From the Editor

    Want ducks? Just add water. And Mother Nature did plenty of that this past spring. According to the 2009 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey—a joint venture between the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service—pond counts within the traditional North American survey area were up 45 percent from 2008 and 31 percent from the long-term average. Ducks took advantage of this, with the result being population numbers up 13 percent from ’08 and 25 percent from the long-term average! This is welcome news for hunters, and it should encourage anyone who was even thinking about waterfowling to break out their calls and dust off their decoys.
    An interesting aside is that this year, for the first time ever, more ducks settled on the US side of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) than on the Canadian side. The PPR annually attracts at least two-thirds of North America’s nesting ducks, and the Canadian side historically has drawn about 75 percent of the ducks that nest there.
    On the surface this appears to be great news for stateside habitat; however, conservation groups caution sportsmen not to become complacent. “Things look great right now,” said Delta Waterfowl Senior Vice President John Devney, “but hunters need to remember we’ve lost more than a million acres of CRP [Conservation Reserve Program] since 2007 and more contracts will expire this year. If we can’t find a way to preserve existing upland cover, we simply won’t enjoy this kind of production in the future.”
    And how does one help preserve existing cover? By joining a reputable conservation organization like Delta Waterfowl (www.deltawaterfowl.org) or Ducks Unlimited (www .duck.org) and by buying a Federal Duck Stamp—whether you plan on hunting or not. In fact, the Duck Stamp is one of the best conservation deals going, with 98 cents of every dollar going directly to the National Wildlife Refuge system. Since its inception in 1934, the stamp has generated more than $700 million and helped conserve more than 5.2 million acres of waterfowl habitat.
    These days, though, with skyrocketing land prices, the monies from the stamp aren’t going as far as they used to. And with the cost of the stamp ($15) unchanged since 1991, buying power decreases yearly. Which is why legislators and conservationists are proposing to increase the stamp price to $25, perhaps for the 2010-’11 season. Testifying before the House Natural Resources Committee, Ducks Unlimited Chief Biologist Dale Humburg said, “The price increase would make the cost of the stamp about equal with the buying power of the $15 stamp in 1991, once you adjust for inflation. Compare that to the 300-percent increase in land values that we have seen in key waterfowl breeding areas. Increasing the price of the stamp by $10 would allow us to conserve an additional 16,000 acres of prime waterfowl habitat in the next year alone.”
     Of course any time a fee hike is suggested, naysayers claim that sportsmen shoulder enough of the costs for conservation already and that the resulting attrition in license/stamp sales will thin hunter ranks further. I have more faith than that, as I believe sportsmen have accepted our role as stewards of the environment and recognize the importance of giving back to protect the resources we cherish. An extra $10—less than the cost of one box of steel shot—would be a small price to pay for benefits that will last a lifetime . . . .

    With that thought, I welcome you to our annual waterfowl issue. For the fifth straight year, we have dedicated November/December to ducks, geese and the hardcore hunters who pursue them. Our Special Waterfowl Section begins on page 80, but you’ll find fowling-oriented articles throughout the magazine. Hopefully, these stories will encourage you to get out there this season—and to think about conservation in the long term.