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, by statute (LA R.S. 56:104(A)(1)(b)), allocates 10% of annual hunting license revenue for that purpose. Until 2002, all funding was administered through Ducks Unlimited to support projects to create, restore, and enhance wetland and grassland habitat for breeding waterfowl in Canada. In 2002, 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. 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.

Request for Proposals

LDWF periodically solicits proposals for funding for the protection, restoration, and enhancement of breeding waterfowl habitat. Any federal or state agency, conservation organization, or experienced individual is eligible to submit a proposal.

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.