Should this seem an odd time to be writing on the subject of ducks, let’s consider this rationale:
• ‘Tis the season when ducks actually are made, that most important prelude to any real hope of hunting success in the fall.
• By a slow grinding of the legislative machinery, it’s also the time when laws are concocted that greatly influence the extent to which ducks will be produced.
• At the local level, this month signals a series of important Colorado public meetings that will help determine how and when South Platte River hunters will be able to pursue however many of these ducks eventually get made.
It’s all part of an intricate web of events that requires our rapt attention, lest the sport we treasure slip away.
Of greatest concern is the extent to which native grasslands, a key component in duck breeding, are being plowed in the prairie regions of North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. Ducks Unlimited officials estimate more than 500,000 acres of prairie were plowed in 2007, a trend that continues while Congress debates a 2008 Farm Bill that contains key conservation measures.
Among these is a Sodsaver provision that removes crop insurance eligibility and other subsidies, making it less attractive for new lands to be placed in cultivation.
Oft delayed, the 2008 Farm Bill has been extended another two weeks through May 16. As debate drags on, initiates such as Sodsaver remain in limbo while another plowing season sweeps across the prairie.
At the same time, the Conservation Reserve Program is foundering because rental rates are being far outstripped by revenue potential presented by biofuels and other elevated crop prices.
CRP rental rates in the prairie pothole region average $31 per acre; commodity crops are yielding more than $151 per acre. As a result, an estimated 400,000 CRP acres, many of which were open to public hunting, have been removed in recent years in South Dakota alone.
The Colorado portion of the equation involves proposed changes in hunting rules along the South Platte corridor in response to concerns over lagging hunting success in recent years.
Suggested changes involve restricted hunting and reservations for seven state wildlife areas: Jackson Lake, Jean K. Tool, Brush, Atwood, Overland Trail, Bravo and Red Lion. Regulation changes also might allow waterfowl hunting from boats at Jackson and Jumbo reservoirs. The discussion could be expanded to any aspect of waterfowl hunting in northeast Colorado.
Charlie Meyers: 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com
Wildlife meetings
The meeting schedule, all 6:30-8:30 p.m.:
Thursday: Sterling, Comfort Inn, 2020 Leisure Lane, 970-522-3700.
May 19: Fort Morgan, Morgan Community College, Bloedorn Lecture Hall, 820 Barlow Rd., 970-542-3100.
May 20: Fort Collins, Hilton Hotel, 317 W. Prospect Rd., 970-482-2626.
May 21: Greeley, Greeley Guest House, 5401 W. 9th St., 970-353-9373.
May 27: Denver, Division of Wildlife Education Building, 6060 Broadway, 303-291-7234.
