Duck Habitat: NRCS Has Money for Management

Waterfowl, including ducks and geese, will find solid habitat along the Texas coast this year thanks to the United States Department of Agriculture Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative. If you are a landowner along the Texas coast and are interested in wetland or waterfowl management then I suggest you make contact with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and look at getting involved with their program to provide goose and duck habitat.

Priority areas in Texas are in Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Orange, Waller, and Wharton counties with secondary priority given to the adjacent counties that include Aransas, Austin, Fayette, Grimes, Jasper, Lavaca, Montgomery, Newton, Polk, Refugio, San Jacinto, Tyler, Victoria and Washington counties.

Texas NRCS is working in partnership with Ducks Unlimited, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts, to deliver this program to landowners in 8 states in priority areas that offer the greatest habitat potential for migrating bird populations. And by looking at the priority counties listed above, they are putting their money where their mouth is. All of these counties have the potential to increase waterfowl habitat.

“I have been a lifelong member of Duck Unlimited and know firsthand the importance of protecting this crucial habitat that otherwise would have dried up and no longer been available,” said Wiatrek. “I deeply appreciate NRCS and the others who have stepped up to the plate to provide me and other landowners the opportunity to do our part in helping migratory birds such as mallards, gadwall, and teal that might have otherwise been adversely impacted by the oil spill.”

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