Podcasts about ducks unlimited canada

This week Paige Kowal from Ducks Unlimited Canada joins Brendan to talk about Delta Marsh, an over 18,000 hectare freshwater coastal wetland in Manitoba.  Delta Marsh is important habitat to migratory birds, native fishes, and has been impacted by the introduced Common carp. Not only that, Delta Marsh has important cultural and economic connections to the region.  Over the last 50 years Ducks Unlimited Canada and other organizations have been experimenting with techniques and projects to protect the wetland.  Paige discusses some of the history of this work, what the modern carp exclusion techniques look like, and the science the team is doing to showcase the recovery of the wetland, including protecting native species.   You can see more of Paige and her colleagues work here: https://iwwr.ducks.ca/ .   The work we discussed today can be found in more detail in these publications: Fish Assemblage Responses to the Exclusion of Invasive Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) from a Large Freshwater Coastal Wetland, Delta Marsh, Manitoba https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13157-024-01775-x   Migrating Ducks and Submersed Aquatic Vegetation Respond Positively After Invasive Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) Exclusion from a Freshwater Coastal Marsh https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13157-023-01689-0   Improvements in water clarity and submersed aquatic vegetation cover after exclusion of invasive common carp from a large freshwater coastal wetland, Delta Marsh, Manitoba https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.992690/full   Remember: Ducks Unlimited, more than just about ducks!    We're looking for your stories about a time you were stuck in the lab, field, airport, or somewhere else during the Holiday Season!  Did you miss a Thanksgiving dinner because you were counting fish eggs? A Christmas event because you were 200 miles from the nearest telephone on the ocean?  Stuck in an airport and missed the ball drop with friends and family? We want to hear from you!  Give us a brief summary of who you are, what holiday event you missed or were late for, and a bit about your project you were working on. Send in your audio clips to feedback@thefisheriespodcast.com or call in to 712-525-0668 and leave a voice mail.    Get in touch with us! The Fisheries Podcast is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @FisheriesPod  Become a Patron of the show: https://www.patreon.com/FisheriesPodcast Buy podcast shirts, hoodies, stickers, and more: https://teespring.com/stores/the-fisheries- podcast-fan-shop Thanks as always to Andrew Gialanella for the fantastic intro/outro music. The Fisheries Podcast is a completely independent podcast, not affiliated with a larger organization or entity. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the podcast. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by the hosts are those of that individual and do not necessarily reflect the view of any entity that those individuals are affiliated in other capacities (such as employers).

Join us on the latest episode of the Harvest Your Own podcast, where host Brad Fenson sits down with Ken Bailey, an outdoor writer and wildlife professional with over 40 years of experience!In this episode, Ken shares his incredible journey in the hunting world, highlighting his passion for wildlife conservation and the thrills of the hunt. With a rich background that includes 24 years with Ducks Unlimited Canada and contributions to various hunting magazines, Ken offers a wealth of knowledge and captivating stories.Don't miss out on Ken's unique perspectives and expert tips!If you liked the podcast or want to request a topic, leave a comment or send us a message!Like the episode or let us know another topic to cover.Find Brad at:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradfenson/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brad.fensonFind Harvest Your Own at:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarvestYourOwnInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/harvestyourownaca/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@harvestyourownThreads: https://www.threads.net/@harvestyourownacaX/Twitter: https://x.com/harvestyourownWebsite: https://www.harvestyourown.ca/

A new study from Ducks Unlimited is highlighting 39 per cent more species are on sites with conservation easements when compared to unprotected lands. This comes as a result of the first successful application of a new biodiversity mapping and assessment tool that helps give insights and predictions to help with decisions about promoting biodiversity. James Paterson, research scientist for the Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research with Ducks Unlimited Canada, joins Evan to share more.

This week we're talking about museums, ethics, and taxonomy. Probably other stuff too! Media mentioned https://www.geocurator.org/images/resources/geocurator/vol7/geocurator_7_6.pdf#page=14 "FRONTIERS TO SCIENCE: FREE TRADE AND MUSEUM ETHICS"  by Tristram P. Besterman, 2001 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-69005527 "US curator denies smuggling scorpions and spiders from Istanbul" BBC News, 2024 https://webarchive.unesco.org/web/20230926050719/https://en.unesco.org/cultnatlaws/list The web archived version of the UNESCO database for national cultural heritage laws, which ....they've taken down from their website for some reason? I was literally working from this list last year so idk what happened https://www.audubon.org/news/the-history-and-evolution-migratory-bird-treaty-act The Audubon website's heavily summarised history of the MBTA; pay particular note to the blurbs under 1900 and 1916 https://www.ducks.org/ The Ducks Unlimited website. Note Conservation and Hunting as top two tabs. https://www.ducks.ca/about/our-partners/ The Ducks Unlimited Canada website page of corporate partners! Count the number of oil pipelines! https://pridesource.com/article/stomping-spots-queer-feelings-for-a-bad-bug-heading-to-michigan Episode transcript in HTML (download to view): https://pastecode.io/s/e7ye92tz  Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/zzEpV9QEAG

Adam Campbell is the Atlantic manager of operations for Ducks Unlimited Canada.

First-time guest and recent DU Canada postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Sarah Gutowsky, joins Dr. Mike Brasher for a trip around the world studying birds, leading polar expeditions, and an immersive life in science and conservation. Having visited some of Earth's most remote and inaccessible locations, including Midway Atoll in the North Pacific, Wrangel Island in the Chukchi Sea, the Kuril Islands and the Sea of Okhotsk, Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island in the South Atlantic, Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean, and the New Zealand sub-Antarctic Islands, Sarah brings a view of the wonder and expansiveness of our planet that few possess. What advice does she have for others seeking a similar career, what was it like to meet “Wisdom,” the oldest known wild bird on Earth, was being seasick for 2 consecutive weeks worth the payoff, and what did we learn from her recent research on common eiders and harlequin ducks? See for yourself why we've dubbed Sarah our “ornithological badass.”www.ducks.org/DUPodcast

On this Wednesday edition of RealAg Radio brought to you by FP Genetics, host Lyndsey Smith is joined by: Neil Townsend of GrainFox on grain markets and an update on the Black Sea region grain issues; Katelyn McMurphy with Saskatchewan Agriculture on outwintering cattle; Kristine Tapley, Ducks Unlimited Canada on a new marginal land payment... Read More

On this Wednesday edition of RealAg Radio brought to you by FP Genetics, host Lyndsey Smith is joined by: Neil Townsend of GrainFox on grain markets and an update on the Black Sea region grain issues; Katelyn McMurphy with Saskatchewan Agriculture on outwintering cattle; Kristine Tapley, Ducks Unlimited Canada on a new marginal land payment... Read More

On Monday's show: -Day 1 of Canadian Western Agribition kicked off with the burning of the brand, featuring Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and former 620 CKRM Ag News Director Jim Smalley. -Agribition CEO Shaun Kindopp introduced two new events for this year's show. -A member of the Agriculture Carbon Alliance gave their thoughts on Bill C-234. -Ducks Unlimited Canada announces a partnership with a Farm Credit Canada program.

Canola futures up, wheat futures down / Ducks Unlimited Canada announced a partnership / and more!

Host Chris Jennings is joined by Dr. Scott Stephens, Director of Conservation Strategy and Support for Ducks Unlimited Canada, to discuss this week's massive cold front that hit Prairie Canada, potentially kicking off a massive migration out of the region. Stephens explains that some areas received upwards of five to six inches of snow and freezing temperatures that will stick around. While not all ducks and geese will move south by the weekend, Stephens feels that within a week, that may be the case.www.ducks.org/DUPodcast

Dr. Matt Dyson, DU Canada waterfowl research scientist, and Dr. Mike Brasher join forces to discuss the exciting growth and application of science in waterfowl and wetland conservation across Canada. Matt shares insights on the ecology of boreal forests, effects of wildfires on waterfowl, difficulties of studying ducks in this vast landscape, and new science by DUC colleagues. Matt also recalls stories from his upbringing and accepts the challenge of identifying his favorite fish. www.ducks.org/DUPodcastwww.ducks.ca

Host Dr. Mike Brasher is joined by Brian Hepworth, Director of Operations for the Prairie and Boreal, Ducks Unlimited Canada, as well Dr. Fritz Reid (retired), to discuss breeding habitat conditions in Prairie Canada, Boreal, California, and other duck-producing regions in the Pacific Flyway. Overall, both provide a positive report on the majority of habitats. Reid offers insight into California's Central Valley habitats which produce a large number of mallards and other ducks for the Pacific Flyway.  Listen in to stay in tune with current habitat conditions this summer.

