Conserving Waterfowl Breeding Grounds

Louisiana traditionally has one of the highest duck harvests in the United States. The overwhelming majority of these ducks are produced in breeding habitats in the northern United States and Canada before migrating south to Louisiana’s marshes, fields, and forested wetlands in the fall and winter. Conserving these breeding habitats is critical to maintaining the long-term health of waterfowl populations in the Mississippi Flyway and excellent hunting opportunities for Louisiana waterfowl hunters.

Since 1965, LDWF has provided funding to support conservation of breeding ground habitat for migratory waterfowl and, until 2021 (LA R.S. 56:104(A)(1)(b)), allocated 10% of annual hunting license revenue for that purpose. .  More recently, Act 356 of the 2021 Louisiana Legislative Session created a special account in the Conservation Fund known as the Louisiana Duck License, Stamp, and Print Fund, into which all amounts received pursuant to the Louisiana Duck License, Stamp, and Print Program are deposited.  Half of these monies deposited in the Louisiana Duck License, Stamp, and Print Fund may be dedicated by the Commission to the development and preservation of breeding grounds for migratory waterfowl, the funds to be expended for such purposes through Ducks Unlimited Inc. or under the direction of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission at its discretion.

All funding was administered through Ducks Unlimited to support projects to create, restore, and enhance wetland and grassland habitat for breeding waterfowl in Canada until 2002, when one-third of funding was awarded to Delta Waterfowl to support predator-control research in North Dakota. In 2008, Delta Waterfowl was awarded half of the available funding to support a wetland easement program called Adopt-A-Pothole in Manitoba and Alternative Land Use Services program across the Canadian prairie provinces. In 2018, one-third of funding was awarded to Delta Waterfowl to continue supporting the Adopt-a-Pothole partnership with the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation (now the Manitoba Habitat Conservancy).  This funding was split 25:75 Delta: DU for the 2021 to 2024 contract period and 50:50 for the 2025-2027 period. Funding has continued to support Ducks Unlimited’s long-running conservation programs to secure wetland and grassland easements, convert grain-crops to grassland habitat, increase cultivation of winter wheat, and manage existing acreage under conservation agreements from decades of past work to maximize the value of that acreage for breeding ducks.

Project Proposals and Reports

Organizations that receive funding for breeding ground conservation from Louisiana’s hunting license sales must submit a report to document what has been done with this funding.