Question about DU

[Chad Manlove]

Torch, your statement regarding MS duck stamp dollars was not very accurate. Total duck stamp sales for MS was $300,000 last year. DU received $40,000 for the Canadian Grants Program. That's 13% of the duck stamp funds not 100%. Here's the reason why money is sent to Canada....to raise more ducks for MS hunters. Those dollars were spent in Saskatchewan, where a big portion of our ducks come from.

[Chad Manlove]

Mallardhunter, I should have specified more clearly. I was referring to southern states when I said "We had half the hunters in the 80s". I was not referring to the entire nation. I used data from duck stamp sales in each state as my indicator of hunter numbers. AR went from 35,000 to 95,000. Texas went from 60,000 to 120,000. LA went from 70,000 to 100,000. MS went from 20,000 to 30,000. The totals for these 4 states - went from 185,000 to 345,000 in 10 years (almost double). Sorry for the confusion.

Chad

[jkm1272]

I still think DU does a terrible job of PR work. I am a member of DU, but I have often thought of quitting. I know DU does a good job with habitat. I know DU spends most of the money on habitat. But I get sick and tired of DU always answering the "why aren't the ducks coming south" with the same answer "weather". Surely with all of the money DU is raising they could do a study to see what the cause is. Is it to much habitat in the north? Have we just miss counted the duck numbers? Do we need more habitat in the south? Will less habitat in the midwest benifit ducks, and make a more normal fall and winter pattern.

Chad please don't tell me most of the habitat is in Canada. I am talking about pipes given to mid-western farmers for their fields. Where they leave food for the ducks. I know you can't leave them out of the loop, but maybe DU could limit the amount of pipes that are given. Remeber the Midwest mainly grows corn, and that alone can stop a lot of ducks.

I wrote the DU head quarters back when MS was trying to get a later season. At the time the majority of wetland projects in the US were in MS,AR, and LA. I had hoped maybe DU would get involved, and help us get a later season. The answer I got was "that DU was not a politcal organzation." WHAT A LIE!!! In fact one of their ex lobbiest now works for the American Banker Assoc. In my opinion DU didn't want to help, because they didn't want to make the northerns mad (northern states were against a later season).

[crow]

My answer is "All of the above." You could put all the property DU is involved in in the lower 48 and put it on the head of a pin, proverbially speaking. That property is less than a drop in the bucket compared to the private landowners who flood with the help of the WRP and CRP programs.

I didn't think DU was supportive enough of the hunter over the last 15 yrs. I got out. They have definitely changed their point of view over the last 3-4 years...largely due to folks getting in their face (money) about it. They would love to be a non-political conservation group...problem is, it can't be done!

More territory to spread out in + fewer ducks + more hunters + much more hunting pressure (more days with someone shooting at them) + crappy, mild weather the past three years = fewer ducks per hunter (average harvest). I just isn't one thing or another...it's all of it together that is adding up to a lot of dissatisfaction. When the quality of the hunt goes down, folks get agitated.

My comment, cut out the bitching and just quit trying altogether! Danged if I would do something that apparently causes me so much misery and discontent as it seems to do for a good many of you. Life is short...go do something that will make you happy. There a bunch of deer out there to kill...go do that! I'm just more than a little tired of all this fussing about not killing ducks. If I was all that torn up over not killing ducks, I'd just save me some heartburn and do something else!

Yeah, it's my time of the month!

[torch]

Chad, I stand corrected all I could find was 95,000.00
Minor objective Code 64790
(b) 20,000.00 Ducks Unlimited Inc. PV wo300002022 1/13/03 other grants to non Govt institutions
25,000.00 Ducks Unlimited Inc. PV wo300001621 11/01/02 other grants to non Govt institutions
50,000.00 Ducks Unlimited Inc. PV wo300001622 11/01/02 other grants to non Govt institutions
I am sure there is more somewhere I just can't find it right now. I would love for 60 minutes or 48 hrs to investigate DU and see what they could uncover!!!

[Duck Sniper]

still think that DU will cause the downfall of duck hunting in MS in the end!
sniper

[Chad Manlove]

Torch, here is the breakdown on how that $95,000 DU received was spent. Your original post said 100% of duck stamp funds went to DU Canada.

that $50,000 line item went to DU Canada
that $25,000 line item was spent of gulf coast work
that $20,000 line item was spent on the private lands work here in MS

So, only $50,000 went to DU Canada out of $300,000 potential

[Chad Manlove]

jkm, yes most of the habitat IS in prairie Canada and the prairie pothole region in North and South Dakota. We've been working in Canada since 1937. That's why there is so mnay projects up there. DU started working on habitat projects in the states in 1984 (all public land projects at first). DU only started working on private lands in 1990. We haven't put that much habitat down in mid-western states.

Actually, we have very few private lands pipe projects in mid-western states. Missouri has a small program in the bootheel. We don't have any private lands program in Oklahoma or Kansas. Most of our work in this region is on public lands. WRP is doing private lands work everywhere, but that's not a DU program. Again, we don't give pipes out everywhere.