Dr. Scott Stephens, DU Canada, makes his return to the DU Podcast as he and host Dr. Mike Brasher discuss habitat conditions and duck observations across the Prairies. After a late spring, ducks are breeding, surveys are underway, and habitat conditions are trending in the right direction. Also revealed is a new schedule for the DU Podcast, and Mike shares the story of how cleaning out a woodshed led to the discovery of 30-year old fox urine!www.ducks.org/DUPodcast

This is the second episode in the ultimate Battle of the Beaks!! We're featuring six of the worlds most unique and specially adapted bird beaks over two episodes. Only one will be crowned the winner! VOTE HERE for your favorite beak.  If you think we missed a reeeally cool beak, let us know! Leave a review, or comment on our socials. Find us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.Learn more about bird conservation programs in Africa.  BirdLife South Africa and Nature Kenya are great starting points.  Hookpod! A new and innovative tool to help Albatross and the fishing industry get along. Listen to a previous episode featuring Sarah and the Laysan Albatross for so much more!  See photos of these epic beaks: African Openbill, Laysan Albatross, White-tipped Sicklebill.  Andrés' said it best! Bird Friendly coffee will help the White-tipped Sicklebill and many other birds. Order from Birds and Beans today! 10% of your purchase supports this podcast when you use our link.  John Kinghorn represents the mighty African Openbill. John is a qualified terrestrial and National bird guide through the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa (FGASA). He has formed part of three historic bird race teams (2017-2019) to have participated in the globally acclaimed Champions of the Flyway bird race for conservation, raising a combined amount of over R250,000 over two years for the respective BirdLife International partners involved.  Dr. Sarah Gutowsky is bringing Laysan Albatross facts. Sarah is a Research Adjunct and Instructor in Biology at Dalhousie University and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Acadia University.  All of her research projects have found a way to tackle conservation issues threatening birds all over the planet, on land or at sea.  Her current research focus is on studying the drivers of regional trends in Common eiders on the east coast, supported through the Mitacs Accelerate Program in partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada.Andrés Jiménez thinks White-tipped Sicklebills are the clear winners. He is a close friend of the podcast! You'll recognize his voice from earlier episodes. He is a Costa Rican wildlife biologist with a keen interest in snakes, frogs, birds and how human relationships are interconnected with the living world. He studied Tropical Biology in Costa Rica and has a Masters in Environmental Problem Solving from York University.  Follow him at @andresjimo Andrea Gress (she/her) secretly thinks Piping Plovers are better than all the other birds...studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan and now coordinates the Ontario Piping Plover Program for Birds Canada.

Paddling quietly into an expansive marsh, setting longlines, hunting canvasbacks, and almost stepping back in time as winter approaches, Ramsey joins Scott Stephens, Ducks Unlimited Canada, for an immersive tour of iconic Delta Marsh. The long-time friends discuss the region's history and importance, wonder aloud how one of the long-standing traditions would apply in parts of the Lower 48, and other topics.    Podcast Sponsors: BOSS Shotshells https://bossshotshells.com/ Benelli Shotguns https://www.benelliusa.com/shotguns/waterfowl-shotguns Tetra Hearing https://tetrahearing.com/ Ducks Unlimited https://www.ducks.org Mojo Outdoors https://www.mojooutdoors.com/p Tom Beckbe https://tombeckbe.com/ Flash Back Decoys https://www.duckcreekdecoys.com/ Voormi https://voormi.com/ GetDucks.com USHuntList.com     It really is duck season somewhere for 365 days per year. Follow Ramsey Russell's worldwide duck hunting adventures as he chases real duck hunting experiences year-round: Instagram @ramseyrussellgetducks YouTube @GetDucks Facebook @GetDucks.com   Please subscribe, rate and review Duck Season Somewhere podcast. Share your favorite episodes with friends! Business inquiries and comments contact Ramsey Russell ramsey@getducks.com

Host Dr. Mike Brasher is joined by the always popular, Dr. Scott Stephens, Ducks Unlimited Canada in the Boreal and prairie regions. With waterfowl season open since the beginning of September, Stephens has had several opportunities to get afield locally, and has heard from other biologists in Canada regarding conditions. The two discuss habitat conditions in Canada and Stephens offers some insight into the pace of the fall migration in Canada.

Are you going hunting this fall and need a new spot? Check out the Alberta Discover Guide!We talk with Todd Zimmerling and Roy Schmelzeisen from Alberta Conservation Association to learn about access to conservation sites. They discuss the important roles hunters, anglers, and donors play to help secure valuable, habitat-rich land in Alberta. The Alberta Discover Guide is a free go-to resource for all hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy over 750 conservation sites, including sites from Ducks Unlimited Canada (tag) and Alberta Fish & Game Association (tag). Available online, in print, or downloadable app, the Guide provides site details for easy access to land available to hunters across the province. Give it a listen 

As the saying goes, if you want to cut down on eating cookies, don’t buy them. In that spirit, if winter wheat is in the farm plan, there needs to be seed on-farm well ahead of the ideal seeding window. That’s just one of five key planning steps that Monica Klaas, of Ducks Unlimited Canada, shares... Read More

It's late July, and much of the country is in the midst of a heat wave, but Aaron and Bill are back talking ducks with Dr. Mike Brasher from Ducks Unlimited. Waterfowl are both a vocation and advocation for Mike as he's spent his career studying and his free time hunting them. For the last two years, COVID protocols in Canada have prevented the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service from conducting the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey (known to duck hunters as the BPOP and May Pond Count). This survey is used to set future seasons. The 2022 flights have wrapped up, and Mike is here to help us understand what the initial reports could mean to duck hunters all over the country. And for the first time in several years, there's some positive news! Links: https://www.ducks.org/media/du-podcast https://fws.gov/library/collections/2022-waterfowl-breeding-population-and-habitat-surveys-field-reports And here's a photo page from the folks who actually count the ducks: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pilotbiologist/albums/with/72157706996280821 Show notes: 3:40 – Bill introduces Mike and provides a little insight into his background and what we are going to cover in the show regarding ducks and how ducks are counted. 5:25 – Mike introduces himself with a little more detail. 7:19 – Mike, Bill and Aaron share what they have been doing outside recently. 13:40 – Jumping right into B-POP (Breeding Population Survey) but first, let's clarify that we are not talking about K-POP. 14:21 – What is B-POP and why should duck hunters understand it? 19:13 – Laying out the mechanics of how big the count is, where do they fly and how are we doing with the trajectory of current population counts. 24:27 – Discussing the word “census” and why this count isn't a census. 28:23 – What are the results?! 35:05 – Why have biologists been concerned, drought in the western U.S. and how are the numbers doing down south? 41:27 – Short break for a message from our partner podcast, Artemis Sportswomen! Be sure to follow NWF Outdoors on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube for even more great content. 42:20 -- Because the count hasn't happened for a few years, what was the approach this year? 46:39 -- Discussing the scientific approach to climate issues as they relate to duck populations, trajectory, warming trends and droughts. 53:33 -- Discussing the significance of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and recently introduced North American Grasslands Act. How does this legislation relate to natural infrastructure, habitat restoration and resilience. 1:00:23 -- With fresh water and fresh habitat, what does that mean for the productivity of waterfowl? Also, a few reflections on the current count numbers and what that might mean for the upcoming duck hunting season. 1:07:33 – Mike shares some closing statements. 1:10:24 – Ducks Unlimited U.S. and Ducks Unlimited Canada are teaming up soon to do a livestream! 1:12:53 – Bill shares some closing statements. 1:13:18 – Please speak up on behalf of shutting down the Return Act, the swift passage of the Recovering America's Wildlife Act and the North American Grasslands Act. Get engaged, stay engaged and look for folks like Mike for guidance.

