With a notepad strapped to each leg, Roy Bach took off in 1948 and recorded ducks and wetlands from a low-flying plane. It was the first aerial waterfowl survey in the country, and it set the standard for surveys that today are used to estimate duck numbers on the North American continent. "This year is the 50th annual survey by our Department," according to Mike Johnson, migratory game bird management supervisor.
While Game and Fish has surveyed waterfowl every year since Bach's first attempt, the methods have changed. In the mid1950s the Department switched to a ground survey, where observers travel the same prescribed routes each year. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service started an aerial waterfowl census about the same time.
North Dakota is the only state in the Prairie Pothole Region that conducts its own spring and summer duck counts. The USFWS surveys other states, as well as North Dakota, to gather information needed to make recommendations on waterfowl hunting season frameworks. Game and Fish surveys support USFWS data, but more importantly, Johnson stated, "Since we're the number one duck production state, it's good for us to have a real good feel for what's going on out there."
And once the Department compiles the results of each year's surveys, that information is quickly forwarded to hunters. "You can't look at North Dakota's survey and relate that to continental duck populations," Johnson said, but it does indicate what hunters might expect for local duck populations in the fall.
In addition to annual population and harvest surveys, the Game and Fish migratory bird section has produced important research over the years. In the l950s, biologist Chuck Schroeder studied Canada goose tail fans and came up with measurement criteria used at the annual flyway wing bee to differentiate Tallgrass Prairie Canada geese from other Canada goose subspecies.
Schroeder was also responsible for research that led to North Dakota's halfday goose hunting format. Controversial at the time it was implemented, half-day goose hunting has proven effective at holding geese in North Dakota, therefore increasing opportunities for hunters.
A more recent waterfowl research project documented benefits of concrete culvert nest structures. While not the prettiest thing on the prairie, culverts are proven to raise mallards in many areas where nest success is not high enough to maintain the mallard population.
Because of the Pittman-Robertson program, Johnson says, nest structures are an available tool for improving duck production. "...the P-R program is sportsmen's dollars," Johnson stated, and without game, whether it's ducks, geese, pheasants or deer, hunters won't buy the accessories needed to fund the P-R program. "We can't do anything without those dollars," Johnson said.
Description of Annual Duck Count