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Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

Management Prescriptions

Management treatments should address the habitat components that are determined to be limiting wood duck habitat potential. For planning purposes, select among the possible action items listed below to raise the quality or availability of each habitat component determined to be limiting. A list of programs that may provide financial or technical assistance to carry out specific management practices is provided.

Habitat Component	Management options for increasing habitat quality or availability	Assistance Programs
Food	Plant, preserve and encourage trees shrubs and herbaceous food plants (see plant species list Insert).	WHIP, EQIP, WRP, PFW, CRP
	Restore hydrology on previously drained forested wetland.	WRP, PFW, EWP
	Restore hydrology and vegetation on previously drained and cropped wetland.	WRP, CRP, PFW
	Establish shallow water areas and artificial wetlands	WRP, CRP, PFW
	Provide winter water on cropland and woodland.	WHIP
Nesting Cover	Install artificial nesting boxes over and near wetland areas.	WHIP, WRP, PFW
	Preserve old growth timber, especially large, live hardwood trees in and adjacent to wetlands conducive to natural cavities.	WRP
Brood-rearing cover	Restore hydrology on previously drained forested wetland.	WRP, PFW, EWP
	Restore hydrology and vegetation on previously drained and cropped wetland.	WRP, CRP, PFW, EWP
	Establish woody riparian vegetation along streams.	CRP, WRP, EQIP, PFW, WHIP
Winter cover	Restore hydrology to previously drained forested wetland.	WRP, PFW, EWP
	Restore hydrology and vegetation to previously drained and cropped or grazed wetland.	WRP, CRP, PFW
	Provide winter water on cropland and woodland.	WHIP
Water	Restore or establish bottomland hardwood or emergent herbaceous wetland.	WRP, CRP, PFW
Interspersion and minimum habitat size	Combine above prescriptions to increase interspersion of habitat components or size of habitat blocks available.	WRP, CRP, PFW, EQIP, EWP

For landowners interested in making their individual efforts more valuable to the community, they can work with WHC and NRCS to involve school and scout groups and their families in habitat projects. A wood duck management project is an easy way to provide fun hands on learning opportunities, especially for children. If the land is corporate owned, encourage interested employees to become involved. Involve students or scouts in building and monitoring nest boxes. The educational benefits can greatly increase the value of your individual wood duck management project.

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Menlo Park, CA [caww54]