AWA - Wetland Services

Wetland Banking

AWA Moves Forward with Wetland Services

The AWA Wetlands Services Committee voted unanimously to move forward in to the Wetland Banking Services.  Committee chairperson, Marty Upton, is in the process of contacting the proper agencies to schedule the initial site visit.  The Spring Creek site located off of Alabama Highway 79 has undergone preliminary assessment, and it was indicated that this property could be one of the finest sites in N. AL for Wetland Preservation.  The possibilities for this site include a location for a new Wetland Bank that will offer the sale of credits to individuals or organizations that need to mitigate wetlands for which they are in the process of destroying.  Watch for meeting notices in your area as AWA expands this effort.  For more information contact Public Relations Director, Clark Sparks, at 256-931-3503 or email us at [email protected].

Spring Creek Site Photos

         Early Construction:

Blind Construction:

Wood Duck Boxes

AWA is currently working with the FFA at Arab High School to build 70 Wood Duck Boxes to be placed around North Alabama.  This project is one of many that AWA pursues in conjunction with the local schools.  For more information contacts us at [email protected].

Mallard Release Project

Several years ago, regardless of weather conditions in the northern states, most of the migratory mallards would arrive at their over-wintering habitat by January. In recent years the large over-wintering habitat areas of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and especially the Reelfoot lake area have lacked the numbers of mallards usually present. There are concerns that what happened to the Canada Geese migration pattern could now be happening with the mallards that have traditionally flown south in the Mississippi Flyway.

This leads to AWA's most popular and one of it's most beneficial projects in getting "hands-on" involvement. This project is the raising and releasing of genetically wild mallards into suitable habitat in Alabama.

AWA receives one-day-old mallards from the Jack Frost Waterfowl Trust in Coloma, Wisconsin. AWA volunteers raise these ducks by strict guidelines, minimizing human imprinting. AWA then places leg bands on the 35-day-old mallards and release these ducks on private land through a program called the Mallard Stewardship Projects (MSP), as wells as on public land.

Most of AWA's MSP participants have gone to great lengths to develop habitat that benefits many species of wildlife for these released ducks.

In Alabama, there is more habitat than there are available ducks to utilize this habitat. Increasing the harvest opportunity ensures interest in conserving Alabama's existing habitat and developing even more habitat.

Band Reports - An Overview

In the 1997-1998, AWA received reports from 11 different states and three from Canada concerning the mallard project. Data from the AWA's mallard project and other state mallard projects has shown that the released ducks that do return to the north, bring other migrating mallards to traditional southern over-wintering grounds.

AWA has also found that when ducks are released on suitable private habitat, they will many times fly out and mix with the wild ducks actually leading the migrating mallards to the habitat were they were released.

Conservation Habitat Seed Program

The AWA obtains surplus seed from Resource Management, Inc. (RMI), who contracts the distribution nationwide from Pioneer Hi-Bred International Seed Company, DeKalb Genetics and AsGrow Seed Companies. This Conservation Habitat Seed Program has planted over 115,000 acres in Alabama alone and over one million acres nationwide.

Ladd Johnson, president of RMI, has notified AWA that the AWA has distributed more seed than any other state organization in the country. Corn, alfalfa, grain sorghum and soybean seeds for wildlife food plots is available through this program.