The North American Waterfowl Management Plan The 2012 Plan Revision Version: April 2012

Sustaining Waterfowl & Wetlands How can we sustain waterfowl & wetlands in the face of… Budgets being slashed Decline in our traditional support base …hunters Ongoing loss of habitat Accelerating environmental change Accelerating social change We need a Plan that is … Relevant Adaptable Efficient

The 2012 NAWMP Extensive consultations: 15 workshops; 300+ participants Webinars, flyway and JV meetings, etc. Public draft July 2011; comments by Sept comments; ~400 pages Subsequent revisions Latest draft posted on NAWMPrevision.org website Feb. 13 th Plan Committee approved the NAWMP latest draft on Feb. 21 st This draft now advancing for formal approvals within the signatory federal agencies

Highlights of the 2012 NAWMP The NAWMP has been an outstanding success, but needs to adapt to a changing world The fundamental elements of waterfowl management – waterfowl populations, habitat, and people – are tightly linked Understanding and explicitly addressing the needs of people will be increasingly important An integrated system of waterfowl management should increase efficiency and better position us for the future Securing the gains of the last 25 years, and achieving new successes, will be challenging but do-able

Goals Goal 1: Abundant and resilient waterfowl populations to support hunting and other uses without imperiling habitat. Goal 2: Wetlands and related habitats sufficient to sustain waterfowl populations at desired levels, while providing places to recreate and ecological services that benefit society. Goal 3: Growing numbers of waterfowl hunters, other conservationists, and citizens who enjoy and actively support waterfowl and wetlands conservation.

Linkages Among Goals “ A ” – Conserving landscapes helps maintain healthy populations “ B ” – Healthy populations are essential for hunting and viewing opportunities “ C ” – Conserved landscapes provide places to hunt and view waterfowl “ D ” – Hunters and other users fund habitat conservation and influence public policies

Intrinsic Values of Goals & Utility Values of Linkages

1. Develop, revise or reaffirm NAWMP objectives so that all facets of North American waterfowl management share a common benchmark Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP Quantifiable objectives inspire action and establish a benchmark against which we measure progress Step-down objectives are needed for all three goals: waterfowl populations, habitat, and people Under an integrated management system, objectives need to be developed in consideration of interactions and tradeoffs

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP Populations: New NAWMP population objectives should be developed in a manner that reflects the natural variation in populations and habitat features (especially wetlands) Criteria should be established to evaluate population trends on a periodic basis Management actions in response to significant population increases or decreases should be devised and agreed upon as part of the planning process 1. Develop, revise or reaffirm NAWMP objectives so that all facets of North American waterfowl management share a common benchmark

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP Habitat: Habitat should be sufficient to support hunters and viewers as well as waterfowl The waterfowl habitat management community – in particular the Joint Ventures – should enhance efforts to inventory their habitat base and assess the degree to which critical resources may be at risk Joint Ventures should devise monitoring systems that track net change in critical landscape features 1. Develop, revise or reaffirm NAWMP objectives so that all facets of North American waterfowl management share a common benchmark

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP People: Set objectives related to sustaining waterfowl hunting traditions and also to build broader public support for waterfowl conservation efforts across the continent. Determine the monitoring and evaluation systems that will be needed and employed to assess progress towards meeting public use objectives Evaluate controllability 1. Develop, revise or reaffirm NAWMP objectives so that all facets of North American waterfowl management share a common benchmark

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 2. Build support for waterfowl conservation by reconnecting people with nature through waterfowl, and by highlighting the environmental benefits associated with waterfowl habitat conservation We need public support for funding and policies to achieve our conservation goals As people become increasingly disconnected from nature, they place less value on conservation of waterfowl and associated habitat

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 2. Build support for waterfowl conservation by reconnecting people with nature through waterfowl, and by highlighting the environmental benefits associated with waterfowl habitat conservation Considerations: Waterfowl are charismatic, widespread and easily viewed… and therefore offer an opportunity to reconnect people with nature Absent an emotional connection with waterfowl, the environmental goods and services provided by waterfowl habitat may be a lever to maintain/increase support for conservation… but we need to make the case and market the connection

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 2. Build support for waterfowl conservation by reconnecting people with nature through waterfowl, and by highlighting the environmental benefits associated with waterfowl habitat conservation Consider modest wetland developments in strategic urban/suburban locations build a greater appreciation for waterfowl and educate the public on waterfowl conservation issues Compile a comprehensive review of the environmental and societal benefits of waterfowl habitat conservation. Invest in new research and monitoring as appropriate Joint Ventures should assume the lead in communicating the regional benefits of waterfowl conservation to the general public and to policymakers

