A thousand miles away: How a federal wetlands decision could silence South Texas skies The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing a rule that protects small wetlands in the Northern Great Plains — the breeding ground for most of North America’s ducks —and hunters and conservationists along the Texas Gulf Coast say the consequences could be felt right here in the Coastal Bend.
The region, known as the “duck factory,” spans the prairie pothole region of Minnesota,North Dakota, South Dakota and into southern Canada. It is a landscape of small,shallow wetlands — some as small as a half acre — that collectively support up to 30% of all ducks in North America. A federal filing indicates the agency has determined withdrawing the existing rule is necessary, triggering alarm from conservation groups and hunting guides who say the ripple effects will stretch more than a thousand miles south to the Laguna Madre.
Wetlands rule review threatens ducks, guides along the Laguna Madre
What’s at stake in the prairie pothole region
The rule under review was codified in 2024 and was designed to prevent farmers from draining those small wetlands through a process called drain tiling — the installation of underground PVC piping with holes drilled into it to carry water away from the land for agricultural use. The 2024 regulation affirmed agreements already made with landowners, in perpetuity, to leave those wetlands intact in exchange for payment.
Jeff Davis, area chairman and district chairman for all of South Texas with the Corpus Christi chapter of Ducks Unlimited, said the nation’s largest wetlands conservation group is urging the Fish and Wildlife Service to keep the 2024 rule in place.
“We’re saying as conservationists, DU as hunters, please keep that 2024 codified CFR— code of federal regulations — in place and not drain,” Davis said. “It’s not a us versus them kind of deal. It’s a please leave this in place as it is, as it stands now.”…