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| Council | Waterfowl Technical Committee |
| Flyway Representatives | Webless Game Bird Technical Committee |
"The Central Flyway is a go-for-broke flyway. An ´average´ year for ducks is something we see fleetingly while rocketing to the peak. We see it again regularly, but momentarily, while plummeting to the bottom." Ray Buller, Flyway Representative 1958-74.
The Central Flyway is an administrative unit today but was first established by the birds themselves thousands of years ago. These migratory birds chose pathways or flyways to follow during their twice-per-year travels between their breeding and wintering grounds. But it wasn't until the mid-1930's that Frederick Lincoln described a Central Flyway using the innovative approach of putting leg bands on ducks on the breeding grounds and then tracking their recovery. Other flyways were also described.
This discovery occurred at a time when one set of migratory bird hunting regulations was established for the entire country by what was to become the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The idea of applying different management to different populations of ducks was born with Lincoln's information. The second World War caused the nation to shift its attention to things more important than waterfowl research and management but post-war efforts blossomed quickly.
The Western Association of Game and Fish Conservation Commission comprised of 11 states recommended, in the fall of 1947, that management of ducks take place at the flyway level. In August, 1948, nine states in Lincoln's Central Flyway met in Glenwood Springs, Colorado at the request of C.N. Feast, Director of the Colorado Game and Fish Department. By the end of the meeting, the Central Flyway Council had been formed and possessed a Purpose and Aim:
"The purpose of the Central Flyway Council shall be to assemble factual information, endeavor to encourage the adoption and use of more uniform practices and techniques, correlate and coordinate the migratory bird program and activities of the several governmental agencies throughout North America, to determine the migratory bird production in the states within the Central Flyway, collect additional mortality return data, conduct more widespread bird banding operations, augment participation in the annual censusing work, and otherwise assist in the efforts to increase the continental waterfowl populations and to effect better utilization of this valuable natural resource.
The aim of the Council shall be to provide the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Dominion Wildlife Service [now the Canadian Wildlife Service] and the Mexican Government with urgently needed management data and to supplement the work of the Federal, Dominion, and Latin American agencies in the restoration and management of waterfowl and other migratory birds."
The Council met each year but it wasn't until 1952 that all four flyway councils (the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central and Pacific) were officially formed per a 1951 resolution by the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Also in 1952, the Central Flyway was narrowed to include the states and provinces included today except that the Northwest Territories became an official member in 1988. In 1953, the Council formed the Waterfowl Technical Committee comprised of a biologist from each jurisdiction and Cecil S. Williams was appointed as the first Central Flyway Representative. The Technical Committee provides expert technical advice and recommendations to the Council and the Flyway Representative is a liaison between the Flyway and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1957, the Central Flyway Council adopted their first long-range management plan to guide their activities. The Shore and Upland Game Bird Technical Committee was formed in 1966 to address issues relating to that group of birds. This Committee included members from Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas (in the Mississippi Flyway) in recognition of how populations of these birds, in particular mourning doves, aligned themselves. In 1998, this committee was realigned to include formal membership from Central Flyway jurisdictions only but with an understanding that close ties would be maintained with states across bird population ranges.
Throughout its 50+ year existence, the Central Flyway Council hasn't strayed from its original Purpose and Aim. Partnerships have been formed and much information has been collected and analyzed. While there have been times when the Flyway's energy seemed consumed with the annual establishment of hunting regulations, it has consistently lobbied for, funded, researched and reported on major projects (link to Major Projects) regarding many aspects of migratory bird management.
For more information about the Central and other flyways and the history of migratory bird management, see the References page.