On Friday the US Fish and Wildlife Service opened a brief public comment period ask for information Regarding wetland easements in the Prairie Pothole Area and drainage locations adjacent to those wetlands.
Although there are no proposals currently on the table – the USFWS says it is only looking for input on current policies – conservation groups are on high alert. organizations like delta waterfowl And ducks unlimited Says it’s essential that policies related to federal wetland easements in the northern Great Plains – which have been in place for nearly 70 years – not change.
“That’s why this request (for information) is worrisome,” says Scott Stephens, senior director of conservation strategy for Ducks Unlimited. “We had considered those (wetlands) to be there forever because we had the amenities attached to them. They’re part of the National Wildlife Refuge System, bought and paid for by duck hunters. They’re really important. It’s the most important geography on the continent for breeding ducks.”
There are more than 28,000 wetland easements spanning more than 1.5 million acres in states such as North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana. By early 2020from whom it was purchased Federal Duck Stamp Fund. The wetlands in question are mostly small parcels; Approximately 70 percent of the easements purchased by the USFWS in the PPR are less than one acre. Different Other wetland amenitiesThe USFWS considers the easements in question to be the “least restrictive” for landowners.
The landowners who sold the easements agreed not to drain, burn, level, or fill those wetlands, but are able to otherwise work on them – farming, haying and grazing – whatever naturally drains or drains them.
“One of the things to know about these easements is that there are no restrictions on growing crops on these wetlands. They have always allowed annual agricultural production,” says John Devney, chief policy officer for Delta Waterfowl. “The smaller and shallower the wetlands, the more likely they are to be harvested.”
Current debate focuses on drainage tile setback, or the distance from wetlands that allows landowners to install underground drainage pipes. Specific drainage locations on the prairie necessarily vary depending on the property’s unique slope, soil composition, and other factors, which can sometimes result in water flowing onto property that was not originally included in the easement.
Some farmers and agricultural groups, as well as politicians like Senator Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), have pressured for revaluation The Biden-era drainage rule they say infringes on private property outside the facility.
“There are some in the agricultural community who would support a tile setback approach that has the potential to starve wetlands – particularly the small shallow wetlands that are most important for breeding ducks,” says Devney. “So it’s essentially drainage. Not by digging ditches, but by starving (the wetlands) of its water.”
Conservation groups say 2024 USFWS rule Only the long-standing wetland easement policy was ratified. It simply provides safe harbor to landowners who followed USFWS drainage protocols and, in doing so, inadvertently impacted wetlands in nearby easements. (Curiously, Sen. Cramer spoke in support of safe harbor rules During the first Trump administration in 2020.)
“The 2024 rule did not change the USFWS failures, period,” Devney says. “Hard stop.”
Furthermore, DU’s Stephens says, science shows Greater allowable drainage distances than previously outlined by the USFWS result in wetland depletion.
“The science we have on this – allowing tile close to wetlands – has an impact on (wetlands), and these easements were paid for. You can’t keep the agreement intact and allow multiple setbacks,” says Stephens. “This rule isn’t broken, so don’t fix it.”
Overall the USFWS Wetland Easement Program is extremely popular, with more demand for wetland easements by landowners than funds to support it. Although there are rumors in social media circles that cite specific lost acreage of wetlands in the PPR, there is no clear blueprint for what exactly the USFWS might change if these easements are reevaluated.
“It depends how they respond (to the comments),” says Devney. “It’s all hypothetical at this point.”
However, to get ahead of any hypothetical changes, DU issued an action alert urged hunters to its members on Monday Submit Comments The USFWS is opposed to any potential changes in how it regulates its conservation facilities.
“Today, the progress we have made to protect these habitats faces an immediate threat,” read DU’s call to action via email. “The threat becomes a reality if these important rules are changed or removed.”
Devney says it’s important to remember that the USFWS wetland easements in the PPR were acquired largely with funds from duck stamp dollars.
“These amenities were the interests earned by generations of American duck hunters,” says Devney, who lives in Bismarck, North Dakota. “My grandfather, my father, there are over a million duck hunters today. They deserve a louder voice in this discussion.” “Our hope is that we can generate enough pressure (through the comments) that anyone (in the government) will look around and say, ‘Wow, we don’t want to touch this with a ten-foot pole.'”
USFWS comment period Open for a total of 14 days, the August 7 deadline is already approaching. As of press time, more than 3,500 comments had already been filed.
“It’s an asset base that you’ve invested in,” says Stephens. “Please stand up and comment in support of this. Say, ‘The rule is working, we want these areas to be safe.'”
About USFWS Conservation Wetland Easements
According to the USFWS, in the 1950s Congress “recognized the impact of extensive drainage on wetlands and waterfowl populations in the PPR.”
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This led to the creation of Small Wetland Acquisition Program In 1958, it took advantage of the federal Duck Stamp Fund to acquire small wetlands and ditches and designate them as waterfowl production areas.
The USFWS purchased the first WPA in South Dakota in 1959 and began purchasing wetland easements shortly thereafter. Today the WPA conserves approximately 3 million acres of wetlands in the PPR – a critical mission given that wetlands in the region are already severely degraded from historic levels. According to the US Geological Survey. In the last two centuries:
- Montana Has lost 27 to 33 percent of its wetlands
- South Dakota has lost 35 percent of its wetlands
- North Dakota has lost 50 percent of its wetlands
- minnesota has lost 50 percent of its wetlands
- iowa has lost 90 to 97 percent of its wetlands
In South Dakota, the agency says, “agricultural conversion, particularly in the Prairie Pothole region, is responsible for most wetland loss.”
In addition to the immediate threats to duck populations and production from reduced wetlands in the PPR, the clearance of agricultural land in the region literally has negative impacts on wildlife and people, including farmers.
“The more drainage we have, the faster water is coming into our river system,” says Michael Sertley, Central Regional Director of the Watershed Development Authority. American rivers. Sertley is also a waterfowl biologist by training who previously worked at DU.
Excess water in the continent’s river systems creates problems for sediment filtration and reduced water quality, as well as increased flooding – threatening farming communities and PPR only.
“While we understand that landowners need to work their land and want to be able to work on it, we are concerned about the harm it may cause to the health of the waters on which people and wildlife depend,” Sertley says. “We have already seen the largest rollback of clean water protections yet… While in the near term this may sound good to some people, history has shown that long term, the faster we send water into the river, the more problems we will have.”
This story was updated at 3pm CST to include comment from Ducks Unlimited.
