BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA — Delta Waterfowl commends U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a proposal to open 248,000 new acres to hunters and anglers on 30 national wildlife refuges across the United States.

The changes, which would be implemented in time for 2018-2019 waterfowl seasons, are proposed on the heels of a measure last fall that expanded access for sportsmen and women across 132,000 acres at 21 national wildlife refuges.

“This is likely the most sweeping increase in opportunities for U.S. waterfowl hunters that we’ll see in our lifetimes,” said John Devney, Delta Waterfowl senior vice president. “The Duck Hunters Organization celebrates Secretary Zinke’s continued efforts to offer waterfowlers better access to quality hunting.”

Upon learning that the USFWS was working to increase hunting access on refuges, Delta Waterfowl collected input from the organization’s regional events directors and volunteers across the United States to develop a list of nearly 100 priority refuges for opening or expanding waterfowl-hunter access. Delta leadership shared this grassroots intel with the USFWS in June 2017.

“I’m pleased that many refuges on Delta’s list made the final proposal,” Devney said. “Improving access for waterfowlers is a critical component of our mission to secure the future of duck hunting. Duck hunter numbers are declining at an alarming rate — which threatens both the hunting and conservation of North American waterfowl. But we know that simply lacking a good place to hunt ducks is a key barrier to recruiting new duck hunters, and a leading reason existing waterfowlers hang up their waders for good.”

The proposal is encouraging on these fronts, as are its plans to continue rolling out new acres for hunting access on an annual basis. According to Greg Sheehan, USFWS principal deputy director, these moves are long overdue.

“Many pieces of the National Wildlife Refuge System have been added over the last 115 years and could’ve been opened to hunting, but weren’t,” Sheehan said. “And until now, nobody has ever asked, ‘Why not?’ We intend to open every acre of every refuge where we have the legal authority to do so. Thanks to the support of our refuge managers, I’m hopeful next year’s batch of new acres open to hunting and fishing will be a noted increase over this year’s.”

Additionally, the proposal would simplify regulations on national wildlife refuges to make them more consistent with state laws.

“One refuge says you must have 15 shotgun shells — not more, not less — and another says you can hunt with dogs, but they must be pointing breeds,” Sheehan said. “These are the kinds of archaic rules that confuse those we’re trying to bring into the hunting world. We intend to eliminate 2,100 lines of regulations.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will seek comments from the public on the proposed rule for 30 days, beginning with publication in the Federal Register in the coming days. Delta Waterfowl encourages all members to express strong support for the proposal by logging on to www.regulations.gov and selecting docket No. FWS-HQ-NWRS-2018-0020 to submit comments.

Hunting and/or fishing will expand or be opened on the following refuges:

Arkansas

• Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird, upland game and big game hunting.

California

• San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird hunting, and open sport fishing for the first time.

Florida

• Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge: Open wild turkey hunting for the first time.

Illinois

• Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird, upland game and big game hunting.

Illinois and Missouri

• Great River National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird, upland game and big game hunting.

Illinois and Wisconsin

• Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge: Open migratory game bird, upland game and big game hunting to all legal species in the State of Illinois.

Indiana

• Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird, upland game, big game hunting and sport fishing

Maine

• Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird, upland game and big game hunting.
• Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing white-tailed deer and wild turkey hunting.

Maine and New Hampshire

• Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge: Open wild turkey hunting for the first time, and expand existing migratory game bird, upland game and big game hunting.

Maryland

• Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird and big game hunting.
• Patuxent Research Refuge: Expand existing white-tailed deer and wild turkey hunting.

Michigan

• Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge: Open hunting of certain migratory bird, small game, and furbearers, and expand existing migratory game bird and big game hunting.

Minnesota

• Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge: Open certain gamebird and small mammal hunting for the first time, and expand existing migratory game bird, upland game and big game hunting.

Montana

• Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing big game hunting.
• Swan River National Wildlife Refuge: Open big game hunting for the first time.

New Jersey

• Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge: Open wild turkey and squirrel hunting for the first time, and expand existing migratory game bird and big game hunting.

New Jersey and New York

• Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird hunting and sport fishing.

New Mexico

• Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge: Open Eurasian-collared dove and Gambel’s quail hunting, and expand existing migratory game bird hunting.

North Dakota

• J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge: Open moose hunting for the first time.
• Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge: Open moose hunting for the first time.

Ohio

• Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge: Open white-tailed deer hunting for the first time.
• Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge: Open hunting of certain gamebirds, small mammals and furbearers for the first time, and expand existing migratory game bird and big game hunting.

Oregon

• Cold Springs National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird, upland game and big game hunting.
• Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird hunting.
• William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing sport fishing.

Pennsylvania

• Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird, upland game and big game hunting.
• John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum: Open white-tailed deer hunting for the first time.

Utah

• Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge: Expand existing migratory game bird and upland game hunting.

Wisconsin

• Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge: Open hunting of certain gamebirds, small mammals and furbearers for the first time, and expand existing migratory game bird and big game hunting.

For more information, contact John Devney, senior vice president, at (701) 471-4235 or jdevney@deltawaterfowl.org.

Delta Waterfowl Foundation is The Duck Hunters Organization, a leading conservation group working to produce ducks and ensure the tradition of duck hunting in North America. Visit deltawaterfowl.org.