DU Donations Still Work for Arkansas

With Arkansas’ waterfowl harvest on a downward glide, hunters in parts of the state have even taken shots at Ducks Unlimited Inc.

The nonprofit organization has spent more than $200 million since 1986 to help secure, enhance and restore more than 968,123 acres of waterfowl habitats just in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, home to North America’s largest natural duck breeding and feeding grounds.

Since duck harvests in the upper Midwest have increased in recent years, the gripe has been that contributions to Arkansas DU chapters do more for states farther up the flyway than hunters at home (see story, p. 32).

J. Brian Davis, a regional biologist with DU’s North Little Rock field office, said that’s only one of the misconceptions banded to the 40 percent drop in the state’s waterfowl harvest since 2000. He said the duck decline has more to do with cyclical weather and available feedstocks.

“Wet and dry weather cycles seem to run in seven and 10-year cycles,” Davis said. “The 1970s were pretty wet, and the duck populations were high to where we’d have a 100 million ducks in the fall flight. The 1980s were dry, and there was a corresponding decrease.

“Then the 1990s were wet, the hunting got popular, and we saw a big growth in the number of hunters. Drier weather and crowded hunting has had things down again. Even so, the bulk of all waterfowl harvesting still occurs in Arkansas and Louisiana.”

There were 1.13 million ducks taken in Arkansas last year. That’s triple the 377,952 tally by Missouri. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Division of Migratory Bird Management also said Louisiana recorded a record waterfowl harvest of 1.83 million ducks.

No other state had a harvest anywhere close.

DU investments in Canadian habitats also make sense, Davis said. Since a mallard hen must eat about 5,000 bugs to generate the energy to lay four eggs, he said, the heartier the wildlife habitats are, the stronger the bird populations will be each year.

Staying Here

Davis said about 7.5 percent of every dollar given to DU stays in the donor’s home state. Through January, the organization has invested more than $25.9 million in Arkansas habitats, making “The Natural State” second only to North Dakota’s $32.8 million in habitat conservation investments.

DU is responsible for helping restore more than 43,000 acres of Arkansas public wetlands since 1985, primarily working in conjunction with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. Since 1990, DU has helped protect, restore or enhance 253,000 total acres of public and private land in Arkansas for duck habitats. DU biologists have provided technical assistance for another 980,000 acres of land in the state.

The most recent public project is the establishment of the 790-acre Frog Bayou Wildlife Management Area in Crawford County. Located 15 miles east of Fort Smith and south of Dyer, Frog Bayou is a $850,000 investment in waterfowl migration, wintering habitats and public waterfowl hunting just one and a half hours from Fayetteville.

Jeff Lawrence, DU’s senior regional director for Arkansas, said the Frog Bayou project gives the state’s northwest corner good linkage to other wetlands in Oklahoma and Missouri.

“The Arkansas River Valley is an important area for migrating waterfowl,” Lawrence said. “There are ducks that come from both the Mississippi and central flyways that come through that corridor. When you look at the geography of the area, too, there’s no rice, beans or flooded hardwoods like in the Delta, so it’s a big benefit for waterfowl in the northwest part of the state.

“And when it gets real cold and everything is frozen, you can’t beat the Arkansas River.”

DU will assist with tree planting and hydrology restoration at Frog Bayou this winter and spring, and the WMA is expected to be ready for public hunting next season.

Revenue Roost

The DU chapters in Benton and Washington counties, albeit five hours from the Mississippi River flyway, have been some of the state DU organization’s most productive supporters. Since 1991, Northwest Arkansas’ five DU chapters have raised a combined $1.5 million to help restore, enhance, preserve and protect more than 6,101 acres of duck habitats in North America (see chart).

Lawrence said the northwest chapters have grown to be about on par with the Little Rock and North Little Rock groups, the largest chapters in the state.

“A good part of that is population driven,” Lawrence said. “Northwest Arkansas is like central Arkansas, and they both represent more heavily populated areas of the state.”

Davis said chapters should realize their dollars are working in Arkansas. He said “tactic” issues such as robotic ducks and even calling are “way overrated,” and that in the end, natural factors and food sources will determine where the ducks are.

“There are plenty of ducks to kill,” Davis said. “You just have to put forth some effort and be flexible when nature is making meager hunting. A linebacker is not going to make many tackles if he just stands there waiting for a running back. He’d better be hauling ass across the field looking for the guy.

“Hunting isn’t much different. It comes down to food. If you are hunting where ducks want to put their feet, you will kill them.”