CONSERVATION OF WATERFOWL 55 



CONSERVATION OF WATERFOWL 



CONTRIBUTED BY 



DR. IRA N. GABRIELSON 



President, Wildlife Management Institute 



Waterfowl have the same general requirements as do other forms of 

 wildlife. They must have suitable environment for their year-round 

 living activities and their perpetuation depends upon the survival of an 

 adequate breeding stock each year. While basically the problem of con- 

 serving waterfowl is the same as that for conserving nonmigratory 

 species, the difficulties encountered in solving it are greatly augmented 

 by the migratory habits of ducks and geese. Many of them travel nearly 

 the length of the continent twice each year and must find the marsh and 

 aquatic environment they require wherever they may be at any season. 



Compared with quail or grouse which remain in restricted terri- 

 tories the whole year, the shifting populations of waterfowl are more 

 difficult to provide with suitable living conditions. No one community, 

 no one State, and no one nation can handle this conservation problem 

 alone. Canada and Alaska together produce a large proportion of the 

 waterfowl inhabiting the North American continent. These vast coun- 

 tries embrace the major part of the remaining good breeding grounds 

 for waterfowl and although we are endeavoring to restore the old nesting 

 places in the United States, the most important wildfowl producing area 

 must always be in these two regions. On the other hand, the United 

 States, and, to a lesser extent, Mexico provide continental wintering 

 grounds for the birds. These commonwealths furnish a far greater 

 proportion of the winter resorts of waterfowl than do all other countries 

 of the hemisphere combined. These areas, it may be pointed out, are 

 just as important to the birds as are the breeding grounds. 



It will be of little conservation value to restore the breeding grounds 

 if there is no feed, shelter, or protection for the birds in the areas where 

 they must spend the colder half of the year. If there is not sufficient 

 food on the wintering grounds in the United States there will be no birds 

 to return to the breeding zone. Neither the nesting nor the wintering 

 part of this problem in conservation can be said to be more important 

 than the other. Wherever there is a shortage of breeding grounds, 

 restoration must be accomplished. If there is a deficiency in wintering 

 accommodations, that must be remedied. One of the great uncertainties 

 as to the future of migratory waterfowl concerns the extent to which the 

 great marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, which 

 furnish the principal wintering areas for three of the four great fly ways 

 of the continent, can be preserved and protected against drainage, 

 drought, invasion by salt water, or destruction from other causes. 



