Why is There a HAPET Office?

HAPET was established in 1989 to coordinate waterfowl surveys conducted by Refuges and support Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation for the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The original focus of HAPET was on waterfowl related issues but has expanded to include most migratory birds that use the Prairie / Wetland landscape as breeding habitat.

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR)

The PPR of North America encompasses 300,000 square miles in the northern great Plains and extends from Iowa north and westward to the western plains of Canada. The PPR is characterized by a mosaic of wetlands and grasslands. Grasslands range from tallgrass prairie in the east, mixed-grass in the central region and shortgrass in the western portion. Wetlands are generally small and shallow and are the result of the late Wisconsonian glacial period. In most years, the PPR hosts 50+ percent of the breeding ducks found in the primary breeding areas of North America.

What we do

Wetland and Upland Cover Resources

The density and distribution of breeding waterfowl is primarily influenced by wetland class and abundance. Consequently, knowledge of the wetland resources in the Prairie Pothole Region is critical in evaluating its importance to breeding waterfowl as well as other wetland dependent migratory birds. Click here to learn more about Wetland and Upland Cover Resources.

Distribution of Breeding Pairs

The primary factor limiting duck populations in the PPR is the
success that hens have in making a nest and incubating it until
the ducklings hatch. Most of the threats of nest loss are realized
by ducks that nest in uplands, and are also the most numerous of
the prairie ducks. Click here to learn more about Distribution of Breeding Pairs (Thunderstorm map).

Integrated Bird Management

The wetlands and grasslands that make the Prairie Pothole Region so important to waterfowl also make the region important to a variety of grassland and wetland birds.  The HAPET Office is committed to developing and providing information and spatial planning tools for a variety of priority bird species. 

            Click here to learn more about conservation planning for grassland birds.

            Click here to learn more about conservation planning for waterbirds.

            Click here to learn more about conservation planning for shorebirds.