North American Waterfowl Management Plan

Prairie Shores

The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority operates the Prairie Shores Program under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). The focus of the program is on breeding waterfowl, but direct benefits accrue to threatened and endangered species, shorebirds, grassland songbirds, and colonial water birds. Prairie Shores encourages sustainable land use for the benefit of both people and wildlife.

Prairie Shores is a program which benefits breeding ducks and provides direct benefits to threatened and endangered species, shorebirds and grassland songbirds. The program is delivered by the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority in cooperation with the Canadian Wildlife Service, the Saskatchewan Ministry of environment, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration, Nature Saskatchewan, Pheasants Forever, and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation.

Evaluation Activities

Recently, an evaluation comparing grassland bird nesting and hayfields was completed in the Missouri Coteau. Grassland bird nests were located and monitored on a total of 18 hay land, tame pasture and native pasture sites. Monitoring showed that high priority grassland birds nested at higher densities and were more productive in native pasture than in either tame pasture or hay land. Therefore, although tame pasture and hay land provide productive habitat for more grassland birds than cropland, conservation of native prairie is critical for high priority grassland birds.

Program Highlights:

Through Prairie Shores, the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority has acquired and improved the habitat quality of 32,000 acres of native grassland and wetlands around the Quill Lakes including approximately 20 miles along the shoreline of Big Quill Lake. Crown land transfer and land purchase have secured one of the largest NAWMP habitat projects in perpetuity.

This work has been community based involving many individual landowners and lessees, five municipal grazing cooperatives, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Habitat enhancement was undertaken by establishing rotational grazing systems, rest rotations, solar pumping of remote watering systems, shoreline fencing for Piping Plovers and other shorebirds and by establishing a riparian management program for nearby creeks and streams. Land improvement and acquisition in the Quill Lakes continues at present.

The Quill Lakes region was designated an International Ramsar Site in 1971 and recognized as one of the most important bird areas in the world. In 1994 it was dedicated as a Western Hemispheric Shorebird Network Site and in 1998 it was designated as Saskatchewan’s first Important Birding Area.

The Missouri Coteau area of Saskatchewan is comprised of rolling hills with high pothole hole density. It is important for breeding waterfowl and large numbers of staging shorebirds, as well as endemic grassland birds. It is particularly important for Northern Pintail ducks whose numbers have not increased as rapidly as have other species of waterfowl.

Under this program, 16,000 acres of cropland have been seeded back to pasture. An additional 1,500 acres of highly erodible cultivated riparian soils with excellent nesting cover potential were converted to permanent cover. Considerable work was required to design and implement grazing systems to incorporate these seeding operations into the landowners’ current operating systems. New partnerships were established with the National Soil and Water Conservation Program, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration.

The Piping Plover is an endangered shorebird whose population is only about 6000. The 800 or more Piping Plovers which breed in Saskatchewan (2001 survey) comprise about 20 - 23 percent of the world population, making Saskatchewan the single most important jurisdiction for breeding Piping Plovers. Cattle tramping of shorelines has been identified as damaging to critical Piping Plover habitat on the east shore of Chaplin Lake and on Willowbunch Lake.

The Burke/Porter/Buffer Lakes are shallow basins in central Saskatchewan which are potentially important shorebird sites. Shorebird use is being examined through intensive surveys, the goal which is to protect those wetlands habitats as critical shorebird habitat.

Loss and degradation of native prairie has made grasslands one of the most threatened ecosystems in North America. As a result, grassland nesting birds species have declined more consistently and sharply than any other group of North American birds.

Because much of the remaining native prairie is privately owned, the most viable option to conserve it is to work cooperatively with landowners and lessees. Under Prairie Shores Saskatchewan Watershed Authority acquired and improved 32,000 acres of native grasslands around Quill Lakes and some 1200 acres on the north shore of Chaplin Lake. Chaplin Lake was designated a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Network Site in May 0f 1997.