We have never been involved with setting seasons, bag limits, splits etc. That is the job of the USFWS and State Wildlife Depts. That's why we didn't get involved.

[esteslanehunting]

Feedcall, we are sending this money to them and nothing is changing. They say the numbers are up, they say the breeding grounds this year were above average. What are we to do?? We aren't shooting any ducks!!! That is the problem I have. What is the reason for this?? I want an answer that will help me understand why we aren't.

[jkm1272]

Chad at least you gave me a reason. DU in Memphis was full of crap when they said they were not political. Again lack of PR. Need more Chads less Corperate Memphis.

[Chad Manlove]

Gumbo, in an earlier post, you stated "If Du owned every spec of wetland nesting habitat, the weather would still control the outcome."

Absolutely! The weather on the prairies ulimately controls production. But what if DU had not protected 5 million acres of habitat in this region. These areas would have been either plowed or ditched, thereby providing ZERO benefit to ducks when the rains returned. When the rains return, ducks respond. But they can't reproduce without grasslands and wetland basins. That's why we work in this region.

[Chad Manlove]

Bustin' Ducks, Here's my thoughts on Predator Control....

As you well know, predator control is a hot topic these days. Here's my take. I have always felt nesting habitat is the key to sustaining continental populations of waterfowl. When habitat conditions on the breeding grounds are right (mid 1990s), we can still experience some phenominal duck hunting opportunities. Winters of 1998, 1999, and 2000 provided some outstanding duck hunting. All of this happened without landscape level predator control.

There's no doubt in my mind that predator control on small scale areas can be effective in increasing nest success of breeding waterfowl. Ideal areas might include NWRs in North and South Dakota. If these areas have dedicated dollars that must be spent on those lands, predator control might be a viable management option. However, I'm not convinced that landscape level predator control is the "silver bullet" everyone is looking for. We're still losing a tremendous amount of native grasslands in North and South Dakota. These areas can produce good results when grasslands are intact. We can protect native grasslands forever for only $60/acre. I guess its a matter of perspective. I'm convinced that conservation dollars should be spent to provide long-term benefits to waterfowl populations. The core challenge is to improve and sustain the productive capability of the "duck factory" over the long-term. These efforts will ensure future generations of waterfowlers the opportunity to hunt ducks, something we treasure very deeply.

I know everyone won't agree with my feelings on predator control and that's okay. These were my feelings as a graduate student before I ever joined Ducks Unlimited and I've spent many nights pondering these issues since. We don't need to give up on habitat conservation. If we make sure the native grasslands are in place, predators will have a difficult time finding a nest.

With regards to the Ohio private lands project, I'm not familiar with that program. Ohio is administered from our Great Lakes Regional Office in Ann Arbor, MI. Sorry, I can't explain those details. I do know that private lands projects here in the south don't come with "no hunting" restrictions. If we work with a landowner, he ultimately decides whether or not he hunts on that project. 99% will hunt.

[litlhitch]

still think that DU will cause the downfall of duck hunting in MS in the end!
sniper

HOW IN THE WORLD CAN YOU SAY THAT!!!!!
One of the tracts of land that DU owns in SD has NO ducks and NO water on it right now. SO, are you saying that DU land holds all the ducks up north and keeps them from coming south?
They are setting aside this land so that these ducks will not lose home during the summer. Not to keep the ducks out of MS during the winter.
THAT IS RIDICULOUS!!!!

[Bustin' Ducks]

Chad Manlove,
Thank you sir for your reply. I know you can't speak personally/professionally for those DU folks up north, but it just doesn't seem right. This guy has land off the Great Lakes, and DU came in fixed up the joint and the only stipulation was he coulnd't hunt it the 1st year of DU completing the project. Don't get me wrong I'm happy for the guy to get a FREE place to hunt courtesy of our annual membership fees/ the outrageous banquet ticket sales...But It's for the ducks...right???

[Po Monkey Lounger]

jroc wrote: ..."I want the lawyers out of it..."

Well, jroc, I must confess, you are right. The lawyers (and other wiley "professionals" --doctors, bankers, etc) are what is wrong with duck hunting ---- not the weather, migration, duck numbers, etc. I have been busted. As one of the greedy, evil land baron barristers("professionals"), I have been secretly buying and leasing duck hunting land all throughout the MS Delta for several years, all as part of a devious plot, and in conspiracy with other lawyers and professionals (GC is part of it too), to corner the duck hunting market and keep good, honest, law-abiding common folk like yourself from enjoying duck hunting. Heck, we had planned that once we owned or leased it all, we may not even hunt these properties, prefering instead to just watch the ducks --- just to spite you and other undesirable knee-boot'in joeblows. Sherlock, you have solved the mystery and the gig is up. Darn. Back to the drawing board.

jroc, you get my vote for the dumbest post of the year. This stuff is funnier than the "man on the street" interviews on the Jay Leno show. Congrats.

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