Join Mike and Special Guests Tim. Katherine, and Zane from Ducks Unlimited Canada in BC as they chat local and national projects, ways to get involved, waterfowl conservation, habitat conservation and more! Check out www.ducks.ca for more information and ways to get involved with DUC in your area. Also, don't forget their work is not cost free! Look up opportunities to get involved financially as well, donate and do your part! The post S2E5 – Duck Unlimited Project Talk appeared first on Pursue The Hunt.

In this episode Mark covers trending stories from across Canada including CWD in Manitoba, COVID in deer, Ducks Unlimited Canada's global presentation on peatlands, more fish farms in BC, buying guide-outfitter licenses for conservation, a deer cull in Quebec moves forward, Ontario's cormorant cull, moose hunting moratorium in Quebec, a moose attack in Alberta, the impact of the fall time change on wildlife-vehicle collisions, fencing in endangered caribou, Alberta's Trails Act, wild pigs on the loose in Ontario, coyotes in Edmonton and a brilliant strategy of Canada's newest Governor General to show heads of state in the European Union the importance of fur harvesting to Inuit culture.

"Geographic knowledge plays a role in nearly every decision we make at Ducks Unlimited Canada". When Guan saw this statement, she knew she needed to hear their stories. For decades, Ducks Unlimited Canada has been using GIS. Initially it was to map wetlands, but it's gone far beyond that. They use it for research into waterfowl, and study the effect habitat conservation has on water quality and even to raise funds. Guan invited Andrew Pratt - Manager of Information Technology at Ducks Unlimited Canada to share the story of how they leverage GIS across departments. https://resources.esri.ca/geographical-thinking-podcast/season-2-episode-5-from-habitat-conservation-to-fundraising?utm_source=apple&utm_medium=podcast&utm_term=s2ep5&utm_campaign=podcasts-2021

There are 58 bird species living in Canadian oceans, 95% of them are in trouble worldwide, furthermore, we don't really understand how 62% of Canadian seabirds are doing due to unknown population trends.  In this episode, you will discover the Seabirds you did not know you love, the reasons for their decrease and what you can do to help them with your everyday choices. Dr. Sarah Gutowsky will take us on a discovery journey that starts with the career path of a talented, unconventional, and inspiring biologist to the conservation and threats facing the enigmatic seabirds that defined her journey. Please send us your voice memo with any bird question to -> podcast@birdscanada.orgAlternatively, call  519-586-3531, extension 128 and leave a voice mail!Continue your journey by reading the very short seabird section of the State of Canada's Birds Report 2019 to find out reasons for their decline and ways to help these bird species.Dr. Sarah Gutowsky is a Research Adjunct and Instructor in Biology at Dalhousie University and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Acadia University. She has been working in the field of Ornithology for 15 years, studying an array of species and ecosystems. From albatrosses and murrelets in the North Pacific to woodcocks and gulls in Nova Scotia, penguins in the sub-Antarctic to seabirds in the Arctic, all of her research projects have found a way to tackle conservation issues threatening birds all over the planet, on land or at sea. If she had to pick a specialty, she might say studying the movements of seabirds in their marine environment. She loves to share her passion for birds, and finds all sorts of ways to do so, including teaching in the academic and public realms but also guiding tourists in the Polar Regions. Her current research focus is on studying the drivers of regional trends in Common eiders on the east coast, supported through the Mitacs Accelerate Program in partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Andrea Gress studied Renewable Resource Management at the University of Saskatchewan. She pivoted towards birds, after an internship in South Africa. Upon returning, she worked with Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan and now coordinates the Ontario Piping Plover Conservation Program for Birds Canada. Follow her work at @ontarioploversAndrés Jiménez is a Costa Rican wildlife biologist with a keen interest in snakes, frogs, birds and how human relationships are interconnected with the living world. He studied Tropical Biology in Costa Rica and has a Masters in Environmental Problem Solving from York University. He is Birds Canada's Urban Program Coordinator and you can follow him at @andresjimo Beginner Seabirder Reading List*: Eye of the Albatross - Carl Safina (also try Song for the Blue Ocean by the same author)The Seabird's Cry: The Lives and Loves of the Planet's Great Ocean Voyagers - Adam NicolsonFar from Land: The Mysterious Lives of Seabirds - Michael BrookeGreat Auk Islands: A Field Biologist in the Arctic - Tim BirkheadThe Puffin - Mike Harris and Sarah WanlessThe Herring Gull's World: A Study of the Social Behaviour of Birds - Niko TinbergenThe Island - R.M. LockleySeabirds Beyond the Mountain Crest - Richard J. CuthbertRat Island: Predators in Paradise and the World's Greatest Wildlife Rescue - William StolzenburgHoly Mōlī: Albatross and Other Ancestors - Hob Osterlund * list based on recommendations from Sarah and her international network of seabird biologist peers

Scott Stephens and Ramsey Russell went to Mississippi State University together way back when. Stephens is now Ducks Unlimited Canada's Director of Regional Operations for Prairies and Boreal Forest, where he directs waterfowl conservation efforts over an almost unimaginably huge portion of North America--way, way bigger than the narrow 100-mile corridor bordering Yellowhead Highway that Ramsey thinks of as Manitoba! Why does Stephens facetiously tell people that he "doesn't really do anything anymore"? How bad is this year's drought throughout Canada? What are long-term and short-term effects, and why does Stephens see a golden opportunity? Regards meaningful, landscape-level waterfowl conservation, what major industries are becoming ardent stakeholders in waterfowl habitat conservation efforts? Is this what Stephens imagined himself doing many years ago, what drives him? Plenty silver linings to consider in this informative episode. Learn More: Escape From Medocrity, Johnny Lynch (1984)   Subscribe, rate and review Duck Season Somewhere podcast. Share your favorite episodes with friends! Business inquiries and comments contact Ramsey Russell ramsey@getducks.com   Podcast Sponsors: BOSS Shotshells Benelli Shotguns Kanati Waterfowl Taxidermy GunDog Outdoors Mojo Outdoors Tom Beckbe Flash Back Decoys GetDucks USHuntList   It's duck season somewhere for 365 days per year. Follow Ramsey Russell's worldwide duck hunting adventures as he chases them year-long: Instagram @ramseyrussellgetducks YouTube @GetDucks Facebook @GetDucks.com

"Since the '70s we've lost 87% of prairie obligates." We've lost four football fields-worth of grassland lost per minute (from 2014-2018). Kristine Tapley, Regional Agrologist, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Owner Operator Cow-Calf Operation, Old Shore Cattle Company, Langruth, Manitoba. “The thriving beef industry that can compete on that landscape will keep wetlands and grass on the landscape. We also see that this message and that relationship between conservation and cattle that we think is so integral is only missed by the public.” "Beef Symposium - Kristine Tapley - Building Resiliency as a Young Beef Farmer: Our Plan So Far" - https://youtu.be/J3KaNC6dwAs "Guardians of the Grasslands" - https://guardiansofthegrasslands.ca/ Ducks Unlimited Canada - https://www.ducks.ca/ Ducks Unlimited - https://www.ducks.org/ Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) Certification - https://www.crsbcertified.ca/ International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists - https://iyrp.info/

Welcome to this mid-week edition of RealAg Radio, which is brought to you by Ducks Unlimited Canada. On the show today you’ll hear: Kody Blois, Member of Parliament for Kings-Hants, on a new resolution for promoting Canadian ag; Paul Thoroughgood, of Ducks Unlimited, joins us for a spotlight interview; and, Joe Glauber, former chief economist... Read More

