STATE-LANDOWNER PARTNERSHIP AIDS WATERFOWL AREAS

A new incentive program for farmers may prove to be a win-win situation. It encourages Southeast Missouri landowners to flood fields between December and February to become waterfowl wetlands.

The project is a partnership between the Missouri departments of Conservation and Natural Resources and Ducks Unlimited. The groups hope that 20,000 acres of seasonal wetlands will be restored in the Bootheel over the next five years.

Actually, all three groups offer similar programs, but now the application process has been centralized in Dexter. Counties covered by the cropfield flooding initiative include Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Ripley, Scott, Stoddard and Wayne.

A few farmers are already flooding their lands on their own. But the incentives will help pay for structures to hold the water in their fields. Most of the land will probably be rice fields that are typically drained after harvest.

The flooded cropland should provide a growing space for both waterfowl habitat and duck hunting.

Farmers will also benefit from weed control and reduced soil erosion. The program is very environmentally friendly. They could also rent out hunting rights on the land.

The effort of state agencies combined with Ducks Unlimited is the first of its kind in Missouri. And it could well become a model for other successful programs across the state and nation.