Iowa Pheasants Face Hard Times
Source: http://www.iowadnr.gov/
Published: Aug. 04, 2009
Currently in progress, the DNR's annual August roadside pheasant count easily ranks as our most popular fish and wildlife survey. Although upcoming results of the spring nesting seasons have always been of great interest to Iowans, that interest may have never been higher than it is this summer.
Times are tough. After enduring a recent series of long hard winters, above average snowfall, abnormally wet and cool spring nesting seasons, unprecedented flooding during 2008, and a catastrophic ongoing loss of habitat, it is little wonder that Iowa pheasant numbers have fallen. During the 2008 hunting season, the state's pheasant harvest plunged to a dismal 383,000 roosters which was the lowest ever recorded. No surprise that pheasant hunters are currently on the edge of their seats wondering what to expect when this year's season rolls around at the end of October.
"Habitat and weather are the two factors that always determine pheasant populations," says DNR Pheasant Biologist, Todd Bogenschutz. "Unfortunately, neither of those factors have been pheasant friendly during the last few years."
Annual snowfall is something that plays a critical role in winter pheasant mortality, says Bogenschutz. Plain and simple --- snow days kill pheasants. Statewide, Iowa received 32 inches of snowfall last winter. The norm is 25 inches of snow. And although this spring offered somewhat of a reprieve and a closer to normal weather scenario, overall temperatures remained below those needed for optimum production.
"Iowa pheasants really need a break," says Bogenschutz. "If we could get a mild winter followed by a warm and dry nesting season, we would see a big and positive change in pheasant numbers. Last year's flooding was a disaster, and this year was certainly better. Right now, we're hoping to at least see a moderate increase in statewide pheasant numbers when the August surveys are complete."
Gamebird populations are dynamic and it's normal for pheasant numbers to fluctuate up or down with changing weather conditions, says Bogenschutz. But what birds cannot compensate for is the loss of habitat. In 1993, more than 2.2 million acres of grassland nesting cover was enrolled in Iowa's Conservation Reserve Program [CRP]. Bird populations soared and hunters bagged nearly 2 million roosters that fall.
But as 10-year CRP contracts have expired, Iowa's grassland acreage has declined steadily --- particularly across the northern half of the state. Current CRP enrollment has dropped to 1.7 million acres statewide, and we're scheduled to loose another 85,000 acres [the equivalent of 132 square miles of nesting habitat] in the state this September. An additional 230,000 CRP acres will expire in 2012.
"It's hard for people to visualize what that kind of habitat loss really looks like," says Bogenschutz. "Most people can't accurately picture what something like 5,000 acres or 10,000 acres even looks like. What I tell them, is to close their eyes and try to imagine a 300-mile-long, eight-mile-wide strip of continuous CRP grassland running all the way from Omaha to Davenport. That's the amount of CRP nesting cover we've already lost in Iowa, with more coming out this fall. When you describe it to people that way, you can see the wheels start to turn," said Bogenschutz.
The good news is that, for the first time in a long time, Iowa farmers will soon have an opportunity to sign up and compete for a brand new round of ten-year, CRP contracts. Although no one thinks the program is likely return to its 1990s level, the new sign up does have the potential to stem habitat loss and increase grassland nesting cover for pheasants and other upland wildlife species.
"At this point it's really difficult to speculate what will happen, but one thing is sure," says Bogenschutz. "We definitely need to keep CRP on the landscape. We need to fight tooth and nail to keep every single acre that's still out there. At least 80 percent of Iowa's pheasant harvest occurs on private land. Pheasant populations live or die by how those private lands are managed."
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