Welcome to this mid-week edition of RealAg Radio, which is brought to you by Ducks Unlimited Canada. On the show today you’ll hear: Kody Blois, Member of Parliament for Kings-Hants, on a new resolution for promoting Canadian ag; Paul Thoroughgood, of Ducks Unlimited, joins us for a spotlight interview; and, Joe Glauber, former chief economist... Read More

Tractors are working ground in the Sacramento Valley, as the 2021 rice season is underway. Whether it’s farmers, those in cities or for the environment, this year will pose challenges due to less than ideal rain and snowfall during the fall and winter. At Montna Farms near Yuba City, Vice President of Operations Jon Munger said they expect to plant about one-third less rice this year, based on water cutbacks. As water is always a precious resource in this state, rice growers work hard to be as efficient as they can. Fields are precisely leveled and will be flooded with just five-inches of water during the growing season. Rice is grown in heavy clay soils, which act like a bathtub to hold water in place. High-tech planting and harvest equipment also help California rice farms and mills operate at peak efficiency. Expectations of less rice acreage will impact other parts of the valley – rural communities, allied businesses and the environment – birds and fish. “The Central Valley is arguably one of the most important waterfowl areas on the planet,” remarked Jeff McCreary, Director of Operations for Ducks Unlimited’s Western Region. “It’s because of all of these birds coming down the Pacific Flyway… and when we think about the drought, it’s going to affect that wintering habitat. Is there rice on the landscape? Is there water for wetlands? How do we make sure that those populations are in as good enough condition that when they go back to the breeding ground, they can have a successful year.” McCreary said rice fields are critically important for wintering waterfowl, supporting 60 percent of the food energetics these birds need.  He said of all of the duck species, the Mallard is perhaps the most impacted by dry weather in California. Another environmental concern during dry weather is the wild salmon population, which faces significant challenges.  However, farmers, water districts, conservationists and others are working hard to find solutions. “The salmon rice work is among the most exciting work I’ve ever been a part of, “said Andrew Rypel, an associate professor and the Peter B. Moyle and California Trout Chair in Coldwater Fish Ecology at UC Davis in the Department of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology. Rypel is one of the key participants in pilot salmon research, including raising juvenile salmon in winter rice fields, then releasing the fish into the ocean. So far, results with the project have been very positive. Another key project to help salmon is putting a shallow amount of water on rice fields in the Sacramento Valley after harvest, which creates “fish food”- zooplankton – which is then released into the river to help feed wild salmon runs. Water managers always have a balancing act to meet the needs of their customers, and dry years provide even more careful consideration.  Lewis Bair, General Manager of Reclamation District 108 in the Sacramento Valley, is one of those navigating through this dry year, which includes creative approaches with water, including the likelihood of transfers. “In a dry year, our folks would still love to farm, just like they always love to farm,” he said. “But in these types of years, we end up kind of sharing the pain by doing water transfers. Sometimes, it’s better to move water around for the whole system. You end up being able to achieve other benefits. It really is a short-term solution. We need to have a more reliable water supply for California, and I’m hoping that the long-term vision and long-term investments will help reduce the need for those sorts of transfers.” Bair said building Sites Reservoir would be a major help to the state’s water future, providing new storage and flexibility to re-operate the system for water use efficiency. “I think it’s the most promising thing we can do from an infrastructure perspective,” he added. Munger, McCreary, Rypel and Bair all have different responsibilities, but they share a common goal- to help our region withstand dry years, including a healthy ecosystem and sufficient water for cities and farms. They all agree that the level of cooperation is great in the Sacramento Valley, as evidenced by the scores of voluntary, collaborative projects that have been done to help maintain the Pacific Flyway and enhance the wild salmon runs. Episode Transcript Jim Morris: Tractors are in the field and work is underway to prepare ground throughout the Sacramento Valley for rice planting. An old challenge has returned, one we faced in the past, that will impact virtually all Californians. The question before us, how to navigate through a dry year with subpar rain and snowfall? Jim Morris: Welcome to Ingrained, the California Rice Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Morris, proud to have worked with California farmers and ranchers for more than 30 years to help tell their stories. Over that time, there have been years of abundant water and dry years, which provide challenges, and this is one of those years. I'm in the Yuba City area, one of many areas of our valley where fields are being prepped for rice planting. Jon Munger is with Montna Farms. John, what's happening out here today? Jon Munger: Today we're starting our field prep with chiseling. It is opening the ground up. It's the first piece of equipment that we use since the rice fields have been flooded for the wintertime. Jim Morris: Jon, looking at it from a longer-term perspective, what are your thoughts as you are going to enter your very busiest time of the year? Jon Munger: Over the years, we've had many dry years. We've dealt with a COVID pandemic and, like we did last year, we quickly implemented the policies to keep all of our workers safe in the field and our workers that we have here, they're spread out quite well. They're driving their own tractors and we implemented policies last year that worked very well to keep everybody safe and we're planning to do the same this year. So, it's no different now rolling into the drought that we're currently facing. We've had dry years in the past. We always will get through them. It does affect our local rural communities. A lot of folks depend on the farming activities that we have out here. For our farm, we're looking at potentially growing a third less of our acres this year and that's definitely an impact. Jim Morris: One thing people may not know about rice is of course we have this season coming up, the harvest will be in the fall, but rice is stored and milled according to order essentially year round. So Jon, tell me a little bit about how rice is milled and marketed right now and what it means for the consumer. Jon Munger: Each and every year during harvest rice is delivered to many different dryers throughout the valley. It is then dried and stored until millers and marketers make orders, and then rice is shipped onto mills and milled and shipped out there to whatever buyer or whatever location it's going to. Last harvest crop 2020 is being stored and will be used all the way through this year. Then come this fall, the 2021 crop will go back into storage and will be used in during the year of 2022. Jim Morris: That really helps in a year like this because there is rice, it's already in storage, it's already going to be shipped to consumers at home and abroad. So that helps us during dry years like this. Jim Morris: It's important when looking at a dry year to talk with someone who manages water on a daily basis. Lewis Bair is general manager of Reclamation District 108 on the West side of the Sacramento River, about 30 miles north of Sacramento, and they represent about 75 square miles of agricultural land and rural communities. Lewis, how does your job change during a dry year? Lewis Bair: Most of it stays the same. I mean, watershed management is a long-term vision, a long-term exercise in how you manage water. But, during a dry year, a lot of people are interested in that and the impacts are more severe because we don't have enough water to go around. So, I do a lot of education during these years to explain the reasons why we're making the trade-offs that we're making with water management. There are things that we do to help spread the water around a little bit more during these dry years. Jim Morris: The decisions made in a dry year aren't always easy. You obviously want to make sure that the needs of your district are as whole as they can be, but will you also try to reach out and help some of your neighbors, if that's possible? Lewis Bair: In a dry year, our folks would still love to farm just like they always love to farm, but, in these types of years, we ended up kind of sharing the pain by doing water transfers. Sometimes it's better to move water around with those transfers for the whole system. You end up being able to achieve other benefits. It really is, though, a short term solution, right? We need to have a more reliable water supply for California and I'm hoping that the long-term vision and long-term investments will help reduce the need for those sorts of transfers. Jim Morris: How helpful would Sites Reservoir be if it can be constructed and available down the road? Lewis Bair: Well, Sites Reservoir does something that climate change is kind of unwinding right now, right? So climate change means water, more precipitation as opposed to snowfall. What happens with that is we lose our storage over winter. Sites Reservoir is kind of perfectly situated in the middle of the system to provide both some new storage and some flexibility to re-operate the system. So, you can kind of think about it as a storage and a water use efficiency project rolled into one. I think it's the most promising thing we can do from a infrastructure perspective. Jim Morris: The Sacramento Valley is a unique place and one of the ways it is, is the Pacific Flyway and the amazing wildlife we have. There's also really an emphasis on helping salmon, too. How important is it from a water management perspective but also for someone who lives here to try to help the ecosystem as much as possible? Lewis Bair: I think it's super exciting right now because we have a long-term vision for the Sacramento Valley that I think supports a reliable water supply, a healthy environment, and an economy for the State of California. It's really dependent on that reliable water supply. So, in the Sacramento Valley, what that means is taking a look at what impacts some of the flood control system and water supply system development created. It impacted species and those species impacts are affecting water supply. What's exciting is that we found out we can unwind some of those flood control impacts. We can restore those floodplains that are really the energy that kind of fueled our amazing environment in the Sacramento Valley. So if we can do that, I think we have a very positive outlook for the future. Jim Morris: This isn't something that happened yesterday. I mean, these things have been in works for many years with millions of dollars behind them. So how long has this been an area of dedication and how important is it to you personally as well, to try to have the best environment we can here? Lewis Bair: Well, I think everybody loves the Sacramento Valley up here. Everybody is super excited. Two decades ago, we started with the bird programs and that's really what I think woke folks up here in the Sacramento Valley, that these wetlands are so important to kind of fueling our environment. We've seen now that that applies to fish too, and that's really the door that's been opened, that's changing things for water supply reliability. The floodplains that were separated from the river when we constructed our flood control system, we now believe they're extremely critical to restoring the fisheries. If we can restore the fisheries, that sure takes a lot of pressure off of the water supply system. Jim Morris: Throughout the Sacramento Valley over the last 20 years, there have been about 155 different projects that have voluntarily been done cooperatively to aid salmon. One of the interesting ones here in Reclamation District 108 that may be happening again later this year, hopefully, is getting some water on the floodplain to provide fish food. Can you comment a little bit about that? It's a really interesting concept, but perhaps even more valuable this year than normal because of the dry year. Lewis Bair: Yeah, so historically we built a flood control system and drainage systems that essentially kept water from staying on the land long enough to produce food, phytoplankton, that we all hear that fish eat. But what we've learned is that the rice fields that we farm in work perfect during those winter months to hold water. So, we have a program where we will flood and hold water, produce phytoplankton and drain that back to the river to help support the fishery. This can also be done on the floodplains in the bypasses. So it's really an exciting program. We think fundamentally it's one of the biggest things affecting juvenile salmon out migration. Jim Morris: One thing that is clear in the Sacramento Valley is the collaboration that's happening between agriculture and the environment, communities, water districts. How important