HLS 21RS-1886 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 73
BY REPRESENTATIVE COUSSAN
WILDLIFE/HABITAT: Urges and requests the collaboration of certain departments with
the Louisiana Waterfowl Working Group to improve waterfowl habitats on private,
state, and federally owned lands
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Natural
3 Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, and
4 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to collaborate and contribute their
5 knowledge and expertise with the Louisiana Waterfowl Working Group in an effort
6 to improve waterfowl habitats on private, state, and federally owned lands.
7 WHEREAS, Louisiana has a long and distinguished history of consistent, reliable
8wintering waterfowl habitat for generations; and
9 WHEREAS, waterfowl biologists estimate seed production in moist-soil wetlands
10located along migration routes and at wintering sites to calculate duck-energy days; and
11 WHEREAS, duck-energy days are the number of dabbling ducks that potentially can
12be sustained energetically in a wetland for a specified duration; and
13 WHEREAS, the Louisiana portion of the Chenier Plain Initiative area (CPIA) has
14a midwinter population objective of over eight hundred and eighty-eight thousand Gadwall
15and three hundred seventy-eight thousand Blue-winged teal duck-energy days; and
16 WHEREAS, the Louisiana portion of the west gulf coastal plain has a population
17goal of one million seven-hundred thousand duck-energy days of all species; and
18 WHEREAS, the Mississippi River Coastal Wetlands Initiative area (MRCWIA)
19encompasses important wintering waterfowl habitats including Pass A Loutre, Atchafalaya
20Delta Wildlife Management Area, Marsh Island, and Delta National Wildlife Refuge; and
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HCR NO. 73
1 WHEREAS, the Louisiana portion of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley of the Lower
2Mississippi Valley Joint Venture has a total duck-energy day objective of one-hundred
3twenty million nine hundred thousand duck-energy days based on a one hundred ten day
4wintering period from early November to late February; and
5 WHEREAS, Louisiana supports over half of the breeding population of western gulf
6coast mottled ducks; and
7 WHEREAS, over four hundred seventy-five thousand acres of rice were planted by
8Louisiana farmers in 2020, down from a high of six hundred seventy thousand acres in 1981;
9and
10 WHEREAS, the Gulf Coast Joint Venture has also determined that coastal marshes
11in the CPIA and MRCWIA are deficient in providing habitat to support their waterfowl
12population objectives; and
13 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) owns and
14manages more than one million six hundred thousand acres of Louisiana's land and
15waterways as wildlife management areas, refuges, and conservation areas; and
16 WHEREAS, the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior of the
17United States (FWS) manages twenty three national wildlife refuges within Louisiana,
18covering more than five hundred fifty thousand acres throughout twenty-nine parishes; and
19 WHEREAS, the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States
20Department of Agriculture (NRCS) has a long record of working with private landowners
21to implement conservation practices and programs for the benefit of Louisiana's farms,
22wetlands, and wildlife habitats, and
23 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Waterfowl Working Group (LWWG) is comprised of a
24diverse group of landowners, managers, business owners, and professionals who share a
25common interest and concern over the direction Louisiana's waterfowl stock is heading; and
26 WHEREAS, the LWWG's mission is to ensure that waterfowl habitat remains a focal
27point for policy makers and stakeholders at all levels.
28 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
29urge and request the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the National Resources
30Conservation Service, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to collaborate and
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HCR NO. 73
1contribute their knowledge and expertise with the Louisiana Waterfowl Working Group in
2an effort to improve waterfowl habitats on private, state, and federally owned lands.
3 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the LWWG shall submit a written report to the
4House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment and Senate Committee on Natural
5Resources by March 1, 2022, detailing the results of its collaborative efforts to improve
6waterfowl habitats on private, state, and federally owned lands.
7 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report should consider meaningful updates
8on habitat trends, policy recommendations, and other relevant topics related to Louisiana
9waterfowl, and the habitats they depend upon.
10 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
11secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Natural Resources
12Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, Louisiana State
13Conservationist, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Region 4 Director, and the
14officers of both houses of the United States Congress and each member of the Louisiana
15congressional delegation.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 73 Original 2021 Regular Session Coussan
Urges and requests the La. Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Natural Resources
Conservation Service of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to collaborate and contribute their knowledge and expertise with the La. Waterfowl
Working Group in an effort to improve waterfowl habitats on private, state, and federally
owned lands. Requires the La. Waterfowl Working Group submit a written report to the
House and Senate natural resources committees by March 1, 2022, detailing its findings.
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