Page 26 - Waterfowl

Above: An aerial view of Fountain Grove CA in the 1950s during early stages of restoration.
Courtesy, Missouri Department of Conservation.
Below: Dick Vaught, MDC
wetland areas supervisor, bands and measures bill length of a Canada Goose to obtain valuable information required to better understand and mange the Eastern Prairie Population.
Courtesy, Glenn D. Chambers.
The system of state-owned wetland areas began in 1947 with the acquisition of Fountain Grove Conservation Area (CA), and today, the Missouri Conservation Commission owns fifteen areas, totaling nearly 82,000 acres, which are intensively managed for wetland wildlife, hunting, and other recreation.
Nearby landowners soon realized that conservation areas and national wildlife refuges attracted waterfowl that also used their properties. They came to understand the need to manage habitat if they wanted to ensure hunting success. Early management efforts on both private and public lands were directed to the fall, but today, managers understand Missouri’s role in providing habitat during the spring migration for waterfowl returning to northern breeding areas.
Missouri’s most productive agricultural lands are located in the state’s floodplains, the same landscapes important to waterfowl. A key to success of the Missouri Model has revolved around partnerships forged with state and federal agriculture agencies and producers. Missouri’s leadership in this arena is the best in the nation.
National/International Cooperative Management
As waterfowl biologists, Ted Shanks and Dick Vaught clearly understood the migratory nature of waterfowl and they incorporated international cooperation into Missouri’s waterfowl and wetland conservation program. Their actions positioned MDC as a leader in promoting research and science as necessary components of waterfowl conservation. Starting in the 1950s, MDC staff banded waterfowl and helped develop population survey and banding techniques in key waterfowl habitats in Canada. That work involved pioneering efforts that still serve waterfowl managers today. About the same time the US and Canada began cooperation on waterfowl management via Flyway Councils.
24 Waterfowl Hunting and Wetland Conservation in Missouri