Ducks to Lose Habitat in Prairie Pothole Region | Field & Stream

Ducks to Lose Habitat in Prairie Pothole Region | Field & Stream.

DU scientists are concerned that more than 250,000 acres of land in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will be removed from the program. Yes, 32 million acres are being added but there’s still a net loss of more than a quarter of a million acres.

The concern is that the lost acreage will reduce the fall flight by more than 100,000 ducks per year.

And the loss of acreage will only increase in coming years as more acreage will expire from the program and may be turned back into cultivated lands.  The rate of land owners putting their land into CPR has dropped due to the fact that the land owner no longer receives Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) points for the land.  EBI is used to determine the land’s environmental sensitivity and is tied to whether the land is accepted into the Conservation Reserve Program.

[Yes, I’m trying to wrap my head around that sentence too. It feels like a catch-22 at work.]