited abundance was severely tested. Many important game species were driven to near extinction by intensive and uncontrolled killing and commercial over-harvest encouraged by East Coast and European markets. Free-roaming bison, the Great Plains wolf, swift fox, pronghorn antelope, and grizzly bear were eliminated from Minnesota. Black bear and elk were removed from their prairie niche. Many Native American tribes that depended on these resources were decimated by disease and conflict.
When European settlers arrived on the prairies, they recognized the land's productivity and rapidly turned it to agriculture. In a few decades it ranked among the richest agricultural land in the world. The landscape changed so rapidly, little of the original prairie was saved. Today, only fragments remain in isolated, small blocks. With fragmentation and the loss of large predators, smaller predators such as raccoon, striped skunks, and fox increased, much to the detriment of ground-nesting birds and other native grassland species.
Perhaps no other ecosystem on earth as been so dramatically altered, in such a short time, as the tallgrass prairie ecosystem of the Midwest.
The early mission of the Fish and Wildlife Service was to protect species from overharvest and manage wildlife for a quality hunt. Waterfowl have been a central focus from the very beginning. Many species of prairie waterfowl and shorebirds were saved by legislation formed to protect them from market hunting.
Early surveys of the Prairie Pothole Region revealed a strong correlation between prairie wetlands and waterfowl breeding habitat. Biologists learned that waterfowl success is directly linked to the number of wetlands. When winter snows fill the small wetlands, waterfowl populations soar. Since the wetlands are shallow by nature, their value to waterfowl varies from year to year depending on the amount of snow and rain. In years of drought, wetlands dry and waterfowl populations plummet. The crucial link between wetlands and waterfowl was made during a time when wetlands throughout the prairies were being drained at an unprecedented rate for agriculture.
In 1934 the Duck Stamp Act was passed, setting the stage for the most aggressive land acquisition campaign for conservation of wildlife habitat in American history. Although the original Act did not allow purchase of small wetlands, it created a way for hunters to actively participate in maintaining waterfowl populations. In 1958 the Act was amended, making it possible for the Service to buy small wetlands and uplands for breeding waterfowl and for hunting. The acquired wetlands became Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) and formed the core of the Wetland Management Districts.
The Act was passed in the nick of time. Between 1780 and 1980, approximately 78.7 percent of wetlands in the Prairie Pothole and Parkland Transition areas were drained (Dahl 1990). In intensive agricultural areas of the Prairie Pothole Region, wetland losses often exceed 90 percent. Today over 70,000 miles of ditches drain wetlands in Minnesota with a continuing annual wetland loss of 2.4 percent per year.
At the time the Small Wetland Acquisition Program (SWAP) began in 1962, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service entered into a Procedural Agreement with the State of Minnesota. This document laid out the rules for the purchase of wetlands as required by the Wetland Loan Act of 1961. The agreement was amended in 1976 when the number of counties authorized for acquisition increased from 19 to 28, and the goal acreage was increased. In 1991, the Minnesota Land Exchange Board gave the Service approval to expand its land acquisition program to all 87 counties of the state. The state goal of 231,000 acres in fee title and 365,170 acres in easements, as established in 1976, remains unchanged.
In western Minnesota, as of March 31 1999, the Service owned 171,863 acres, of which 56,693 acres were wetlands (Figure 1). In addition, the Service administers perpetual easement agreements on 266,171 acres, of which 62,098 acres are wetlands. Wetlands that were once drained have been restored; on Waterfowl Production Areas, more than 4,000 wetland restorations have impounded 15,900 wetland acres.
The program has been remarkably successful in the face of great odds. The Wetland Management Districts combine to form a greater land mass than the largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states. Each District has, on average, 23,400 to 73,400 breeding ducks each year; all Districts combined average 240,600 breeding ducks each year (Figure 2).
Note: The above information is an excerpt taken from the Detroit Lakes WMD Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP). The above cited references and other useful information can be found by reviewing the full plan at the following link: Detroit Lakes CCP.
Figure 1: Minnesota Wetland Management Districts
Figure 2: Breeding Pair Population (Averaged) for Major Duck Species in Minnesota Wetland Management Districts, 1987-2000
Data values are for 13 species (mallard, gadwall, blue-winged teal, northern shoveler, northern pintail, wigeon, green-winged teal, wood duck, redhead, canvasback, scaup, ringneck and ruddy duck).
Litchfield, Roseau and Windom wetland management districts data are for the years 1989-2000.
Source: Waterfowl Breeding Populations and Production Estimates, for the Prairie Pothole Region of Minnesota (4 square mile survey). Habitat and Population Evaluation Team, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
