| Management Priorities | Management Plans | About Hunting | The Future |
The Central Flyway Council (CFC) is focused on the management of migratory game birds, as evidenced by its purposes in its Bylaws. The purposes that were originally stated in 1948 were detailed and explicitly related to tasks that needed to be accomplished. The current purpose statements are more generally stated and updated to reflect today's conditions but retain the concepts embodied in those earlier statements. In other words, the Council has retained its focus for over 50 years.
In July, 2002, on the 50th anniversary of the formal establishment of all four Flyway Councils, the Central Flyway Council adopted a resolution reaffirming their prinicples and ideals.
Management Priorities
There are many issues facing migratory game bird managers including loss of habitat, disease, subsistence and regular season harvest, providing hunting opportunity, bird distribution and gaining an improved understanding of these things and their relationships. While the Central Flyway is demonstrably committed to addressing these issues through planning and management and political action, they have identified the conservation and protection of habitats as a management priority.
The Goal of the CFC as stated in management plans (see below) is: "Maximum recreational opportunity consistent the welfare of population, international treaties, habitat constraints and the interests of all Central Flyway provinces and states." In accord with that goal, the CFC believes that adequate recruitment (the addition of young birds to the population) and the factors that affect it will determine the future of migratory birds and the hunting associated them. It believes that secure nesting habitat is the primary factor affecting waterfowl and other migratory birds. Along with secure nesting habitat, high-quality wetlands are critical to the survival of young produced.
During periods of above-average precipitation, many waterfowl species respond favorably to the increased availability of wetlands with increased recruitment. However, the adage that "when the water comes back, the ducks will come back" is no longer true. Important wetland margins and the surrounding uplands have been heavily and negatively affected by intensive agricultural and other forms of development throughout the breeding range of most ducks, particularly prairie nesters. Because of the impact of man's action, many hen mallards, for example, fail to raise a brood of ducklings. Many are killed on the nest either directly by agricultural operations or by predators that can efficiently search the small areas of nesting cover still available.
The recent period of high to average precipitation across a broad portion of the Prairie Potholes of northcentral U.S. and the prairie provinces of Canada - the "duck factory" - has substantiated the selection of the CFC's priority. The populations of many duck species have increased during this period. However, populations increased the most where the U.S Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) provided extensive and undisturbed nesting cover. There is no such program in Canada, which includes the heart of northern pintail breeding habitat and that species has shown little response to improved precipitation.
While conditions are severe on the breeding grounds, they are no less severe on migration routes and wintering grounds. These two habitat types are being impacted by farming, wetland drainage, irrigation, plowing of grasslands, dams built on river courses, urbanization, pollution, mining and logging.
Managing all species and populations of geese remains a priority of the CFC. All goose populations in the Central Flyway have been increasing in numbers. Realizing that harvest regulations often have a significant impact on goose populations, managers had implemented restrictive bag sizes and season dates during the last two to three decades of the 1900's. Waterfowl hunters have supported these harvest restrictions, recognizing their value in providing healthy goose populations in the future. The restoration of the giant Canada goose to its former breeding range is a success story exemplifying cooperative effort between waterfowl management agencies and sportsmen. Beginning in the late-1990's, goose hunting regulations have been liberalized for at least two reasons: improved surveys provided more reliable estimates of population size and; it was recognized that some goose populations were above objective levels and getting too large. This latter reason is particularly true for Mid-Continent snow geese and "resident" or local population of Canada geese.
One reason why goose populations have increased while duck populations have gone up and down is that goose nesting habitat has been relatively secure from man's actions. In addition, some goose populations have adapted to newly created areas (e.g., city lakes) and to using agricultural crops for food. But the security of nesting habitat in some northern breeding areas now appears questionable. Exploration for and development of fossil fuel and diamond deposits in the breeding range of white-fronted geese and some populations of Arctic breeding Canada geese is progressing, mostly unnoticed. Without constant vigilance and a willingness to act, goose breeding habitat could reach the same critical level as that for ducks.
Return to top
Management Plans
The CFC has adopted a number of management plans to help guide future actions that will lead to accomplishing the management priorities. In particular, there are plans for mallards, each of the five populations of Canada geese that occur in the flyway, lesser snow and greater white-fronted geese, swans, sandhill cranes and mourning doves. Most of these plans were written in coordination with the Mississippi and Pacific flyways. The Goal of most of these plans is: "Maximum recreational opportunity consistent the welfare of population, international treaties, habitat constraints and the interests of all Central Flyway provinces and states." Typically these plans contain sections on populations, distribution, use and research needs.
There is one notable exception to the other plans. In March 2000, the CFC adopted a plan entitled Large Canada Geese in the Central Flyway: Management of Depredation, Nuisance and Human Health and Safety Issues (See References for Plan availability). The Goal of that plan is: Manage resident Canada geese in the Central Flyway to achieve maximum benefits from these birds while minimizing conflicts between geese and humans. Since neither geese nor humans exist in a vacuum, it became necessary to address problems in places where Canada goose populations had grown too large.
Return to top
The Future
The future of migratory birds lies heavily and directly on the shoulders of man and his actions. Future threats include continued wetland destruction, breaking of prairie for conversion to cropland and increasing human populations with their attendant need for new housing, fuel, transportation and power. Some of these threats are being addressed by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP), the joint ventures organized under it and the actions of other conservation organizations (See References for links).
Waterfowl hunters and other conservationists need to maintain and expand partnerships with governments in an intensive effort to ensure that this future is bright. The lead poisoning problem has been significantly reduced through such efforts. By becoming familiar with how hunting regulations may impact the future of waterfowl populations, conservationists can assist managers in selecting the best approach to harvest management. By adopting hunting practices that keep wounding losses to a minimum and by learning to identify species and sexes of ducks, hunters can contribute to these efforts while in the field. Sportsmen and other conservationists can also contribute by supporting agricultural programs and legislation which would benefit waterfowl and by encouraging their elected officials to do the same.
The CFC has long recognized that efforts to protect and enhance habitats for waterfowl and other migratory game birds also improved conditions for many non-game migratory and resident bird species. Wetlands and their associated uplands play a critical role in the annual life cycle of these birds as well as game birds. The CFC understands there is a great need to find new funding sources to support management of non-game bird species.
Major land-use ethics need to be modified, and management on currently protected waterfowl areas needs to be intensified. This intensive management will be expensive. As a result, both hunting and non-hunting conservationists can expect to pay a higher price for the privilege of seeing and hunting migratory birds in the future. As long as we continue to focus on our goal and as long as private and public organizations and individuals work together, there is reason for optimism. Success will require cooperation from all sectors of society, but it can be realized. The Central Flyway is committed to that success.
Return to top
Return to Philosophies, Projects and Issues