Evaluation of Waterfowl Benefits from the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture Programin Iowa. Job 1. Waterfowl Breeding Pair and Brood Use of Restored and Existing Wetlands in Iowa's Prairie Pothole Region. Study No. 38

摘要

The prairie pothole region of northern Iowa was historically an importantbreeding area for many species of waterfowl. Since Euro-American settlement, however, over 95% of Iowa's prairie wetlands have been drained, severely compromising wetland habitat available to waterfowl breeding populations. The Conservative Reserve Program (CRP) that was authorized as part of the 1985 Food Security Act (Public Law 99-198) was the first large-scale set-aside program that included water as an approved cover type for enrolled acres and provided the first substantial opportunity to reverse the trend of wetland loss in this region. In response to this new opportunity, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources joined forces with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly the USDA Soil Conservation Service), County Conservation Boards and private conservation groups to restore wetlands throughout Iowa, but primarily in the prairie pothole region of northern Iowa.