Good News for Waterfowl

[koWALLEYEski]

From: Daily Journal, Fergus Falls

The local Fish and Wildlife Service is exploring their wetland base for a future pilot program aimed at putting more shrimp on the menu for migrating waterfowl.

The program would measure how well small wetlands would respond after being treated with rotenone to remove minnow populations.

Currently, migrating diving ducks are finding lack of food in Minnesota ponds. The 2004 Minnesota waterfowl hunting season was considered a poor one by many hunters and a rally is scheduled for April 2 in St. Paul to try and improve the situation.

Treating FWS wetlands in the Fergus Falls area would be aimed at restoring freshwater shrimp, a staple of one of Minnesotas most popular ducks---bluebill or scaup.

FWS wetland manager Kevin Brennan presently lacks the funding necessary to initiate the rotenone program he has in mind. He is also working along with the local DNR Fisheries Division on a project that would introduce walleyes into wetlands for the purpose of controlling fatheads. The program, which has been called an intensive management technique, is in the planning stage.

Brennan does not beleive there is any "magic pill" for the state of Minnesota's wetlands. The state is currently locked in a high-water cycle. Some wetlands have "run out" allowing fatheads to travel freely and expand their feeding activities.

The lack of winter phenomenon known as winterkill has also encouraged minnow populations to grow. Winterkill takes place in heavy winters when snowfall cuts off sunlight to aquatic plants and cuts into a lakes oxygen level.

Brennan believes that nature will eventually tip the sczales in favor of waterfowl even more effectively than a winterkill. A drought period that would eliminate the fathead problem in wetlands far better than a winterkill or any man made solution.

North Dakopta has become the destination of choice for many Minnesota hunters. Brennan, who worked in the Devils Lake area of North Dakota, believes that North Dakota's landscape of wetlands is much more intact than Minnesotas, which draws the ducks to more ample food sources.

[Riverratpete]

Creative thinking...huh good idea, I say we give it a go.

[GullGuide]

Finally someone with a clue!!

[Sartell Angler]

as much as a drought would hurt us as far as season lengths and bag limits go, overall it would certainly help our state as far as a resident population of waterfowl is concerned.

in addition, I'd like to see some of the ponds that bait dealers have ruined to be restored.

SA/wdw

[Michael8129]

Well with SD and ND supposedly in "GREAT" shape isn't about time that DU and and the feds some real quality time and money in Minnesota? Makes sense to me I would just as soon have more WMA and WPA area here and improve the ones we have. Than give one more nickel to states that restrict my access to "MY" time and money. Obviously if ND and SD can become hunting meccas we can do it here also. How the heck do just over a million people have any political clout with the feds or DU for that matter. It is about time that maybe our DU head honchos do a bot of sabre rattling for Minnesota. I better see ALL of you at the capitol on April 2 no that is not a threat.

[kpj5br]

Michael,

the way to influence more time and money in Minnesota instead of your money going outside the state is to join the Minnesota Waterfowl Association if you haven't already. While MWA partners closely with DU, ALL of the money stays solely in Minnesota, for Minnesota hunters and Minnesota habitat.

[poutpro]

Good thinking on the walleyes, but what happens whent the minnows are gone? Next item on the walleye menu would be freshwater shrimp. My grandfather owns a slough that was filled with fatheads and shrimp. All the ducks would be absolutely filled with them when you would shoot them. The DNR got permission from him to put walleye in it and they ate all the fatheads and shrimp, and then that winter it froze out, so there was no shrimp, no minnow, and no walleyes, that equaled less ducks next season.

[poutpro]

What does everyone else think of this proposition?