The purpose of the atlantic flyway cooperative research and survey grant proposalis to improve the status of waterfowl and other migratory waterbirds in the atlantic flyway

The U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service awarded $247,858.71 to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation under the Wildlife Restoration and Basic Hunter Education and Safety program (CFDA 15.611) on October 1, 2025, for a five-year performance period through September 30, 2030. The award supports the Atlantic Flyway Cooperative Research and Survey Grant, which aims to improve the status of waterfowl and other migratory waterbirds across the Atlantic Flyway region. Products and services include conducting population surveys of breeding grounds through aerial, boat, and ground surveys; capturing and banding birds to monitor survival, movement, and habitat use; and implementing specialized research techniques such as telemetry and color marking to address knowledge gaps in migratory bird management.

The research data generated through these activities directly supports state and federal conservation decision-making by providing population abundance, distribution, and trend information used to update conservation plans, adaptive harvest management strategies, and hunting regulations. The Wildlife Management Institute serves as the primary subrecipient and will engage additional entities as needed for grant implementation. Primary beneficiaries include waterfowl hunters and the general public who engage with migratory waterbirds, while the Atlantic Flyway Council—composed of all relevant government agencies managing migratory bird resources across the region—utilizes the resulting data to inform sound migratory game bird management practices.

The atlantic flyway council contains representatives from all the government agencies that have management responsibility for migratory bird resources in the flyway. The council determines actions required for sound migratory game bird management, including collecting information about populations in order to support regulated harvest. Data collection typically involves visiting the breeding grounds to conduct surveys (aerial, boat, ground) that are used to extrapolate population estimates to specific land areas. Birds are also captured, and marked with numbered tags (typically leg bands) to help understand survival, movement, and habitat use at multiple scales. Specific research project goals utilizing specialty techniques (telemetry, color markers, etc) are often incorporated to close knowledge gaps and inform future decisions. The expected outcomes include providing invaluable information on migratory bird population abundance, distribution, and trends. The data are used to update a wide variety of conservation plans, adaptive harvest management strategies, and hunting regulationsbeneficiaries include waterfowl hunters and members of the public who enjoy seeing or hunting waterfowl and other waterbirds.subrecipients under this grant include the wildlife management institute, who will engage additional entities as needed to carry out the implementation of this grant.