is that approach in a year like this? Lewis Bair: Well, it's super exciting. We have so many talented partners that are coming together to push forward on these floodplain efforts, at the fishery efforts. It's really wetlands with birds and the fisheries. So we have NGOs, state and federal partners, local water agencies, and landowners all on the same page and driving this forward. I think it's the kind of partnership that's going to make change in the Sacramento Valley. Jim Morris: The environment is an important part of the Sacramento Valley, and there are some challenges heading into this dry year. Jeff McCreary heads up the Western Region for Ducks Unlimited and Jeff, before we get into that, a milestone for Ducks Unlimited with 15 million acres conserved throughout North America. That's awesome news. Can you comment a little bit about that? Jeff McCreary: Yeah, Jim, it's fantastic. The 15 million acre mark is a remarkable achievement for the Ducks Unlimited family of organizations, that includes Ducks Unlimited Incorporated here in the United States, Ducks Unlimited Canada and DU de Mexico, which covers Mexico. So we've got from Los Mochas, Mexico to Yellowknife, Canada and everything in between has been conserved, whether it's protected, restored, improved up to the 15 million acre mark. We're just really proud to be able to celebrate that with our partners and our members and our volunteer leadership. Jim Morris: That is awesome. We are heading into a dry year. We're going to need all of those skills. You're a wildlife biologist. What are some of your thoughts heading into this dry year? Your concerns about waterfowl health in the Sacramento Valley. Jeff McCreary: Well, Ducks Unlimited takes a continental approach to waterfowl conservation, and, when we look at the Pacific Flyway, we think about where are the birds coming from, where are they going to, and then where are they going back to? So, they're coming from Canada and the breeding grounds, and they're coming to California for the winter. The Central Valley is arguably one of the most important waterfowl areas in the planet, and it's because of all these birds coming down to the Pacific Flyway here in the Central Valley, in this narrow band of habitat that is comprised of wetlands and agricultural working grounds. When we think about the drought, it's going to affect that wintering habitat. Is there rice on the landscape? Is there water for wetlands. How do we make sure that those populations are in as good enough condition that, when they go back to the breeding ground, they can have a successful year? Jeff McCreary: The remarkable thing about waterfowl is that they have a large clutch sizes, like up to 12 eggs, so they can be responsive to the good times and the bad times. Our job this year is to make sure that they're in good enough condition in these bad times so that when the good times come around, they'll be able to respond and grow at their population. Jim Morris: So as we head into this year, how important are rice fields in this equation when you talk about ducks along the Pacific Flyway? Jeff McCreary: Rice fields are critically important for the wintering population of waterfowl. They support 60 percent of the food energetics that waterfowl need during the winter. Now, rice and wetlands have this interplay. So the birds move back and forth between both types of habitats, but with rice, what we are doing now with our planting, we're getting ready to get out in the fields and get the rice planted, so that's really going to drive how much energetics is out there in eight months from now. Jim Morris: Are rice fields more important than a drought time? About the same? Do you have a thought on that? How much do we need rice to keep the population healthy? Jeff McCreary: Well, we certainly need rice to keep the population healthy and ducks are just one of the waterfall guilds that we have. Of course, geese and white-fronted geese are growing in numbers and so rice certainly play an important role for those birds as well. When we look at the Sacramento Valley, wetlands and rice agriculture use the exact same water infrastructure and water delivery system the rest of the valley uses. So, it's important to look at both wetlands and rice as a whole unit, because the water comes from the same place. Jim Morris: Is there one duck species in particular that is especially dependent on the Sacramento Valley habitat? Jeff McCreary: Yeah, I'd say the iconic California bird is the Mallard, and over the last 10 years and the last 10 year drought, we saw significant declines in the California Mallard population, nearly by half from what it was. We went from 400,000 to somewhere around 200,000 birds. If you drew a graph of that and you paralleled that graph with the graph of the water years, you would see this decline over time. In the last several years where we had some better water years, we've actually seen an increase in the Mallard population. So that's a concern going forward. Jim Morris: How important are the partnerships between rice growers and conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited? Jeff McCreary: The partnerships are everything. Ducks Unlimited never does anything by ourselves. It's always with somebody else, whether it's a grower or whether it's with an association or whether it's with a federal or state or local agency. Everything that we do is by partnership. In times like these, when drought and stress is going to be out there, it's all that much more important for stakeholders to come together and find those innovative entrepreneurial solutions to deal with some of these challenges that we're facing. Jim Morris: What are your thoughts when you see that big flock of birds that's taking off from a rice field? I mean, to me, I just have a big smile on my face when I see that. Jeff McCreary: It's a spectacle of nature, and if no one's been to the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area or the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge to see the waterfowl fly offs in the evening, I really strongly encourage you to do that. We are blessed to be in this part of the world, with this amazing waterfowl population that comes here and they're here for a reason and the things that we do on the landscape with our wetland management, with our working agriculture and riceland management, that's what keeps those birds here, that's what keeps them coming back, that's what sends them back to the breeding grounds to be successful and do it all over again. Jim Morris: What does this dry year mean for fish in California? Probably a lot of unanswered questions, certainly a big subject, not just for environment, but it also impacts water to cities and farms. Andrew Rypel is an associate professor and the Peter B. Moyle and California Trout chair in cold water fish ecology at UC Davis in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, and that's probably the longest title I've ever seen, but that's all important. Andrew, what are your comments as we head into this dry year, concern for the wild salmon population, and maybe what we can do here in the Sacramento Valley? Andrew Rypel: Droughts are difficult times for fishes in general. However, our native fish fauna in California are well adapted to cyclic climate patterns where they are adapted for dealing with drought cycles and wet cycles, and that's part of the business of living in the Mediterranean climate for these species. Jim Morris: You're participating with many others in some pretty interesting research that I think could help in the long run. Can you comment a little bit about some of the work that you're doing with rice farmers and how it may help in the longer term? Andrew Rypel: The salmon rice work is some of the most exciting work I've ever been a part of. It's based on the idea that the Central Valley was once a giant floodplain wetland ecosystem complex, and the water originated in the mountains much like it does today, and would spread out over the valley floor and the native fish and wildlife really evolved to capitalize on those resources. It's abundant food for fish, abundant for birds, for Tule Elk, things like that. Of course, much of that is gone. However, there's an increasing awareness that we've got a lot of acreage, roughly 500,000 acres of rice, which is not a perfectly natural wetland, but it can approximate some of the important wetland processes that can facilitate the life cycle of native species, particularly fishes in my case. Andrew Rypel: So, there have been a lot of really interesting work done with migratory waterfowl and highly successful NRCS programs that were developed that, in my opinion, it looks like it has arrested the decline of migratory birds on the Pacific coast. So a lot of people have been looking at that and saying, "If we can do that for birds, why can't we do that for fish?" So we've been working with the California Rice Commission, with other science partners to really kind of pilot how this could work for fish in the Central Valley. So we've been growing salmon on bypass rice fields, looking at how well they grow, how well they survive in these fields when they're flooded in the winter time, and also how well they survive out in the Pacific Ocean. Andrew Rypel: To sum it up in a really short way, the results are very positive. Salmon grow really well in these habitats. They put on weight very fast. Just within a month they can go from 30-40 millimeters in length all the way up to 70-80 millimeters in length. So they get big, fast, and that's important because it tends to time these fish up with the natural flow regime that these rivers experience. So baby salmon tend to have better survivorship when there is more water in the rivers and more food in the rivers. If we can grow them bigger, faster so that they get out on the high tide of the rivers earlier in the year rather than later in the year when the river is low and doesn't have much food and it's full of predators like striped bass, that's just a good thing. So, we think that rice fields could play a role in fish conservation in California, much like they have for bird conservation before. Jim Morris: Not only raising salmon in rice fields, but also fish food. How positive are you on that approach and how important would it be in a year like this to have more food in the river for the wild salmon? Andrew Rypel: Both concepts are extremely important. There are certain fields, rice fields, that flood naturally, so fish can come on those fields and off those fields in a volitional way. They want to be there and they want to spend time in these fields. But that footprint is finite and so there's a lot of other rice field that could be useful in other ways. One of those ideas is to grow fish food in those fields. So I'm extremely positive about this idea because what we know is that these are productive habitats to just grow a ton of zooplankton, which is basically the fish food that we're talking about. Andrew Rypel: Most of those 500,000 acres are on the dry side of the levee. They're not exposed to regular flooding. If we could learn how to grow fish food, and then drain those fields strategically so that fish that are actually moving through the river system and the river network will have food resources when they need them, when they're migrating, when they're vulnerable, we think we can also leverage the fitness and the health of populations that way as well. So it's a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, but these things fit together and we think they fit together fairly nicely. There are probably other ways to use these habitats that we haven't thought about yet. So we spent some time thinking about that as well. So it's exciting. Something like this only happens when you have a lot of partners at the table that are willing to work together and help the situation. Andrew Rypel: Obviously I'm a scientist, I'm at UC Davis. There's a whole team of scientists at UC Davis that are interested in this. California Trout is an NGO that we work with quite regularly that's been at the forefront of this project as well. The California Rice Commission, obviously, a crucial partner for linking in with the actual growers, with the landowners. USDA-NRCS program has been funding a good chunk of our pilot research, trying to figure this out with the goal that we could eventually have a practice standard that growers could enroll in, to participate in these practices to really actuate these conservation practices at scale. Then we work with so many of the agency scientists, managers, partners, whether that's NOAA Fisheries, CDFW. We spend a lot of time communicating with CDFW, DWR, water managers throughout the Central Valley. Everybody's kind of involved at some level and we communicate with all those folks quite regularly, and need them. Jim Morris: The Sacramento Valley is a one of a kind place with great natural resources and another strength, a lot of people, including those you've heard today, dedicated to keeping it that way. Dry years are challenging to be sure, but there are many people devoting a lot of time to doing the most with the water that is available. Jim Morris: We'll, of course, keep you updated on planting, the growing season, harvest and much more on future episodes of Ingrained. For now, that wraps up this episode. Thank you to Jon Munger, Jeff McCreary, Lewis Baer, and Andrew Rypel. You can find out much more and listen to past episodes at podcast.calrice.org. Thanks for listening.

