The migratory bird treaty and a century of waterfowl conservation

Abstract

In the final decades of the nineteenth century, concern was building about the status of migratory bird populations in North America. In this literature review, we describe how that concern led to a landmark conservation agreement in 1916, between the United States and Great Britain (on behalf of Canada) to conserve migratory birds shared by Canada and the United States. Drawing on published literature and our personal experience, we describe how subsequent enabling acts in both countries gave rise to efforts to better estimate population sizes and distributions, assess harvest rates and demographic impacts, design and fund landscape-level habitat conservation initiatives, and organize necessary political and regulatory processes. Executing these steps required large-scale thinking, unprecedented regional and international cooperation, ingenuity, and a commitment to scientific rigor and adaptive management. We applaud the conservation efforts begun 100 years ago with the Migratory Bird Treaty Convention. The agreement helped build the field of wildlife ecology and conservation in the twentieth century but only partially prepares us for the ecological and social challenges ahead. Ó 2017 The Wildlife Society.

The history and importance of private lands for North American waterfowl conservation

“…Waterfowl conservation in North America began in earnest during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, at a time when market hunting subjected bird populations to unsustainable levels of exploitation (Bolen ). The United States and Canadian governments passed pioneering legislation to outlaw market hunting, recognize migratory birds as a federal trust resource, and establish processes by which annual harvest would be regulated and enforced (Anderson et al ). In the United States, additional legislation was passed that enabled and provided funding for government acquisition of properties to benefit waterfowl and become managed as part of the U.S.…”

“…In the United States, additional legislation was passed that enabled and provided funding for government acquisition of properties to benefit waterfowl and become managed as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) National Wildlife Refuge System (Baldassarre and Bolen , Anderson et al ). Concurrently, concern for the waterfowl resource was growing outside the state and federal arena as groups of sportsmen responded to declining waterfowl populations and a dwindling habitat base.…”

“…Funding for this program was provided by the landmark legislation Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act, passed in 1934, which required each waterfowl hunter 16 years or older to purchase a Federal “Duck Stamp” (Anderson et al ). Receipts from the sale of the Federal “Duck Stamps,” were deposited in a special Treasury Department account known as the “Migratory Bird Conservation Fund” and originally were used to acquire migratory bird sanctuaries (i.e., National Wildlife Refuges).…”

“…Conservation accomplishments for waterfowl reflect combined influences of foundational legislation, innovative funding mechanisms, a commitment to regulated harvest informed by science, and concerted efforts of multistakeholder habitat conservation partnerships organized around a common goal (Anderson et al ). At each step along this journey, private individuals, whether landowners or concerned sportsmen, have played influential roles in helping recover and sustain waterfowl populations as we experience them today (Reiger ).…”

Implementing the 2012 North American Waterfowl Management Plan revision: Populations, habitat, and people

“…Waterfowl conservation and management at a continental scale have evolved over the last century. The Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds (1916) set the stage for international management of waterfowl (Anderson et al ), funding has been assured through legislation (e.g., Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act of 1934), and the Flyway Council System provided a framework for cooperative management beginning in the early 1950s (Jahn and Kabat ). This historic commitment was complemented further as continental population and harvest surveys were developed, providing the scientific basis for waterfowl conservation during the last 60 years (Blohm , Anderson et al ).…”