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 Harford
County DU member and Maryland Wood Duck Initiative volunteer
extraordinaire Scott Jasion of Fallston, Maryland has been named a
“Hero of Conservation” by Field & Stream magazine.
Each
month Field & Stream magazine profiles three Heroes of Conservation.
Heroes who are featured, beginning with the November 2007 issue, are
all eligible for the grand prize -- a new 2008 Toyota Tundra
Doublecab. Prizes will be awarded at a gala event in September 2008.
Scott, who the August 2008 issue of Field and Stream
referred to as a “Warrior for Woodies,” will receive a $1,000 grant
from Toyota for his wood duck box program. And, he may be among six
finalists, one of whom wins that new truck, with the remaining five
to be awarded $5,000 grants for their conservation program.
 Scott is actively involved in the
Harford County Wood Duck Project and the Maryland Wood Duck
Initiative, building, installing, gathering statistics, and
maintaining 80 Wood Duck nesting boxes.
After being nominated for
Conservationist of the year by Chip
Heaps, Senior Regional Director for Maryland Ducks Unlimited,
Scott completed a questionnaire about his wood duck program, part of
which we’ll share with you in Scott’s own words.
Are you a Sportsman? If so,
what do you like to hunt and fish for?
Yes, I’m an avid waterfowl and upland bird hunter, and I also shoot
sporting clays regularly in the off season.
Conservation Project
Information:
Project Title: Harford County Wood Duck Initiative
Location: Harford County, Maryland, primarily in the Days Cove
area of the Gunpowder Falls State Park, but also Deer Creek, and the
Susquehanna River. A new project is beginning in Rock Hall in Kent
County, as well.
 Species Involved: Wood
Ducks, but also working toward better quail, turkey and deer habitat
at the Rock Hall location.
Date of completion: Ongoing
project. The wood duck project began in 1997 with 12 duck boxes and
has improved and expanded ever since to over 80 boxes (20 new one’s
this year). The maintenance and monitoring of the duck boxes is
ever ongoing.
Goal: I consider life to be
“put and take”. I like to take a few birds each year, and I feel it
my obligation to “put” bunches back!
What were the problems in your
area that made this conservation project necessary?
This was an opportunity to improve
the wood duck population in local areas near some public hunting.
How
did you get the project started?
In 1997 an Eagle Scout
candidate contacted me, as the area chairman for my local Ducks
Unlimited chapter, to help him with his Eagle Scout project. The
scout needed help with duck box plans, and also was seeking
donations of lumber, supplies, and labor for his project. He had
already secured a suitable habitat in the Days Cove area of
Gunpowder Falls State Park in Harford County through the assistance
of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
After the boxes were constructed
and installed, I saw the need to go back each spring to clean and
maintain those boxes, which led to a desire to expand that program.
The Harford County Chapter of Ducks Unlimited adopted the program
and each year, I and several others, have monitored the boxes for
egg production, tracked hatches, improved predator protection, and
installed new duck boxes in additional locations.
 How
did you accomplish the project’s goals?
Initially, I thought that
installing a few boxes would be “good enough”. The following spring,
a few DU volunteers went out with me to check those boxes, clean
them out, and maintain the boxes with wood chips for fresh nesting
material. While cleaning them, we could easily see that egg
fragments were present, but really had no idea as to the quantity of
eggs or hatches. We simply cleaned and prepared for the next
season. Since that time, I became aware of another Duck Box project
being executed by Cliff Brown of the Maryland Wood Duck Initiative.
Cliff has been involved in studying box programs and was beginning
to establish some “best practices”. I met up with Cliff, toured a
project he was overseeing, and discussed how to get a better handle
on what was happening on my project.
Since then, our activity has significantly increased and includes
much more than simply installing a few boxes. We prepare boxes for
nesting by early March, then monitor them in April, again in May,
and again in June. This monitoring allows us to identify the number
eggs laid, count hatches, learn about “dump nests” (where multiple
hens lay in the same box and often abandon them), and to actually
determine when snake and raccoon predation was occurring.
Originally, the boxes were installed where they were easily
accessible and most were installed with 2 boxes to a post. We
learned that a high percentage of these clustered boxes resulted in
dumping activity. Experimenting with installing a single box to a
pole, versus double boxes, and spacing the boxes further apart, we
found fewer eggs laid, but a higher hatch count. It seemed counter
intuitive, but turned out that a lower box density actually meant
more ducks hatched. Over the next several years, we expanded the
program, replaced all the double boxes with singles, and spread the
poles out over a much larger area.
Tell us why you’re involved in
conservation work.
My conservation involvement began as a teenager joining Ducks
Unlimited and has blossomed into a lifelong passion. As a young
waterfowler, I experienced phenomenal goose hunting, only to be
followed by a complete ban on migrant goose hunting in Maryland. As
an adult, I got involved in a local chapter of DU as a volunteer to
learn how I could help. I have held many volunteer positions in DU
including area, zone, and district chairman and becoming a DU Life
Sponsor.
These experiences grew into a
passion and a life philosophy of “put and take.” I like to take a
few birds each year, and I feel it my responsibility to “put”
bunches back! I’m actively involved in the Harford County Wood Duck
Project and the Maryland Wood Duck Initiative, building, installing,
gathering statistics, and maintaining 80 Wood Duck nesting boxes.
Over the course of 10 years, I’ve learned more about best practices
and have seen an increase in ducks hatched through these efforts.
In 2007 I realized a lifelong dream of owning property to develop
into suitable wildlife habitat. My vision for this 85 acre parcel
in Rock Hall MD is to maximize habitat in the fields, marsh, woods,
and two shallow water impoundments. Longer term, I hope to develop
a venue to inspire young people to embrace the importance of
conservation as they experience the joy of hunting. Improvements
are already underway. The property has been placed in a conservation
easement to preserve it in perpetuity.
In my years of hunting, I’ve witnessed the value of conservation
efforts and have found my niche to contribute. As a passionate
hunter, I feel that in order to “take a few,” I ought to be “putting
a lot.” As DU says…More Habitat on the ground…means More Birds in
the Air.
-Scott Jasion
Photos (top to bottom):
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(l to r) Harford County DU
Members: Jamie Baker, Scott Jasion, Jason Schlosser, and Ron
Jasion.
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(l to r) Harford County DU
members Ron Jasion, Jason Schlosser and Scott Jasion are surely
our most intrepid volunteers to date! This crazy crew had
scheduled to go out on Sunday, Feb. 25th to do some duck box
maintenance in Days Cove ....and they did!
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Scott Jasion (on the right)
during Upper Bay Greenwing Youth Day, a Ducks Unlimited youth
event, June 7, 2008.
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Upper Bay Greenwing Youth Day,
a Ducks Unlimited youth event, June 7, 2008.
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Wood Duck Nest Boxes completed
during Upper Bay Greenwing Youth Day
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