In this episode, we talk about the important role native grassland systems play in carbon sequestration with Emily Lowe from Ducks Unlimited Canada. Rural Roots Canada, where we Amplify Canadian Agriculture.

Join us this week as we sit down with Invasive Species Specialist Kyle Burrowman from Ducks Unlimited Canada. An often forgotten aspect of waterfowl hunting is what we use to grass in our blinds, where that material came from, or not properly cleaning up.

Danielle Fequet, the provincial Conservation Programs Specialist with Ducks Unlimited Canada, chats with host Darren Sheppard about what her position involves, how Ducks Unlimited Canada is support wetland projects in this province and throughout the country, what the local Chapter has done to promote the organization locally, and much more!Music by Giorgio Di Campo for FreeSound Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j8sO7-kbRcMusic by Ricky Valadezhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Ov1XLAg1c

We sit down with Dan White who is one of the brew masters at the Spearehead Brewing Company in Kingston, Ontario.  Dan walks us through the process of how the Decoy Lager is created and how it's connection to Ducks Unlimited Canada has made it a popular beer amongst duck hunters in Ontario. He also tells us about his first experience waterfowl hunting and how his career as a beer maker has brought him into the world of bird hunting. #GoHuntBirds | #evolve | #ShareBirdHuntingwww.GoHuntBirds.com

Jeff and Andy are joined by Brad Bergen from Ducks Unlimited Canada. They discuss Brad's career of securing land for future Ducks Unlimited projects in Saskatchewan, the amount of quality waterfowl hunting in Canada this fall with border being closed for Covid-19 concerns, and Canadian football.

Ducks Unlimited Canada is all about the preservation of wetlands and the wildlife that… The post Podcast #68: Andrew Pratt, Ducks Unlimited Canada appeared first on StorageReview.com.

Overview Do you want more ducks on the strap or dead in a tailing pond?  Your vote this fall may affect the outcome for waterfowl.  I talk with Dr. Michael Anderson, retired biologist from Ducks Unlimited Canada, about how policy decisions by the current administration affect waterfowl management and possibly even your hunting experiences.  You […]

Dr. Scott Stephens, Ducks Unlimited Canada, shares his teal hunting experiences and offers some insight to the migration in Manitoba. Stephens also discusses current weather conditions impacting teal and local hunters.  Please subscribe, rate, and review the DU Podcast and contact the DU Podcast via email at DUPodcast@ducks.org with recommendations or questions. www.ducks.org/DUPodcast

In this episode Mark talks about the latest in what is happening with wild salmon and steelhead on coastal British Columbia, Atlantic salmon in Nova Scotia, how global regulators are selling out the world's largest tuna, the beginning of the end for the white grizzly, the plight of the spotted owl, owls and rat poison, hunter numbers in western Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada's 2021 habitat report, the public trust doctrine for salmon in Canada and how Heavy Metal music can help conservation.

