Arkansas Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton joined other Republican senators this week to call on Interior Sec. Doug Burgum and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to continue supporting conservation easement investments in the National Wildlife Refuge System.
In a letter to Burgum, the lawmakers expressed concerns about a recent USFWS Waterfowl Population Status Report that estimated a total of 34 million breeding ducks in the U.S., a figure below the long-term average and well-below historic highs.
“[We] thank you and the Department of the Interior, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), for your work supporting America’s more than one million duck hunters. We are, however, increasingly concerned about continued declines in duck populations and strongly urge continued stewardship of the National Wildlife Refuge System—particularly USFWS conservation easements in the Prairie Pothole Region—as the foundation for long-term population recovery,” wrote the senators.
According to a press release from Sen. Boozman, duck hunters in Arkansas contribute more than $300 million to the state economy annually. Nationally, waterfowl hunting generates approximately $4 billion in economic activity and supports nearly 57,000 jobs. Falling breeding numbers that fail to meet management goals risk an adverse economic impact and other detrimental outcomes for communities in Arkansas, and especially within the Prairie Pothole Region.
“This decline can be attributed to drought conditions in the Prairie Pothole Region, where pond counts have fallen below average in three of the last four years. These trends pose a significant challenge to the future of waterfowl populations, with profound implications down the Mississippi Flyway,” the lawmakers wrote.
Joining Boozman and Cotton on the letter to Secretary Burgum were Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and John Kennedy (R-LA).
The USFWS status reports follows similarly disappointing surveys in Arkansas. A late January survey of waterfowl estimated nearly 100,000 fewer ducks than in the 2025 late January survey and 503,937 below the long-term average.
