ENROLLED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 73
BY REPRESENTATIVE COUSSAN
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Natural
Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, and
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to collaborate and contribute their
knowledge and expertise with the Louisiana Waterfowl Working Group in an effort
to improve waterfowl habitats on private, state, and federally owned lands.
WHEREAS, Louisiana has a long and distinguished history of consistent, reliable
wintering waterfowl habitat for generations; and
WHEREAS, waterfowl biologists estimate seed production in moist-soil wetlands
located along migration routes and at wintering sites to calculate duck-energy days; and
WHEREAS, duck-energy days are the number of dabbling ducks that potentially can
be sustained energetically in a wetland for a specified duration; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana portion of the Chenier Plain Initiative area (CPIA) has
a midwinter population objective of over eight hundred and eighty-eight thousand Gadwall
and three hundred seventy-eight thousand Blue-winged teal duck-energy days; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana portion of the west gulf coastal plain has a population
goal of one million seven-hundred thousand duck-energy days of all species; and
WHEREAS, the Mississippi River Coastal Wetlands Initiative area (MRCWIA)
encompasses important wintering waterfowl habitats including Pass A Loutre, Atchafalaya
Delta Wildlife Management Area, Marsh Island, and Delta National Wildlife Refuge; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana portion of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley of the Lower
Mississippi Valley Joint Venture has a total duck-energy day objective of one-hundred
twenty million nine hundred thousand duck-energy days based on a one hundred ten day
wintering period from early November to late February; and
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WHEREAS, Louisiana supports over half of the breeding population of western gulf
coast mottled ducks; and
WHEREAS, over four hundred seventy-five thousand acres of rice were planted by
Louisiana farmers in 2020, down from a high of six hundred seventy thousand acres in 1981;
and
WHEREAS, the Gulf Coast Joint Venture has also determined that coastal marshes
in the CPIA and MRCWIA are deficient in providing habitat to support their waterfowl
population objectives; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) owns and
manages more than one million six hundred thousand acres of Louisiana's land and
waterways as wildlife management areas, refuges, and conservation areas; and
WHEREAS, the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior of the
United States (FWS) manages twenty three national wildlife refuges within Louisiana,
covering more than five hundred fifty thousand acres throughout twenty-nine parishes; and
WHEREAS, the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States
Department of Agriculture (NRCS) has a long record of working with private landowners
to implement conservation practices and programs for the benefit of Louisiana's farms,
wetlands, and wildlife habitats; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Waterfowl Working Group (LWWG) is comprised of a
diverse group of landowners, managers, business owners, and professionals who share a
common interest and concern over the direction Louisiana's waterfowl stock is heading; and
WHEREAS, the LWWG's mission is to ensure that waterfowl habitat remains a focal
point for policy makers and stakeholders at all levels.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the National Resources
Conservation Service, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to collaborate and
contribute their knowledge and expertise with the Louisiana Waterfowl Working Group in
an effort to improve waterfowl habitats on private, state, and federally owned lands.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the LWWG shall submit an annual written report
to the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment and Senate Committee on
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Natural Resources detailing the results of its collaborative efforts to improve waterfowl
habitats on private, state, and federally owned lands.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report should consider meaningful updates
on habitat trends, policy recommendations, and other relevant topics related to Louisiana
waterfowl, and the habitats they depend upon.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Natural Resources
Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, Louisiana State
Conservationist, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Region 4 Director, and the
officers of both houses of the United States Congress and each member of the Louisiana
congressional delegation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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