|
 LITTLE
ROCK - The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is offering the naming
rights to the agency's popular satellite-tracked mallards. The money
from the sponsorships will help cover the cost of the program.
By using Global Positioning System satellites, anyone who logs on to
www.agfc.com/mallards
will be able to monitor a group of satellite-tagged mallards, no matter
where on Earth they fly. Twenty-eight mallards were outfitted with
satellite tracking units last spring. These transmitters gave daily
updates on the ducks' locations through the year. This year, AGFC
biologists have tagged 53 mallards to gather even more information on
the birds.
Because waterfowl spend breeding and nesting seasons in Canada and the
northern United States, then travel all the way to Mexico during their
migration, many areas across North America play crucial roles in the
mallard's life cycle.
Andrew James, AGFC waterfowl program coordinator, said, "This new
technology will show us the exact areas in the breeding grounds and the
migration corridors that deserve special attention and habitat work to
improve the numbers of ducks wintering in Arkansas."
Another element to the program is the online monitoring system. Anyone
with access to the Internet can get day-to-day reports on duck locations
and movement. Once the mallards arrive in Arkansas, they don't stay in
one place very long.
 "The
common belief is that the ducks are all packed into the refuges and
don't move from them," James said. "But the first year of the study
showed that ducks spent just as much time on huntable lands."
A transmitter, which weighs slightly more than an ounce, allows a bird
normal movement and doesn't cause excessive stress in flight. The
battery life for the transmitters is about one year, but new
transmitters are being developed to run on solar power.
Killing a satellite-tagged duck isn't illegal, although hunters can help
biologists by mailing the transmitter back to the AGFC. "One of last
year's ducks was killed by a hunter who was kind enough to send us the
transmitter," James said. "We were able to reuse it and sent the hunter
the bird's history and a replica to put on his mounted space duck."
Several levels of sponsorship are available:
Level I - $3,000
The sponsor will be allowed to go on a duck-tagging trip with AGFC
waterfowl biologists.
The sponsor will be allowed to name two ducks, a male and a female, in
the Satellite Duck Program. Submitted names must be approved by the AGFC.
There is no guarantee of how long the duck will live or how long the
transmitter will work.
The sponsor will get a corporate logo and link on the satellite
duck-tracking Web site and e-mail updates that are sent to subscribers.
Sponsors will receive a corporate logo
placement in a two-page spread in the 2005-2006 Arkansas Waterfowl
Hunting Guidebook that will outline the Satellite Duck Program.
Sponsors will receive logo placement on all collateral materials
(such as posters and fliers) to promote the program.
Sponsors will receive logo recognition in a targeted advertising
campaign promoting the program.
Level II - $1,500
The sponsor will be allowed to name one duck in the Satellite Duck
Program. Submitted names must be approved by AGFC. There is no guarantee
of how long the duck will live or how long the transmitter will work.
Sponsors will get corporate logos and links on the satellite
duck-tracking Web site and e-mail updates that are sent to subscribers.
Sponsors will receive corporate logo placement in a two-page spread in
the 2005-2006 Arkansas Waterfowl Hunting Guidebook that will
outline the Satellite Duck Program.
Sponsors will receive logo placement on all collateral materials (such
as posters and fliers) to promote the program.
Sponsors will receive logo recognition in a targeted advertising
campaign promoting the program.
Level III - $1,000
Sponsors will get corporate logos and links on the satellite
duck-tracking Web site and e-mail updates that are sent to subscribers.
Sponsors will receive corporate logo
placement in a two-page spread in the 2005-2006 Arkansas Waterfowl
Hunting Guidebook that will outline the Satellite Duck Program.
Sponsors will receive logo placement on all collateral materials
(such as posters and fliers) to promote the program.
Sponsors will receive logo recognition in a targeted advertising
campaign promoting the program.
Level IV - $500
Sponsors will receive corporate logo placement in a two-page spread in
the 2005-2006 Arkansas Waterfowl Hunting Guidebook that will
outline the Satellite Duck Program.
Sponsors will receive logo placement on all collateral materials (such
as posters and fliers) to promote the program.
Sponsor will receive logo recognition in a targeted advertising campaign
promoting the program.
For more information on the program contact Hanna Ford at the AGFC at
(501) 223-6366, (800) 364-4263 or e-mail:
hlford@agfc.state.ar.us. |
