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Now, with the recent discussion on the potential of using cattail control in this region of the continent, many people are again excited that the possibility exists to control blackbird depredations. In addition, wildlife interests are looking at cattail control as a means of developing partnerships with agriculture, where cattail-choked wetlands can be opened up to provide increased value to waterfowl and reduce the potential for large blackbird roosts at the same time. Certainly, with the low existing populations of many waterfowl species, virtually any management tool that can improve habitat and potentially increase production should be fully explored and tested.

A key benefit to this type of management is the development of partnerships between the agricultural and wildlife sectors. You would have to have been sleeping the past five years to not be aware that development of partnerships in attaining goals is a national, and local, buzzword. Too often, people perceive that the goals and objectives of agriculture are mutually exclusive from the goals and objectives of wildlife interests. Those of you familiar with my background know that I firmly believe that notion to be hogwash! Every day, wildlife agencies and landowners are working together to develop projects that are good for the land, good for the landowner, and good for wildlife. When opportunities to develop partnerships arise, we need to work together to capitalize on them. We need to join together at every opportunity to prove to the skeptics that profitable agriculture and abundant wildlife can coexist with a minimum of conflict.

The jury is still out on whether cattail management and control will actually reduce blackbird depredations overall, or whether this project will simply spread out the birds so a larger number of landowners each receive a "tolerable" amount of depredations, in contrast to a few landowners receiving a larger amount, or intolerable, amount of depredations. We believe that this area needs to be more fully explored and understood.

The official position of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department on the subject of cattail management and control is that of cautious support. I say that our support is cautious because of the large number of unknowns relating to the overall effects of the project. As the managing agency for the State's wildlife species, it is prudent that we are cautious about a management strategy that could have adverse effects to resident species if not properly controlled and conducted. We also want to assure that the program provides the best benefits possible to waterfowl populations.

We're aware, of course, of the research projects about to be conducted under George Linz and Dr. Bleier at North Dakota State University. We will work with NDSU on these projects as funding and manpower permits, to help answer key questions relating to cattail management. Many of our questions regarding potential effects on pheasants, waterfowl and water quality will hopefully be addressed through this research.

Allow me to highlight some specific concerns relating to cattail management. First, there is little empirical data in the literature specific to the value of cattails for overwintering resident wildlife in North Dakota, primarily pheasants and deer, and to a lesser extent, gray partridge and sharp-tailed grouse. Some data does exist from the 1950's and early 1960's for pheasants, though it is limited in scope. Through naturalistic observations every wildlife biologist in the state will confirm that cattails are an important, and sometimes critical wintering habitat component. Unfortunately, some of the most intensively farmed areas of the state are also the areas where cattail marshes may be the only quality habitat remaining. It is these areas where blackbird management may be the most needed, and cattails may be the most critical in terms of winter cover for deer, pheasants, furbearers and other wildlife.

The lack of quantitative, hard data on cattail values for wintering wildlife makes it difficult for us to advise agricultural interests on "when to say when", or "how much control is too much," in terms of losing survival habitat for resident wildlife. When discussing this issue with one of our big game management biologists, he stated, "I understand the need for striking a balance with this issue, but everyone needs to realize that every acre less of cattail in some areas will also mean an acre less of deer wintering habitat".

There are areas in the state where deer are known to traditionally yard up for the winter, often within or adjacent to large cattail marshes. These deer will come to the yarding area for miles around, and whether or not large scale cattail control occurs in these areas could spell the difference between survival and catastrophe.

Pheasants, now the State's most popular game bird, require dense, thick, and tall winter cover adjacent to adequate food supplies to survive the ravages of a "normal" North Dakota winter. The recent mild winters and 3 million acres of Conservation Reserve Program land in the State have resulted in excellent winter survival. As the CRP contracts begin expiring in 1996, it is believed that at least some of this acreage will go back into agricultural production. As this occurs, the value of cattail marshes to wintering wildlife will only increase.

We are pleased to see that the NDSU studies will include a component that looks at the water quality of cattail controlled marshes during the time that the dead cattails are undergoing decay. The decaying cattails could result in anaerobic conditions in the marshes. Although we don't know exactly how it works, avian botulism is known to thrive under anaerobic conditions. so we need to carefully monitor the results. A number of other little understood factors are included in the outbreak and spread of avian botulism, so we are uncertain as to potential risks.

The potentially beneficial aspects of opening cattail choked wetlands for increased waterfowl use are exciting. We've all seen marshes so choked with cattails that their contribution to waterfowl is diminished. The best control configuration to maximize waterfowl benefits will also be the most difficult to obtain. In other words, block or strip spraying would have lesser value to waterfowl than creation of a mosaic pattern of cattail and open water. Obviously, block or strip spraying with a fixed wing aircraft would be easiest and most efficient. We believe "patchwork" approach to spraying, perhaps by helicopter, would create the best waterfowl habitat, but would also be the most expensive and inefficient in terms of providing the highest return on the Agriculture Department's investment. Perhaps this is an area where wildlife agencies and the Agriculture Department should explore joint funding to develop this mosaic pattern, at least in areas that appear to have the most to gain in terms of waterfowl enhancement.

In additional to use of chemical control of cattails, we encourage continued experimentation of other methods. Discing, burning, grazing, winter cutting, summer cutting, and shearing of cattails at various times of the year may provide blackbird roost and reproduction controls. A lot of research has been done by other states in the efficiency and success of cattail management for wildlife enhancement, and we firmly believe that these tools should all be considered on a case-by-case basis where control is desired. Chemical control will not be universally accepted by landowners or the public. We are willing to work with agricultural interests to improve the diversity of monotypic cattail stands by whatever means is most effective for a given situation. With the national attention currently focused on agricultural chemical use, we believe that relying entirely on chemical control of cattails could be short-sighted and a long-term mistake.

Finally, we believe that if larger blocks that include several wetlands require control, the higher the odds are that a negative impact to resident wildlife could result. Until more data is available, we recommend that cattail control on as few wetlands within a given block as possible, and that in any given marsh be limited to fifty percent of the cattail acreage in that marsh, or less. There is some information from some studies conducted by the Department in the 1950's and 60's that indicates that the larger cattail marshes may have the most value to wintering pheasants. One can instinctively conclude that the larger the cattail marsh, the more value it would have for wintering wildlife. When considering possible impacts to pheasants, then, fifty percent control of a 200 acre marsh may be acceptable, but any control on a 10 acre marsh could possibly be too much. Again, the need for more and better information...

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department supports the concept of controlling blackbird roosts and improving marshes for waterfowl through cattail management. We express cautious support because there are areas where we don't have much information and more data is needed. We'll participate in the research projects as manpower and funding permits, and intend to provide input and advice wherever and whenever possible.

In closing, I'd like to urge the following: When we all go out to our respective constituents or clients and discuss the potentials of cattail management, we need to remind them of several things:

1. Cattails aren't inherently "bad." They serve valuable functions to mankind through filtering nutrients out of marshes, provide winter cover for resident wildlife, provide waterfowl and non-game habitat, and probably other values we're not even aware of.
2. Cattail management isn't a "noxious" weed program. It does appear to have promise from a standpoint of blackbird management and waterfowl enhancement. We don't want to send the message out that "the only good cattail is a dead cattail," thereby creating an atmosphere of wholesale cattail destruction.
3. We need to be cautious during implementation of the operational aspect of the cattail management program until more data on the potentials and pitfalls has been collected and analyzed.

If we jointly pursue answers to the questions I've raised, I believe that cattail management is indeed a tool at our disposal that can result in a win-win situation for wildlife and agricultural interests.