The craft beer scene has grown immensely over the past few years.  Craft beer has grown in popularity and small companies have been popping up all over the country.  One of the bigger craft beer scenes is in Kingston, Ontario and GoHuntBirds.com owner Marc was able to sit down with Josh Hayter who is one of the owners of the Spearhead Brewing Company (www.spearheadbeer.com) to chat about how his brewery along with others have built a community with the other breweries in their area.  Josh also gets into the partnership that Spearhead Brewing Company has created with Ducks Unlimited Canada by creating a brand of beer directed at bird hunters just like us and how giving back to DU is important to his company. #GoHuntBirds | #evolve | #ShareBirdHuntingwww.GoHuntBirds.com

Where does your drinking water come from? What protects your home from floods? Where is 60 percent of all the carbon stored in Canadian soils? What provides habitat for countless species of ducks, songbirds, insects, and rodents? … Wetlands. The National Boreal Program of Ducks Unlimited Canada watches over the roughly 1 million square Kilometers of wetlands in Canada’s Boreal Forest. If you want an answer about wetlands, you talk to them. So that’s what I did. The National Manager for the Boreal Program Kevin Smith and a Remote Sensing Specialist Michael Merchant came on the podcast to discuss their work and the importance of wetlands to society and the integrity of our natural world. Photo credit to ©DUC

Abigail Derby Lewis marvels at monarchs and the perilous journey they make each year from Canada and the U.S. to Mexico and back. She's the Senior Conservation Ecologist and Senior Program Manager, Chicago Region at the Field Museum's Keller Science Action Center. Abigail's also a science translator, she turns research knowledge into practical actions citizens can take to conserve nature. And, Ms. Derby Lewis is also the first of a series of folks we'll be introducing you to who turned their passion for conservation in careers, creativity, and action in the community. Conservation of wetlands, of course, is near and dear to all of us at Ducks Unlimited Canada. But, we know we can’t tackle conservation alone and we’re happy to celebrate our fellow travellers. Abigail became passionate about conservation when, as a nine-year-old girl she looked into the face of a zoo-keep silverback gorilla. She went on to study primates all over the world. But, these days she's making certain that Chicago provides migrating monarchs the vital milkweed they need to feed and reproduce. I talk to her about the flight and plight of the monarchs, the role cities can play in providing those butterflies and other pollinators safe haven, and what you can do in your community to make certain that cities are habitable, not just for humans, but for the insects that are just passing through.

In this episode, we’ll be celebrating, in our small way, World Wetlands Day. This year that event is highlighting wetlands for a sustainable urban future. We’ll learn how those moist, mushy and fecund habitats do just that. Next up, twelve days after World Wetlands Day comes Valentine’s Day - which is mushy in its own right. And, it’s an event that’s a tad bittersweet for the lovelorn. It turns out that drakes (those are male ducks) have tons of techniques for a attracting a mate, and female ducks know just how to clue into the sometimes curious courtship rituals. Lisette Ross is a wetlands biologist for Ducks Unlimited Canada. For her urban wetlands are some of the most valuable real estate in growing, sprawling cities worldwide. Without them, the millions of people flooding into cities would miss out on the diversity, cleansing powers and spiritual uplift of these vital habits. Here’s my conversation with her about World Wetlands Day and the diversity of solutions urban centres have discovered for preserving and nurturing the healing habits at their very hearts. Drake courtships are a curious combo of burbling, burping, dancing and rushing headlong into love.  Lauren Rae a National Conservation Biologist for Ducks Unlimited Canada explains it all to us.

This episode is all about scum. Stinky, toxic, and beach fouling scum, better known as blue-green algae. You’ve probably seen it in a pond or lake near you. It looks like someone changed their mind about painting their living room French Canadian pea soup green and dumped gallons of the ill-considered pigment into a nearby body of water.  But, it’s not paint, it an early form of life on earth called a cyanobacteria. If the conditions are right, sunlight, high temperatures and lots of nutrients, especially phosphorous, those bacteria can multiply like samollena on luke warm chicken. The billions of bacteria cause what’s called a bloom, but not one that smells very sweet. And, when the bacteria die they can release a toxin that can cause kidney failure.  In fact, in 2014 a blue green algae bloom in the west end of Lake Erie was so huge it caused the city of Toledo, Ohio to completely shut down its water system for fear of poisoning Toldeoans.  But, ironically, if it weren’t for cyanobacteria billions of years ago nobody would be alive in Toledo, or anywhere else in the world. That’s because we have Cyanobacteria to thank for the oxygen we breathe.  Cyanobacteria are biological survivors. Billions of years ago they were literally, the scum of the earth. They grew on land, rocks and in water - fresh and sea. They were early photosynthetic organisms. That means one of their waste products was oxygen, oxygen that until about three billion years ago was removed from the earth’s atmosphere as its surface iron rusted. But then, over the next 100’s of millions of years the rusting slowed down and oxygen started building up. So, if you like breathing, thank a lake scum. These days, we’re cyanobacteria’s best friends. Human activity has helped global warming, we’ve converted swamp and other wetlands into towns and cities or turned them to farmlands that dump phosphorus rich runoff into creeks and streams. We fertilize our lawns injudiciously and produce all manner of waste rich in the nutrients blue green algae eat like it was a free wedding buffet. To learn more about blue green algae and what’s being done to combat it I spoke with Katie Stammler. Katie is water quality scientist and source water protection manager at the Essex Region Conservation Authority. The Windsor Essex area is a short hop across the shallow Lake Erie from Toledo. It’s home to the world-famous birder’s paradise Peele Island and is a flat, fertile terrain full of streams, creeks and wetlands that feed the Great Lake. Katie and her team have worked with Ducks Unlimited Canada to save and nurture those wetlands. To date, DUC has completed more than 60 projects within the Lake Erie watershed and DUC’s Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research is implementing research, monitoring, and outreach components projects in the area. Katie and her all-female crew, known as the Ladies in Wading, are the home grown heroes here. They also monitor water quality and educate the public about how not to succumb to the scum. 

This episode begins with an engraving that was tucked into the corner of a 18th-century map of North America, a beaver map. The engraving depicts an almost Hieronymus Bosch-like scene. One that’s a psychedelic, fever dream of beavers in Canada. In the background, a bifurcated Niagara Falls tumbled into a broad river. In the mid- and foregrounds are rodentesque creatures, dozens of them. These are part beaver, part bear, part human animals that have the orderliness and industry of a work crew of navvies. Some carry logs on their shoulders like the seven dwarfs hefting shovels, some carry cowpats of mortar on their tails. Others seem to be barking orders from neatly constructed ramps. The beavers, an inscription on the engraving tells us, are building a Great Lake through their organized labour. To understand that map, and beavers' relationship with the landscape I spoke with Glynnis Hood, a professor of environmental science at the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus. Glynnis is a beaver expert. She’s studied the big-toothed rodents impact on the Canadian landscape. She’s especially interested in how its industry and ingenuity has keep water on the land, even in times of drought. And, how its ecological engineering has created and maintained wetlands for centuries. Ducks Unlimited Canada folks, like many Canadians, have a relationship with the beaver that is, well, complicated. As Glynnis will explain, the fur trade almost wiped out the entire population castor condensis, our native species of the rodent. In the late 1930s Ducks Unlimited wanted to enlist beavers as ecological good soldiers. It encouraged a beaver comeback, that was pretty successful. But these days, loggers, folks in the oil and gas industry and cottagers have seen the reborn beaver populations flood their lands and thwart their industries.  Even Ducks Unlimited Canada researchers find their wetland water control efforts confounded by busy beavers. I spoke with Glynnis about all of that, and how Canadians can best make peace with our little rodent friends.

