People like to complain about potholes in roads, but you won’t hear waterfowl squawking about the potholes in the Missouri Coteau.
That region of southern Saskatchewan is a prime nesting area, and a new Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation program may make the wetland potholes even more attractive.
“We targeted the Missouri Coteau because it’s got a high pothole density,” said corporation rangeland specialist Tom Harrison.
The corporation, with funding from several American agencies and Wildlife Habitat Canada, will pay for seed, fencing and the cost of developing watering facilities for livestock in order to convert cultivated land to pasture.
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David Duncan, biological services manager, said owners of cultivated land in 40 rural municipalities within the Coteau region are eligible to apply. The target is to increase pastureland by 5,000 to 7,000 acres.
Duncan said the program will benefit farmers, waterfowl, other wildlife and the soil.
American partners
The American financial backers, including the states of Wyoming and Nebraska, Nature Conservancy (U.S.), Pheasants Forever (U.S.) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, are most interested in the benefit to waterfowl.
“Saskatchewan is the heart of the duck breeding area on the whole continent,” Duncan said, and Americans are concerned about keeping bird populations up by expanding the breeding area.
About 75 percent of the money spent in Saskatchewan through the North American Waterfowl Management Plan comes from the United States, he said.
The amount of money coming for the new project is still unknown, but at least $150,000 will be available for cropland conversion through the provision of seed and fencing. Additional money is expected for other pasture improvements.
The money available to individual landowners will depend on the type of seed they want and amount of acres involved. Lands which have wetlands will be given preference.
The new pasture must be incorporated into a larger pasture and remain pasture for at least 10 years.
Increasing permanent cover
Harrison said the idea is to link cultivated areas with existing grassland.
“The more permanent cover you have in an area, the better the odds are for waterfowl to succeed,” he said.
The program was undertaken on a small scale last year, when 2,500 acres were seeded in three rural municipalities. Monitoring will be done this year, and if other funding sources are found, the program could be expanded.
Duncan said studies show a lot of cultivated land is not environmentally sustainable because of erosion, so returning it to grass makes sense.
Increasing pastureland also better fits the agricultural picture without the Western Grain Transportation Act, he said.
“Even before the WGTA was axed, demand already existed for converting to pastureland,” he said.
“This benefits people wanting to make a switch (to cattle) or increase their herd sizes,” added Harrison.
One farmer he has spoken with wants to convert all his land to pasture and completely change his lifestyle by becoming a cattle producer, Harrison said.
The program fits with the new emphasis on specialty livestock like elk and bison.
Producers in the Coteau region can call the wetland corporation in Regina for application information.
