A Message from the President!
NWA Joins Coalition of 4 Neighboring States
In the spring of 2023, the California Waterfowl Association proposed that the citizen waterfowl entities of the states of California, Nevada, Utah and Oregon form a coalition to provide comments on various wetland and waterfowl issues with a united front, where possible, in the hope of enhancing consideration of our issues and concerns. Since the wetland and waterfowl management issues are similar in these four states, this proposal seemed to make sense and was worth the possibility of having greater influence on management issues affecting these states. Therefore, the California Waterfowl Association, the Nevada Waterfowl Association, the Utah Waterfowl Association and the Oregon Duck Hunters Association have agreed to work together as a coalition of the 4 states on those issues of concern to all.
Our first issue of concern for the coalition is the development and release of a Northern Pintail population model and possible resulting implications for Pintail harvest management. Most of us have wondered if the science will support the very restrictive Pintail harvest strategy. We question with the unbalanced sex ratio highly favoring males, if possibly a more liberal bag limit for males may not be warranted. The Migratory Bird Management Division of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has for some time been assuring people that the Pintail population model will be released for possible review and comment. As of January 2024, this has not happened, so the four-state coalition has sent a letter to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service requesting that until such a time that the Model has been released with public review, that the Service condition the current development and adoption of harvest strategies for Pintail harvest with the ability to be modified subject to any new information derived from a public review of the new Model.
We shall see what happens, but the four-state coalition is prepared to review and comment on the Model with our own NWA Board member Dr. Jim Sedinger as the point person for review and analysis of the Model. Dr. Sedinger is a distinguished researcher and academic, with expertise in population dynamics, habitat selection, reproductive success, and migratory behavior in avian species, particularly waterfowl and other wetland-dependent birds.
We will keep you informed about how this plays out in the future.
William A Molini, President