1. Migratory Game Bird Regulations and Flyway Process
Dave Luukkonen, Wildlife Division
Law Enforcement Division, Waterfowl Enforcement Training
September 16, 2014

2. Presentation Goals Increase your understanding of:
Federal/State Migratory bird regulation setting processes
Biological and social considerations for migratory bird regulations
Increase my understanding of:
Law Enforcement issues and concerns relevant to migratory bird regulations

3. Migratory Game Birds in Michigan Protected Under the Migratory Bird Treat Act
Ducks and mergansers
Geese
Others
Black duck
Black scoter
Blue winged teal
Bufflehead
Canvasback
Common goldeneye
Common merganser
Gadwall
Greater Scaup
Green winged teal
Hooded merganser
Lesser Scaup
Long-tailed duck
Mallard
Pintail
Red breasted merganser
Redhead
Ringnecked duck
Ruddy duck
Shoveler
Surf scoter
White winged scoter
Widgeon
Wood duck
American coot
American Woodcock
Common moorhen
Common snipe
Sora rail
Virginia rail
Brant
Canada goose
Ross' goose
Snow goose
White fronted goose

4. Some Interesting Statistics About Migratory Hunting in Michigan
Among U.S. states, Michigan ranked 6th for Federal duck stamp sales (2010 & 2011 season average). Can you guess the top five states?
TX, MN, LA, WI, CA
Waterfowl hunters spent about $22.7 million on hunting trips in Michigan ( season)
Michigan was 4th in the nation in harvest behind MN, ND, and MD in harvest of this migratory bird during the 2013 season?
Michigan always leads the nation in annual harvest of what duck and migratory upland bird species?
Processes Completed
Consider additional waterfowl population status information (mid-July)
Provide framework recommendations to USFWS via Mississippi Flyway Council (July 17 – 23)
Consider additional input via mail surveys and Citizen’s Waterfowl Advisory Committee (July 29)
Provide options and recommendations to NRC for action in August

5. Michigan Canada Goose and Mallard Harvest Composition Derived From Weighted Band Recoveries
Canada geese
Mallard

6. Agency Roles in Regulation Setting
U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service
Sets frameworks for migratory bird seasons
Flyway Councils
Provide mechanism for coordinated management and input on federal regulation frameworks
MIDNR
Participate in Flyway process
Gather input from public, including Citizens Waterfowl Advisory Committee
Make Recommendations to Natural Resources Commission
Make season selections through Federal Process

7. Federal/State/Provincial Cooperative Management of Migratory Birds
Michigan’s Representatives to the
Mississippi Flyway Council
PACIFIC
CENTRAL
MISSISSIPPI
ATLANTIC
Council Representative:
Russ Mason (WLD Chief)
Technical Section:
Dave Luukkonen and Barbara Avers (Game)
Karen Cleveland (Nongame)
Law Enforcement Committee:
Dave Shaw

8. Waterfowl Hunting Regulations Schedule
Early Seasons
February/March
Mississippi Flyway Council
Citizen’s Waterfowl Advisory Committee (CWAC)
June
Regulations for information at NRC
USFWS Regulations Committee
Set early season framework
July
Regulations for action at NRC Meeting
Early Season Selections Due to USFWS
Late Seasons
July
Regulations for information at NRC
Mississippi Flyway Council
USFWS Regulations Committee
Set late season framework
August
CWAC Meeting
Regulations for action at NRC
Late Season Selections Due to USFWS
July is Service Regs committee

9. Duck Season Considerations
Moving on to duck breeding habitat conditions and population status.

10. 49.2 million birds in 2014
Up 8% from 2013
43% above LTA

12. Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM)
Adopted by FWS in 1995
Process of using monitoring data to make “optimal” decisions about regulations
Based on the size of the mid-continent mallard population (including MI, MN, & WI) and the number of Canadian ponds
Current goal to maximize long-term harvest of mid-continent mallards
Process of learning through setting regulations (season length and daily limits)
Based on mid-continent mallards and Canadian ponds 12

13. AHM Matrix for 2014

14. 2014 Duck Framework Liberal Season (60 days)
Saturday nearest September 24 to the last Sunday in January
Duck bag limit 6 total, 4 mallard, 2 female mallard, 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 3 scaup, 2 pintails, 1 black duck, 1 canvasback
Seasons may be set by zone (north, middle, south) allowing one split in each zone 14

15. 700,000 in 2014
Similar to 2013
18% above LTA
NAWMP Goal

16. FYI
States can adopt regulations that are more restrictive than Federal Migratory Bird Hunting Season Frameworks
For example, several MF states (including Michigan) allowed only 1 hen mallard daily although the Federal Frameworks allow for 2
For what other migratory bird do we select regulations more restrictive than Federal Frameworks?
Processes Completed
Consider additional waterfowl population status information (mid-July)
Provide framework recommendations to USFWS via Mississippi Flyway Council (July 17 – 23)
Consider additional input via mail surveys and Citizen’s Waterfowl Advisory Committee (July 29)
Provide options and recommendations to NRC for action in August

17. Factors affecting productivity and harvest rates of mallards in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin,
My name is Howie Singer and I am a graduate student at Michigan State University working under the advisement of Dave Luukkonen and Scott Winterstein. My research at MSU involves different aspects of mallards breeding in the Great Lake States. Today I will be showing everyone some of the work I have done and some I am continuing to do.
Howard Singer August 25, 2014

18. Adult female mallard kill rates
These next two graphs are summaries of the time series data for harvest rates. The first series is the mean harvest rates for michigan minnesota and wisconsin from and the second series if the time period during AHM. Note that in all 3 states harvest rates are lower during AHM than they were historically.

19. Juvenile female mallard kill rates
The same pattern holds for hatch year birds as wellThe take home message here is that even with the liberal package under AHM, we are experiencing harvest rates that are lower than that of histoircal times when seasons were shorter and for the most part more restrictive.

20. MI annual mallard harvest/hunter

21. Canada Goose Status and Regulation Considerations

22. MF Canada and Cackling Goose Breeding Ranges
2 Species
5 Management Populations

23. Canada Goose Abundance in the Mississippi Flyway, 1939-2014

24. Canada Goose Abundance in the Mississippi Flyway, 1939-2014

25. Population Estimates, 1991-2014
Michigan Canada Goose
Population Estimates, 25

26. Federal Canada Goose Harvest Estimates for MI, 1961-2014

27. 2014 Canada Goose Season Frameworks
Early season
Upper Peninsula and Huron, Tuscola, and Saginaw Counties
1-10 September
Remainder of state
1-15 September
Maximum 5 bird daily limit
Regular season
Maximum 92 days
No earlier than 16 September
No later than January 31
Maximum 2 bird daily limit
Late season
Maximum 30 days
No earlier than 31 December
No Later than 15 February
Season splits
Regular seasons may be split into 3 segments
SJBP frameworks exclude local Goose Management Units

28. Regular Canada Goose Season Length, MVP and SJBP Zones, 1998-2014

29. 2014 Federal Frameworks for Other Geese
Snow and Ross:
107 days
up to 20-bird daily limit
White-fronted:
88 days
1-bird daily limit
Brant: 29

30. Great Lakes, Great Times, Great Outdoors
Thank you
Great Lakes, Great Times, Great Outdoors