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HLS 26RS-547 ORIGINAL
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 15
BY REPRESENTATIVE LACOMBE
WILDLIFE/HABITAT: Expresses legislative support for a request by Senator John N.
Kennedy to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct a study
addressing the impact of flooded corn on migratory waterfowl behavior
1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
2 To express legislative support for a request by Senator John N. Kennedy of Louisiana to the
3 United States Fish and Wildlife Service to initiate a formal study to evaluate the
4 impact of flooded corn on migratory waterfowl behavior, wintering distributions, and
5 associated economic outcomes in the Mississippi Flyway.
6 WHEREAS, Senator John N. Kennedy of Louisiana wrote a letter to the United
7 States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) concerning the decline in annual waterfowl
8 migration in Louisiana as a result of legal baiting throughout the Mississippi Flyway; and
9 WHEREAS, in 1998, Congress enacted the Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act which
10 changed federal waterfowl baiting regulations by removing strict liability for hunters,
11 thereby making enforcement of baiting rules much weaker; and
12 WHEREAS, in 1999, the USFWS promulgated a rule that removed certain
13 enforcement restrictions that had previously limited hunting over intentionally flooded crops,
14 including corn, which resulted in less regulatory oversight; and
15 WHEREAS, such changes in the regulations have contributed to the decline in annual
16 waterfowl migration to Louisiana; and
17 WHEREAS, data from the USFWS shows that the Louisiana mallard population
18 declined from approximately eight hundred thousand in 1999 to one hundred thirty thousand
19 in 2016, highlighting a disproportionate decline in Louisiana’s wintering mallard numbers;
20 and
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HLS 26RS-547 ORIGINAL
HCR NO. 15
1 WHEREAS, data also shows that the mallard count in Missouri rose from two
2 hundred eighty thousand in 1999 to five hundred thousand in 2016; and
3 WHEREAS, the annual mallard harvest in Louisiana declined by approximately
4 ninety-five percent between 1999 and 2021, marking the most severe drop among states
5 within the Mississippi Flyway; and
6 WHEREAS, data indicates that mallards are stopping and concentrating in other
7 regions where there is manual flooding of corn; and
8 WHEREAS, the intentional flooding of corn fields in other regions has decreased
9 waterfowl populations in Louisiana and weakened the foundational standards of wildlife
10 conservation; and
11 WHEREAS, fewer waterfowl migrating south will likely accelerate this decline,
12 leading to additional losses in conservation revenues and other funding sources that support
13 wildlife habitat programs; and
14 WHEREAS, in anticipation of the declining rates of waterfowl in Louisiana, Senator
15 John N. Kennedy has requested that the USFWS conduct a study examining how flooded
16 corn influences migratory waterfowl behavior, winter distribution patterns, and related
17 economic effects within the Mississippi Flyway.
18 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
19 express its support for the request by Senator John N. Kennedy to the USFWS to conduct
20 a study to evaluate the impact of flooded corn on migratory waterfowl behavior, winter
21 distributions, and related economic outcomes in the Mississippi Flyway.
22 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to the
23 director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 15 Original 2026 Regular Session LaCombe
Expresses the support of the La. Legislature for the request by Senator John N. Kennedy to
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to initiate a formal study to evaluate the impact of flooded
corn on migratory waterfowl behavior, wintering distributions, and associated economic
outcomes in the Mississippi Flyway.
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