Hi guys, Serously give thought to attending this meeting.
Bill Smith
712-253-0362
fhd101@aol.com Marcia Poole of the Betty Strong Encounter Center,Sioux City Iowa will be having meeting this Sunday March 7th to look at and discuss changes in the valley's wetlands and hydrology as it relates to the Mo River. Remember Sunday March 7th at 2 PM at the Center. Open to the public, spread the word and pass this along to your waterfowling buddies.
The line up and Bio's
Bill Smith
Summary Presentation:
The degradation of native hydrology is directly linked to the continued degradation of the Mo. River channel. The impacts have profound effects on present management abilities of state migratory waterfowling facilities and migratory habitat. They also pose serious problems for future wetland restoration efforts with in the Mo. Valley region.
Very short Bio:
Bill Smith has been a waterfowler since the age of 7 and very politically active in state and federal conservation policy issues ,wetlands & waterfowl. He is also responsible for the creation of 2 state Waterfowler Organization, 1in IL where he served as acting VP and VA. He has been responsible for a few legislative Bills such as, the Iowa Habitat Stamp Bill and 2 new programs under it that supports buffer strips on the private landscape and Iowa's NAWCA agenda. The Iowa state duck stamp proposal, in part the first ever VA state duck stamp program. He has also participated in the process of Sod-Saver in Iowa, CWA efforts in DC and was a review board panel member of MRRIC. He is also responsible for securing Iowa's federal allocation formula under the federal duck stamp program. He is now the acting Chairmen of a Delta Waterfowl Chapter in Sioux City Iowa.
Ted LaGrange
My presentation will focus on the following: "The historic and current distribution of Missouri River wetlands will be highlighted. The loss of these wetlands and the cause of this loss will be examined. The benefits of wetland conservation will be discussed as well as the restoration options that are available to landowners."
Wetland Program Manager
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
BIO for: Ted LaGrange
An Iowa native, Ted moved to Nebraska in 1993 to work as the Wetland Program Manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. As Wetland Program Manager he works on a wide variety of wetland issues throughout the state including private land restoration programs, public lands management, resource advocacy and outreach. Prior to moving to Nebraska, he worked for 8 years as a Waterfowl Research Technician for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in Clear Lake. Stationed in northern Iowa, he worked with the prairie pothole restoration program, especially evaluation of plant and waterfowl response to wetland restoration. Ted received B.S. and M.S. degrees in wildlife biology from Iowa State University. During his college years he spent summers working on refuges in Oregon and New York for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, working on a muskrat ecology study on the Upper Mississippi River, and working on the Marsh Ecology Research Project for Delta Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Station in Manitoba. His professional interests are in prairie wetlands and waterfowl/waterbird ecology.
Van Sterner
Examining Missouri River Hydrology
The presentation will review historical and present river hydrology and include a discussion of the relationship between discharge and the quantity and quality of aquatic habitat.
Van Sterner is a Fisheries Biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Van began his employment with department in 1987 at the Black Hawk District Office in Lake View and later worked at the Clear Lake and Decorah Stations before being assigned to the Missouri River at Onawa in 2005. He holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of South Dakota.
Van Sterner
Fisheries Management Biologist
Iowa DNR - Lewis and Clark State Park
Stu Maas
Topic: Keep Asking "Why?"
Summary: Waterfowl migration patterns along the Missouri River from south
of the Missouri - Iowa stateline to well north of Omaha - Council Bluffs
have changed ... trending downward of the last 8 or 9 years and they are
significantly different than they were in the 90's ... why? Loss of
habitat, loss of wetland roosts, loss of food sources? Have different
waterfowl species moved in and displaced others? Have other factors
contributed to this localized change? What might our response be from a
hunting perspective? Any options?
BIO: Stuart Maas has been seriously observing waterfowl and the seasonal
migrations through this area for more than 20 years. He has noted changes
in migration patterns over this period and has tried to understand the
reasons behind these changes. Many of his observations are derived from
discussions of these changes with commercial guides and hunters who have
been afield in this area since 1945.
Doug Chafa
Bio:
Doug Chafa is the wildlife biologist for the Missouri River Wildlife Unit. A team of four employees, the wildlife unit manages 18,000 acres of public hunting areas in seven counties. Prior to coming to the Missouri River, Doug was the biologist for three years at the Sweet Marsh wildlife unit in northeast Iowa. He has also worked as a technician with the Iowa Department of Natural resources on the Mississippi River at Odessa, and in the prairie pothole country of northern Iowa at the Ruthven and Rice Lake wildlife units since 1998.
Presentation: The Missouri River Valley's Role as a Waterfowl Migration Corridor.
Historical Missouri River valley wetland and waterfowl information will be contrasted to current available habitat. Recent wetland restoration projects will be highlighted.
Paul Lepisto
Regional Conservation Coordinator
Izaak Walton League of America
605-224-1770 office
605-220-1219 cell
plepisto@iwla.org
