WING, N.D. - Mike Goos likens the prairie potholes of North Dakota to suburbia.

Ducks born in the prairie potholes mature while on "spring break" in the south, returning north to find a home and raise their young, he said.

"You're a pair that likes 3 inches of water, we've got a place for you. You're a pair that likes 4 feet of water, we've got a place for you," Mr. Goos, a Fish and Wildlife Service wetlands manager, said on a June 23 wetlands tour.

But as with humans, suburban life for ducks isn't free of troubles. As the Fish and Wildlife Service's Small Wetlands Acquisition Program marks 50 years of protecting waterfowl habitat this year, it faces challenges such as drier weather and high crop prices.

Through the Small Wetlands Program, the Fish and Wildlife Service uses duck-stamp money to buy wetlands and grasslands easements from landowners. Since the program's inception in 1958, 3 million acres have been protected.

Most of that land is in the prairie pothole region, a wetland-studded area created when glaciers receded in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Montana.

Dubbed North America's "Duck Factory," the potholes comprise 10 percent of the country's waterfowl-breeding habitat but account for 50 percent of the waterfowl. Mallards, northern pintails, gadwalls, blue-winged teal and northern shovelers nest in the region.

"When you look at duck production, this is the place to be," Mr. Goos said.

But the past few years have been dry, and rain this spring came too late to help nesting birds, said Mike Rabenberg, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"We like it when it's wet, but you've got to appreciate the dry times," he said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service buys permanent easements that prevent landowners from draining wetlands or turning sod upside down, Mr. Rabenberg said. Farmers can make hay after July 15 and graze livestock.

"The fewer restrictions you put on the easement, the more palatable it will be to the landowner," he said.

Mr. Goos said the agency has a waiting list of landowners interested in joining the program, but all of the duck-stamp money has been spent. He encouraged people, including nonhunters, to buy duck stamps.

Some landowners particularly concerned about conserving their land donate part of the easement's value, Mr. Goos said.

The Conservation Reserve Program also has helped conserve waterfowl habitat, Mr. Goos said.

"CRP has been a tremendous boon since the late '80s," he said.

Some land in North Dakota has never been plowed, Mr. Rabenberg said.

"We're blessed that a lot of the native prairie is left. We're going to continue to lose it, especially with commodity prices being high," he said.

Megan Parker can be reached at (800) 236-4004, ext. 3867 or megan.parker@ecpc.com.