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 3. Focus resources on important landscapes that have the greatest influence on waterfowl populations and those who hunt and view waterfowl Waterfowl occur across North America, but some areas stand out as particularly important to waterfowl demography The NAWMP goal related to “ people ” may require consideration of additional landscapes beyond those important to waterfowl An updated map of “ areas of greatest continental important to waterfowl ” is provided in the 2012 NAWMP. However, additional decision support tools will be required for programmatic targeting purposes

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP Identify significant areas at multiple spatial scales, based on several criteria: Estimates of regional waterfowl population abundance Distribution of waterfowl species of greatest concern Relative risk of habitat loss or conversion Relative abundance of public lands The distribution and abundance of waterfowl hunters, birders, and potential outdoor recreationists 3. Focus resources on important landscapes that have the greatest influence on waterfowl populations and those who hunt and view waterfowl

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 4. Adapt harvest management strategies to support attainment of NAWMP objectives In the U.S., Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM) has been used for 16 years to set duck hunting regulations AHM has functioned well… so well that there is an ongoing proliferation of AHM-like strategies for individual species and stocks Are the incremental gains in hunting opportunity resulting from these new harvest strategies worth the investment of time and resources? Might associated regulatory complexity actually be discouraging hunter recruitment and retention?

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 4. Adapt harvest management strategies to support attainment of NAWMP objectives As waterfowl population, habitat, and user objectives are clarified, revised or developed, it will be necessary to revisit harvest strategies to incorporate multiple, explicit objectives Need to revise and/or clarify the interpretation of waterfowl population objectives (e.g., under what climatic conditions), and the role of harvest management in attaining population objectives Decisions regarding modification of the regulatory process or available regulatory packages must negotiate tradeoffs among simplicity, harvest opportunity, hunter satisfaction, and management risk

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 5. Establish a Human Dimensions Working Group to support development of objectives for people and ensure those actions are informed by science People – hunters, viewers, and the public at large – are critical to the future of waterfowl management The needs of people must be clearly understood and explicitly addressed The waterfowl management enterprise needs expertise to bring rigorous social science research to bear on questions related to people

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 5. Establish a Human Dimensions Working Group to support development of objectives for people and ensure those actions are informed by science Considerations: The HDWG should be supported by, and report to, an established institution The charge of the HDWG should include recruitment and retention of hunters, addressing the needs of other users, and enhancing public support for conservation policies and funding Management actions related to people should be monitored and evaluated with the same rigor as population and habitat programs

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 6. Integrate waterfowl management to ensure programs are complementary, inform resource investments, and allow managers to understand and weigh tradeoffs among potential actions Waterfowl management is a tightly linked enterprise, but our institutions (flyways, joint ventures) plan and implement programs independently An integrated system of management would increase efficiency and avoid working at odds with one another

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 6. Integrate waterfowl management to ensure programs are complementary, inform resource investments, and allow managers to understand and weigh tradeoffs among potential actions An integrated system will require: Quantifiable objectives System models that link objectives and are coherent across scales Targeted monitoring programs that track progress and learning Institutions that facilitate integration and adaptation The community must first agree on the “ value ” of various outcomes Some entity must assume responsibility for the expanded set of objectives, and oversee progress

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 6. Integrate waterfowl management to ensure programs are complementary, inform resource investments, and allow managers to understand and weigh tradeoffs among potential actions Need to determine how multiple objectives for waterfowl management will be established (i.e., by what social process should this be accomplished), and who will “ oversee ” the expanded set of objectives The PC should assume an interim facilitation role and appoint an interim Integration Steering Committee (ISC) to guide the development of an integrated system of waterfowl management The three federal governments with over-arching management authority for migratory birds and treaty responsibilities should consider more comprehensive, long-term changes in processes and/or institutions to ensure future success of integrated waterfowl management

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 7. Increase adaptive capacity so structured learning expands as part of the culture of waterfowl management and program effectiveness increases Management decisions must often be made in the face of considerable uncertainty In such situations, adaptive management is an approach for making the best management decisions while increasing our understanding Despite its advantages, formal adaptive management is not routinely practiced in waterfowl management

Recommendations in the 2012 NAWMP 7. Increase adaptive capacity so structured learning expands as part of the culture of waterfowl management and program effectiveness increases Considerations: Institutional barriers to adaptive management must be overcome: Learning should be a performance metric Controlled risk-taking should be encouraged Good monitoring and evaluation systems are a critical part of adaptive management

Next Steps Final approval of 2012 NAWMP revision Appointment of a NAWMP Implementation Committee Prepare and release draft NAWMP Action Plan – “ who does what by when ”. By early summer 2012 … Balance specificity/prescription with community involvement/ownership First priorities…  Quantifiable objectives… esp. population objectives  Framework for integrated system  Creation of H-D Working Group