A Voluntary Program to Curtail Boat Disturbance to Migrating Waterfowl on the Upper Mississippi River

Monitoring conducted in 1986–88, 1993, 1997, and 2004 indicate that the Voluntary Waterfowl Avoidance Area (VWAA) program has been successful in reducing disturbance to waterfowl and it has been evident that many boaters made an obvious effort to travel out of their way to comply with the VWAA. This program is an example of a management strategy that River managers and biologists may use to enhance the UMR as an important waterfowl staging area.

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