OutdoorNebraska

22 Nebraskaland • December 2019 Since European settlement, Nebraska has lost more than a million acres, or 35 percent, of its original wetlands to drainage, clearing and groundwater pumping. Some regions have suffered more than others. For example, the Rainwater Basin, once a mecca for pheasant hunters, has lost 90 percent of its wetlands, whereas the Sandhills has lost an estimated 15 to 45 percent of its wetlands to drainage and conversion to hay lands. This loss makes conservation of remaining wetlands critical. Most conservationists agree that preserving and managing larger wetlands or wetland complexes is better for pheasants and other wildlife when compared to smaller wetlands. Large wetlands provide more escape cover where pheasants can avoid hunters and predators. In addition, when a pheasant is flushed from a small marsh in winter, it will likely have to fly from the wetland into poorer cover, where it is exposed to predators and the elements. In large wetlands, a flushed bird is likely to stay in the marsh. "It is amazing how many pheasants we have most years at the 2,000-acre Funk WPA [Waterfowl Production Area located in Phelps County]," said Brad Krohn, project leader for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Rainwater Basin Wetland Management District. "The area's size allows us to create the diversity of habitats, in the wetland and surrounding grasslands, that pheasants require," Krohn said. Though pheasants need dense cover for wintering, they prefer moderately dense cover for nesting and even more open cover for brood rearing where the chicks can move about and forage for insects. "We use a combination of prescribed fire, livestock grazing, haying and idling land to provide these habitats. And we try to do something different annually in each area," Krohn said. Prescribed fire and grazing in the wetlands also stimulates seed-producing annuals used by both pheasants and waterfowl. Nebraska wetlands are critical habitat for migratory waterbirds including 7 to 9 million ducks that stop annually at the Rainwater Basin, and many public wetlands are managed to benefit these species. And therein lies the rub: geese, ducks and shorebirds prefer shallow, open-water marshes with exposed mudflats for feeding, with limited dense, protective cover. On the other hand, pheasants benefit mostly from wetlands with extensive dense winter cover. Adding to the dilemma, several of the marsh plants that provide dense cover, such as narrow-leaf cattail, are colony-forming, non-natives that displace native vegetation. Hunters are often opinionated on the matter, lobbying for habitats that most benefit the species they pursue. The mangers are often stuck in the middle of this debate. Most find a compromising solution, providing substantial waterbird habitat, but leaving enough dense cover to keep pheasants and pheasant hunters happy. Marsh Management A prescribed fi re is conducted on the Funk Waterfowl Production Area to clear overly dense cattails and river bulrush.

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