Why do maritime fish fight currents, waterfalls and man-made barriers to get to inland ponds and lakes to spawn? What barriers do they face? How does that odd behaviour help the ecology of wetlands? And, how can we make their job easier? We talk with Nic McLellan, the Atlantic Science Coordinator for Ducks Unlimited Canada to find out. Plus, we discover what tracking road race runners has to do with counting fish. Did you know ducklings have their own social network? No spoilers, but you'll be amazed by how those little ducks make sure they all share the same birthday, thanks to a quick chat we had with Dave Howerter. He's the Director of National Conservation Operations at Ducks Unlimited Canada. Dave's up on the equivalent of bird Twitter. Listen up. Making ContactLike to learn more about these topics and other aspects of wetlands conservation? You can at ducks.ca. And, you can email your questions and feedback to communications@ducks.ca. Guest Bios Nic McLellanConservation Programs Specialist, Atlantic Canada Nic McLellan grew up in Sackville, NB where he developed a keen interest in biology and the outdoors. Prior to his current job at Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), Nic worked on several research projects with the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. These projects involved a variety of bird species including shorebirds, songbirds, seabirds, and waterfowl. David Howerter, PhDDirector, National Conservation Operations Dave Howerter is an accomplished scientist with a track record of successfully managing a complex scientific program, demonstrated ability to build teams, build consensus, and develop partnerships. Dave is responsible for all programs national in scope related to engineering, education, international partnerships, government relations, research and conservation planning.    

In this episode, we’ll be learning about a kind of wheat ducks love, not to eat but to hang out. Then we’re off to another duck playground - peatlands, peatlands that need preserving. Why? Because they’re great at keeping vast amounts of biomass from wreaking havoc on our climate. Winter wheat is a hardy strain of grain that can survive even a -40 winter as it hibernates under a blanket of warming snow. Warming snow? You’ll see. In the spring when other crops are barely in the ground, if they’re lucky, winter wheat is showing off its first leaves and then it grows like mad and attracts ducks looking for a nesting ground.   DUC has been working to raise the profile/ dispel myths around winter wheat for years. They’ve been helping understand why is winter wheat such a duck magnet and why should we should care. To find out more about winter wheat, last April I talked to Lee Moats, a farmer in Riceton, Saskatchewan. We thought, with spring coming on it would be a good time to revisit that conversation. Peatlands are the unsung heroes of climate change. Beneath their soggy, sodden surfaces are millions upon millions of metric tons of carbon in the shape of plant matter. The cold temperatures and oxygen-starved waters of the bogs sequester all that carbon. That’s good because released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, it would crank up the global thermostat like a chilblained grandad on a cold winter’s night. I found a champion of these shy climate superheroes in Pascal Badiou a research scientist for Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research. 

Dr. Vanessa Harriman, Ducks Unlimited Canada, joins us again to share the rest of the story about how flea infestations affect nest success of snow and Ross’s geese. We also discuss what this might mean for population dynamics of goose colonies and explore a few other questions about this curious phenomenon. Have an itch for knowledge? We try to scratch it on this episode. https://www.ducks.org/dupodcast

In this episode, host Dr. Mike Brasher is joined by Dr. Vanessa Harriman, Ducks Unlimited Canada, to discuss the curious case of flea infestations in nests of snow and Ross’s geese. We learn about their discovery, prevalence, the hazards of studying them, and what leads a person to study fleas in the first place. Download and subscribe to follow along with all things waterfowl as the DU Podcast brings the resource to you. https://www.ducks.org/dupodcast

Dr. Scott Stephens, Ducks Unlimited Canada’s director of operations for the prairie and Boreal Forest goes into detail about how the migration progressed across the Canadian Prairie Pothole Region. Stephens also shares some insight into why the latest cold front will send the majority of waterfowl south. Download and subscribe to follow along with all things waterfowl as the DU Podcast brings the resource to you. https://www.ducks.org/dupodcast

How did Canadian musician David Archibald spend his summer vacation? He did a musical tour of 31 Ontario provincial parks (and worked in an eight-day voyager canoe trip for R and R). His campground concerts were aimed at kids and families and celebrated the history of the parks. But, with his often playful songs, he also educated his audience about the ecology and fragile nature of the habitats within park boundaries. Ducks Unlimited Canada does its own educational outreach through our Wetlands Centres of Excellence and Wetland Heroes programs.  http://www.ducks.ca/our-work/education/ But this episode, we’re focussing on Archibald’s education through music. Archibald has been interpreting natural spaces with his music for 29 years when Bon Echo Provincial Park hired him to celebrate the petroglyph-famous campground in song. He has written for and performed on Sesame Street in New York and CBC's Mr. Dressup.  But he’s also a music producer (he gave Avril Lavigne her first shot at a studio microphone) and is currently the musical director for a show about Stompin’ Tom Connors. That’s where we caught up with him for this episode. You can find out more about David Archibald and his music at http://www.davidarchibald.com.

Aquatic invasive plants are labeled invasive due to their highly disruptive impacts on wetlands, lakes and rivers. Thankfully, they're on the radar of Ducks Unlimited. Work DU is undertaking in the Great Lakes Basin to protect coastal wetlands includes controlling the highly invasive aquatic plant, European water chestnut, and surveillance and monitoring along eastern Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Link to hear Kyle Borrowman, European Water Chestnut plant eradication program coordinator with Ducks Unlimited Canada this week on blue Fish Radio.Link here if you would like to get more involved with DU's programs:http://www.ducks.ca/how-to-help/

David Howerter of Ducks Unlimited Canada explains the waterfowl census to RCI’s Lynn Desjardins.

Some 1,370,000 acres are assessed for irrigation among thirteen irrigation districts in Southern Alberta. In addition, approximately 280,000 acres are assessed for irrigation outside the irrigation districts. Irrigation waters are however used for much more than growing food. Irrigation infrastructure provides water for many communities and is essential to much of the commerce, industry, wildlife, wetlands and recreation in Southern Alberta. Increasing demand for food production and economic growth will provide challenges for the irrigation industry. The speaker will explain how efficiency gains have occurred in irrigation districts delivery systems and farm application methods. The myth of charging for water in an attempt to increase efficiencies or to stimulate production of value added crops will also be discussed. How will crop trends be affected by climate change? Is the production of biofuels a wise use of irrigation water? Will the demand for irrigation water in Southern Alberta be great enough to justify inter-basin transfer from Northern Alberta? Speaker: Ron Renwick Ron Renwick was born and raised on a mixed farm on the Regina Plains of Southern Saskatchewan. He obtained a degree in Agricultural Engineering from University of Saskatchewan in 1972, after which he worked three years at the Hydrology Branch of Saskatchewan Department of Environment and eight years at Ducks Unlimited Canada. Ron started work at the St Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) in 1983, first as District Engineer and later as General Manager (2002). Included in Ron's responsibilities was to manage Irrican Power, SMRID's three hydro electric plants. He retired in 2009. Ron has served terms as Director for the Alberta Irrigation Projects Association and the Oldman Watershed Council. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta.

Some 1,370,000 acres are assessed for irrigation among thirteen irrigation districts in Southern Alberta. In addition, approximately 280,000 acres are assessed for irrigation outside the irrigation districts. Irrigation waters are however used for much more than growing food. Irrigation infrastructure provides water for many communities and is essential to much of the commerce, industry, wildlife, wetlands and recreation in Southern Alberta. Increasing demand for food production and economic growth will provide challenges for the irrigation industry. The speaker will explain how efficiency gains have occurred in irrigation districts delivery systems and farm application methods. The myth of charging for water in an attempt to increase efficiencies or to stimulate production of value added crops will also be discussed. How will crop trends be affected by climate change? Is the production of biofuels a wise use of irrigation water? Will the demand for irrigation water in Southern Alberta be great enough to justify inter-basin transfer from Northern Alberta? Speaker: Ron Renwick Ron Renwick was born and raised on a mixed farm on the Regina Plains of Southern Saskatchewan. He obtained a degree in Agricultural Engineering from University of Saskatchewan in 1972, after which he worked three years at the Hydrology Branch of Saskatchewan Department of Environment and eight years at Ducks Unlimited Canada. Ron started work at the St Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) in 1983, first as District Engineer and later as General Manager (2002). Included in Ron's responsibilities was to manage Irrican Power, SMRID's three hydro electric plants. He retired in 2009. Ron has served terms as Director for the Alberta Irrigation Projects Association and the Oldman Watershed Council. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta.